The government has dissolved all the existing 61 Zila Parishads of the country following the expiry of the five-year tenure of the district-level local government body.
A circular from the Local Government Division of the Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Ministry was issued in this regard on Sunday (April 17). After issuance of the circular, the existing council has been dissolved and Zila Parishad chairman, members of general seats and members of the reserved seats have lost their posts.
Signed by Mohammed Tanvir Azam Siddiquee, a deputy secretary of the Local Government Division, the circular said that the 61 Zila Parishads has been dissolved as five years have passed after the first meeting of the district councils. Now the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the Zila Parishads would oversee the administrative and financial activities until the appointment of the administrators.
Talking to the Bangladesh Post on Sunday, Mohammed Tanvir Azam Siddiquee, said, “We have issued the circular dissolving the Zila Parishads as the gazette of ‘Zila Parishad (Amendment) Act, 2022’ has already been published. We will publish the names of administrators and another circular would be issued in this regard as soon as possible. Appointment of administrators at the Zila Parishads would be made in accordance with the provisions of the amended law.”
The Zila Parishads were dissolved as the elections were not held on time. The Zila Parsihad elections were held for the first time on December 28 in 2016 in 61 districts of the country. The elected representatives took oath on January 11 in 2017. The first meeting of the district councils was held in January of that year. As a result, the five-year term of the council ended in January this year.
However, the administrators will be appointed as per the newly-amended law passed in the Parliament.
The ‘Zila Parishad (Amendment) Act, 2022’ was passed in the Parliament on April 6 incorporating a provision of appointing administrator on expiry of the five-year tenure of the district-level local government body.
However, the ‘Zila Parishad Act, 2000’ had allowed the Zila Parishad to continue its responsibilities until the first meeting of the next elected Parishad as well as the new Zila Parishad is formed.
As per the amended law, all upazila chairmen would also become ex-officio members of the Zila Parishad. Instead of the existing 15 general members, the district council according to the law will have to have an equal number of members of Upazila Parishad.
According to the ‘Zila Parishad (Amendment) Act, 2022’, the government would appoint a suitable person or a public official as an administrator to carry out the functions of the local body until the formation of the next Parishad. The administrator will be in office until the next Zia Parishad is formed. However, the tenure of the administrator will not be more than 180 days and none can be an administrator more than once.
Meanwhile, although the five-year term of 61 Zila Parsihads expired in January this year, the Election Commission is not now ready to hold elections.
According to EC sources, the commission will start process of the Zila Parishad elections by finalizing the voter list after the election of the remaining 200 Union Parishads (UPs) is over.
According to the law, the elected representatives of all the local government bodies from city corporations to UPs are the voters of Zila Parishad. As a result, if the UP election is not completed, it will not be possible to prepare the final voter list.