A Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik analysis showed that newly elected chairmen in most upazila parishads were relatives and loyal to lawmakers of their respective constituencies.
Making the analysis public, the civic society organisation at a press conference held on Thursday at the National Press Club said that electing such relatives and loyal persons as chairmen of the local government body there was a risk that all powers will be concentrated in the hands of the lawmakers and it may increase arbitrariness of the members of the parliament.
The 6th upazila parishad elections were held in several phases from May 8 this year.
Shujan analysed the data of 470 elected upazila chairmen and found that out of them, 360 were businesspeople by profession, which is 76.60 per cent.
Then there are 48 farmers, 19 lawyers and 15 teachers, the findings said.
At the press conference, Shujan secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar said that the number of businesspeople might be even higher and there was no problem with being a businessperson.
If money plays a role, such as buying nominations or votes, it is an issue, he said.
Expressing doubts about the reported voter turnout, he said that this led to voter apathy.
鈥楶olitical parties boycotted the polls. The root cause is the lack of trust, people鈥檚 lack of confidence in the Election Commission,鈥� he said.
Policy Research Institute executive director and Shujan national executive committee member economist Ahsan H Mansur said that it was a strategic move by the ruling Awami League.
They were somewhat successful in opening up the voting as the voter turnout was 36 per cent as there was no party symbol, otherwise it would have been 16 per cent, he said.
He said that elections at the upazila level should be held in a non-partisan manner.
Ahsan said that opposition parties should participate in the local government elections even though there were various problems, including problem of neutrality in the elections.
He said that a party had no relevance if it was not associated with democracy while many dissidents could contest the polls as independents.
Shujan, meanwhile, has recommended that major political reforms are needed to purify the election system and strengthen local governance.
Achieving political reform requires consensus and compromise among political parties, it said.
