Zila Parishads: Voters chose mostly clean chairmen

Most of the newly elected district council chairmen have a clean image as they are educated and have no criminal records.

Of the 59 chairmen-elect, 43 are graduates and only three are facing criminal cases, according to their affidavits submitted to the Election Commission.

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It is a good sign that such candidates are being elected which would ultimately strengthen the local government bodies and contribute to qualitative improvement of politics, said local government experts.

“Usually, we find most of the local government bodies to be dominated by people with poor educational backgrounds and criminal records. The more well-educated and candidates with a clean image are elected, the more it would bring qualitative changes in local government bodies,” said M Hafiz Uddin Khan, president of Shushashoner Janney Nagorik (Shujan).

Eight chairmen-elect have completed Higher Secondary Certificate and one Secondary School Certificate. However, only two could not complete schooling.

Like the previous national and local government polls, Wednesday's maiden zila parishad elections also witnessed the trend of a rising number of businessmen becoming winners, said experts.

Of the newly elected chairmen, 35 are businessmen and nine lawyers. The others are physicians, teachers and private employees.

“While no one can question businesspersons' rights to enter politics, problem arises when this happens because the public office is perceived and used as a profit-making venture, most often by abuse of power,” said Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman.

“A robust conflict of interest law should be enacted and strictly enforced to prevent use of public offices for promoting business interest and ensure that such interest do not affect decision-making of public officials and representatives,” he told The Daily Star.

There are 64 zila parishads in the country. Polls in Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari are held under a separate law. Chairman elections in two other districts were postponed following a High Court order.

Of the 59 chairmen-elect, 21 favourites of the ruling Awami League were elected uncontested.

Forty-six newly elected chairmen took part in the elections with AL's blessings, 11 winners were AL rebels, one was backed by Jatiya Party and another was an independent candidate.