Election of the Local Government Bodies with Party Identity: Bangladesh Perspective

Abstract

<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>The Bangladesh Local Self-Government (Amendment) Act of 2015 provided a new system of partisan election in the local self-government bodies, supplanting the old system of non-partisan election. The government claimed that the new system would, among other things, strengthen the foundation of democracies by establishing linkage between the local and central democracies. The amended Act has received the comments both of its adversaries and adherents. According to the former the act was passed for the advancement of the interest of the ruling party in power and it would, among other things, destroy the level playing ground and the rural power structures; and that it would conform to the top-down approach to democracy against the down-top approach as exist in the UK. Against these arguments the opponents argue: the new system has been passed for the interest of the state. Always the change is an important element of development for human society. But this change would improve the level playing ground and would destroy the old power structures in rural areas and establish, on its ruins, an unadulterated local democracy. Thus the two groups are set apart and the arguments of each group are elected on granite. An intelligent researcher might say that no system was perfect and that if the old system was bad, the new one is worse.</em></p>

Full Text: PDF