Editorial
JS move to curtail MPs' advisory role
A welcome development
The Jatiya Sangsad (JS)'s passing of the Local Government (municipality) bill on Monday has come with a welcome feature. That is about rejecting the JS committee's recommendation to make lawmakers advisers to the municipalities. Through this bill the JS has brought in sharper focus the exact responsibilities of a Member of Parliament (MP) in the legislative assembly. We commend the JS move.
The recommendation that the MPs would advise the local government bodies like the municipalities was not only one of defocusing the appropriate role of a lawmaker in parliament, but also amounted to interfering with the powers and functions of the local government bodies. In a similar fashion, the other recommendation of the same JS committee that the MPs from the metropolitan constituencies would advise the city corporations does also deserve to be voted out in parliament. Because, the very idea that a lawmaker should get involved affairs of the local government bodies was a counterproductive one. We are happy to this coming to an end.
Under the controversial Upazila Parisad Act the legislators were vested with an advisory role vis-à-vis Upazila Parishad chairmen. The Upazila Parishad chairmen have already registered their opposition against this provision. Their resistance to this provision is understandable since the advisory role of the MPs has also been made obligatory for Upazila chairmen through this Act. After the bold move of the Jatiya Sangsad in the case of the Local Government bill (municipality), we hope the same principle will apply in the case of the Upazila Parishads. This will go a long way to strengthen the local government institutions.
It is only natural that in a parliamentary form of government, lawmakers should be concerned about the well-being of their constituents. But at the same time, they cannot be forgetful of the fact that there are also various elected public representative bodies to perform their tasks within their own, well-defined jurisdictions. So, unnecessary intrusion into one another's area of work far from helping things does only complicate matters. In the circumstances, in order to avoid overlapping as well as conflicts of interests, it is advisable that a line is clearly drawn between the responsibilities of the MPs within their respective constituencies and those of other elected bodies like the local government bodies.
The lawmakers should better concentrate their roles in framing laws in parliament and overseeing the activities of the government through the parliamentary committees created for the purpose. That would serve their constituents best and also help the local self-government system discharge its responsibilities better in the greater interest of the participatory democracy.
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