The interim government on Monday removed the representatives of all local government bodies, excepting those elected in union parishads, and appointed administrators, citing the absence of chairmen and mayors in office after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5.
The local government division, in separate gazette notifications, removed all 12 city corporation mayors, 60 zila parishad chairmen and members, 493 upazila parishad chairmen and vice-chairmen, and 323 municipality mayors across the country.
The decision came less than two weeks after a student-led mass uprising forced long-time ruler Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to India on August 5.
Many local government representatives belonging to the ruling party have remained absent from office since Hasina鈥檚 fall, disrupting services.
Local government experts said that in the given context, there was no better alternative to the interim government to ensure public services immediately.
鈥楢s the 鈥榚lected鈥� representatives remain absent in office and the government cannot hold elections in this current situation, the appointment of administrators in the absence of representatives is the best solution to reduce public suffering,鈥� said Tofayel Ahmed, a retired teacher of public administration at Chittagong University.
Tofayel hoped it would be a temporary measure for crisis management, adding that administrators could not ensure all services that a mayor or chairmen could usually do.
The local government division, in a notification, removed the mayors of 12 city corporations, including two in Dhaka, from their posts with immediate effect.
The city corporations聽 are Dhaka South, Dhaka North, Chattogram, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barishal, Narayanganj, Cumilla, Rangpur, Gazipur, and Mymensingh.
In a separate notification, the division appointed 12 officials as administrators to oversee these city corporations until further notice.
LGD additional secretary Mohd Sher Ali has been appointed as DSCC administrator, LGD director general Md Mahmudul Hasan as DNCC administrator, LGD additional secretary AHM Kamruzzaman as Narayanganj city corporation administrator; and Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development, Cumilla, director general Saif Uddin Ahmed as Cumilla city corporation administrator.聽
The divisional commissioners of Chattogram, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barishal, Rangpur, and Mymensingh have been appointed as administrators of their respective city corporations.
The Dhaka divisional commission has been appointed as administrator of Gazipur.
The notification said that the mayors were removed under Section 13 Ka of the Local Government (City Corporation) Amendment Ordinance 2024.
The section allowed to impeach anyone from the corporation if the person remained absent in three parshad meetings without valid reason.
In another notification, LGD stated that all the zila parishad chairmen and members were removed under Section 10 Kha of the 鈥筞ila Parishad (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024.
Except for three districts in the hill, the government appointed administrators in 61 districts in separate order.
The section states that the chairman or anyone on the council can be removed if involved in any activities considered damaging to the council or the state.
In another notification, the government removed all 493 upazila parishad chairmen and vice-chairmen under Section 13 Gha of the Upazila Parishad (Amendment) Ordinance 2024.
The section stated that the council could be removed if its members refuse to perform duties or become ineligible for their mental or physical inability.
The government also appointed administrators in place of chairmen in a separate gazette.
Municipal mayors of 323 municipalities across the country were removed in another notification.
The notification stated that the mayors were removed under Section 32 Ka of the Local Government (Municipality) Amendment Ordinance 2024.
In another notification, the government appointed administrators to the posts.
The section states that a mayor or councillor can be removed if anyone remains absent from three parishad meetings without a valid reason, despite notices.
The local government鈥檚 joint secretary for union parishad, Mohammad Fazla Azim, said that no decision has yet been taken about the union parishads.
The ordinances that were applied to dismiss local government representatives were promulgated by the president on August 16, after the fall of Sheikh Hasina.
The country鈥檚 administrative system has 12 city corporations, 330 municipalities, 64 zila parishads, 495 upazila parishads and 4,571 union parishads.
Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar said that the situation arose due to questionable local government elections under the deposed AL government.
He blamed the representatives for the crisis since they were not elected through a participatory and fair election.
He demanded acceptable elections as soon as possible to hand over the local bodies to elected representatives.