There are chances that the polls in the Zila Parishads or the district councils may be held this year following the completion of the upcoming upazila parishad polls in March.
The local government ministry has already made the preparations for putting through a request to the Election Commission in this regard, officials of the local government ministry have said.
However, it would all depend on what political decision the present government made. The local government ministry would request the EC for holding the polls, if they got approval from the government top brass.
Additional Secretary of the Local Government Ministry Ashok Madhab Roy, who is also the personal secretary to the LGRD minister, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that they were ready to hold the district elections.
With the national elections already held and the upazila polls in the pipeline, the government might consider holding the polls of the district councils and the two city corporations of Dhaka at a suitable time, Roy said.
After failing to hold the district council polls, the previous Awami League-led government, in December 2011, appointed administrators to the 61 district councils around the country except for the three hill districts.
The administrators were all local political leaders chosen by the then government.
The appointment order issued at that time stipulated holding the Zila Parishad elections in six months, which, however, could not be held in more than two and a half years.
According to the Zila Parishad Act, a district council should comprise a chairman, 15 regular members and five reserved women members. The elected representatives of the upazilas parishads, the city and municipal corporations, and the union parishads will vote to elect them.
The chairmen of the Zila Parishads are also the head of the district development committees. The administrators, who were appointed in 2011, are now working as the chairmen of those committee.
LGRD ministry officials said the government now wanted to watch the impact of the upazila polls after having held a “controversial” parliamentary election on Januray 5. Voter turnout in the upazila polls would give the government the much needed indication for giving go-ahead to the district polls, they said.
Though the Zila parishads were formed in 1985 during tenure of former military ruler Ershad, the chairmen and members of the parishads were never elected – they were nominated by the government.
The Awami League-led government passed the new Zila Parishad Act in 2000.
The BNP-Jamaat-led government was also not interested in holding the district polls during its tenure.