The Local Government Reform Commission is likely to place a proposal for holding all the local body elections in a particular area on a single day to reduce the election costs. “It is also being considered whether elections for all local government bodies in an area can be held on the same day. It will reduce the cost of elections,” said Chief of the Reform Commission Dr Tofail Ahmed. Local government reform committee chief highlights key issues in reform dialogue He was addressing a views-exchange with media persons at the National Institute of Local Government in the capital on Monday. The Local Government Reform Commission formed by the interim government on November 18 last is supposed to submit their reform report within the 90 days after the formation.   Noting that Tk 23,000 crore was spent on various local government elections between 2021 and 2024, he said if the elections were held in a single day, it would have been possible to hold these elections at a cost of Tk 6,000 crore. In this case, there will be no direct election to the post of chairman or mayor in a local body, rather elected members or councilors would elect its chairman or mayor, he added. Citing that there is no system for local government, he said there should be a unified electoral system for all types of local government bodies to bring these under a system. Govt extends tenure of 6 reform commissions “If the local government bodies are brought under a parliamentary-like system (not holding a direct election to the chairman or mayoral post of a local government body), it will be easy to arrange elections,” said the commission chief. Now there are different types of electoral systems for Union Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Zilla Parishad.   Dr Ahmed said his commission is thinking about a number of reform proposals, including scrapping the provision of using political parties’ symbols in the local body elections and reducing interference of local MP in the functions of local bodies. “There is a line in the circulars that come from the ministries over the development projects of the local government bodies to consult with the local MP, which should not be there,” he said. Dr Ahmed also said they are considering placing a proposal in their report to formulate a unified law for all types of local government bodies. 6 reform commissions not submitting their reports today, new submission dates set Raising the views of people from outside Dhaka, Dr Ahmed said his commission is gaining the opinions from the people outside Dhaka to prioritize the arrangement of local body elections. As per the opinions they (reform commission) get outside Dhaka, people are prioritising local government elections. But it is not being heard much from politicians in Dhaka, he said. “The local leaders of parties that are demanding early (national) elections are talking about two elections (local body elections and national election). Some are talking about local government elections first…some are talking about national and local government elections on the same day,” he added. The commission chief said the opinions of people at the local level are that they are in a vacuum and not getting services from local government bodies ( in absence of public representatives). This is why they think that local government elections should be held now. This opinion is also shared by the local leaders of political parties, he added.

The government has extended the tenure of six reform commissions tasked with addressing major challenges and driving improvements across various sectors. The Cabinet Division issued a notification to this effect on Thursday. According to the notification, the tenures of the Public Administration Reform Commission, Police Reform Commission, Electoral Reform Commission, Anti-Corruption Reform Commission, Constitutional Reform Commission, and Judiciary Reform Commission have been extended. The tenures of five of the commissions, excluding the Judiciary Reform Commission, have been extended until January 15. However, the Judiciary Reform Commission’s tenure has been extended until January 31, added the notification. 6 reform commissions not submitting their reports today, new submission dates set The Constitutional Reform Commission was formed on October 6, while the other five commissions were established on October 3, with a 90-day deadline to submit their reports. As such, the term of all the commissions, except the Constitutional Reform Commission, was due to end on Thursday (January 2). The tenure of the Constitutional Reform Commission was originally set to end on 4 January. Reform Commission to recommend scrapping police verification for passports, govt jobs The extensions aim to provide the necessary time for the commissions to complete their tasks and submit their final reports.