Trust deficit in the local governance

The first phase of the Upazila Election held recently once again reflected the basic weakness of our local government system. Despite having all the built-in distortion in the overall governance system, we do have a local government structure which remains hobbled by a plethora of challenges. Over-centralisation, inadequate financial resources, weak institutional capacities and limited citizen participation, have plagued this tier of government for a long time.

In addition to the central government’s bureaucratic presence in the local government operation, the national politics also gripped the political clout of the local government system that resulted in a very low voter turnout in this election. Election Commission said that the average voter turnout for the first phase of the sixth Upazila Parishad elections was 36.1 percent. Polls were held in 139 Upazilas in the first phase of the elections on Wednesday.

After the last general election held on January 7 this year, the Election Commission’s biggest challenges for the polls are to ensure good voter turnout while keeping the election free of any influence. The Commission seems failed to create a congenial atmosphere to attract voters to this election in the first phase.

People lose trust in an institution when it fails to stand firm on its promise, when it is visibly ridden by corruption, guided by political motivation, or is perceived to be staffed by unqualified people who were chosen not based on skills or merit but by their political affiliation.

The long history of local government in Bangladesh is not comfortable. It has been marred by the national politics. A stable local government beginning from Union Parishad, the lowest tier of local government, is crucial for the long-term development of rural communities and the strengthening of democracy. But now, with the absence of opposition parties in all the elections, the local government offices have turned into the extension of the central political chemistry of the ruling party Awami League.

The country's political difficulties are founded in its political culture. This culture has also harmed Bangladesh's efforts to democratise its local government structure. Just before the first phase of the upozila election, the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) conducted an analysis of the affidavit of the candidates and revealed that nearly 70 per cent of the candidates contesting in the first phase of the imminent Upazila Parishad elections are businesspersons, with 94 of them are multimillionaires. The TIB analysis clearly showed that those who are contesting local government polls are not local at all.

If we look at the volume of violence, complaints related to nominations, corruption, etc. we find a complete negative message about the overall system. As Local Government elections were previously held on a non-party basis, numerous neutral and locally popular candidates were able to be elected. But now, this does not happen as often. Although this time ruling party did not allow the party symbol ‘boat’, the nomination process has reportedly been tainted by corruption. Despite repeated requests and instructions from party general secretary, the ruling party ministers and MPs did not agree to withdraw their near ones from the election race. This attitude reflects the authoritarian mindset of the ruling party stalwarts in the centre as well in the periphery.

Party-based elections can provide an opportunity for locals to be conscious in selecting their leaders and increase their participation in the development process at the grassroots. Party-based elections allow elected representatives to reap the most benefits from the political government. The party in power thus gets to implement its programme at the local level with full support from its elected members in the local government offices. But the reality is that the party-based election divided the entire local society in line with the feuding groups of the ruling Awami League.

As the political leadership is too dependent on the administrative authorities to dominate the ruling system, to keep opposition out of the race, the bureaucrats take the opportunity to grab the political system in their own hands. As a result, people are unable to participate fully in the local government activities.

The sordid side of this political culture kept people at the grassroot level to think that they no more belong to the local government system. This is a game of the rich people coming from the central political structure and the system is to be operated by bureaucrats, not by the representatives of their choice.

The writer is a senior journalist and social issue analyst.