Editorial
Putting local govt in place
Elections should be timed carefully
There can be no difference of opinion on the importance of an empowered, independent, transparent and accountable local government system that would strengthen the foundations of democracy and participatory development process in the country. Functional and neutral local government institutions, elected democratically, not only can address key issues like poverty, employment, environment, illiteracy and malnutrition, they also can help uproot corruption and lawlessness that stem from opportunistic politics. But there is no denying that democracy and rule of law failed to take a firm root in the country as these important institutions so long remained in the hands of corrupt political elements and their goons and a section of unscrupulous government officials. Thus, a thorough restructuring of the institutions has become a need of the hour, and this has been stressed by the chief adviser of the caretaker government Fakhruddin Ahmed in his speech while addressing the conference of the local government representatives in the city.
We believe the decision to prevent unwanted interference at the lowest tier of administration by members of parliament and create a permanent and neutral local government commission will go a long way to remove such unwanted interference and strengthen the foundation of the local level institutions. The past records show how MPs remained more interested in controlling the finance of various developmental works in their constituency than attending parliament sessions.
The important thing would be holding free and fair local government elections within the shortest possible time once the voter list has been prepared and put in effect reform recommendations of the expert committee. If time permits then holding the local government elections before the national elections would authenticate how far the voter list has become fault free, and allow time for the Election Commission (EC) to fine-tune it. The election would be a trial run for the EC and it would increase public confidence in the system that no doubt has lost much of its esteem in public eye. Should the local government elections be held earlier the chances of political interference would be minimum and there would be greater possibility of honest and clean candidates coming forward to contest.
If, however, preparation of the voter list drags on, and there is no leeway in holding of local government elections earlier, then it would be judicious to hold national, local and mayoral elections simultaneously. That would save money of the exchequer and lessen the burden of logistics and manpower requirement on the EC. We feel careful planning well in advance can ensure the completion of the important tasks to the satisfaction of all concerned.
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