Badiul Alam Majumdar, political analyst, local government and election expert, and founder-secretary of SHUJAN (Citizens for Good Governance), has said the shake up in city corporation and municipality mayors as well as district and upazila council chairmen was necessary to keep the administration function, and it was not ideal that so many officials in crucial positions abandoned their duties and went into hiding.
Badiul Alam, also an economist and development worker, told Dhaka Tribune that the country was facing a special situation and the changes had been essential to maintaining citizen services, as many representatives from the previous government had gone into hiding.
“Therefore, administrative changes were necessary. The interim government will manage these responsibilities for the next six months, potentially extending the period if needed.”
Since Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled the country, the country has witnessed sweeping changes in administrative and government sectors.
The mayors of 12 city corporations, including those in Dhaka’s north and south, were removed from their positions on Monday, with government officials appointed as administrators in their place.
In districts and upazilas, upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs) were instructed to take over the duties of chairmen and vice chairmen.
However, no decision has been made yet regarding union parishad chairmen and councillors.
Elected public representatives removed from their posts also include 60 district council chairmen, 493 upazila council chairmen, 988 upazila council vice chairmen and 323 municipal mayors.
Administrators were appointed to fill 61 district council positions (the Natore district council chairman position was declared vacant due to a death).
In addition, separate notifications were issued to appoint UNOs as administrators of upazila councils.
Most of the representatives under the Local Government Division at the district and upazila levels were backed by the Awami League.
After Sheikh Hasina's resignation on August 5, a significant portion of mayors, upazila chairmen, ward councillors and union council chairmen went into hiding. Many have been arrested, and some have died, leading to a standstill in local government operations and depriving citizens of services.
The move to remove elected local representatives came in response to that.
Previously, President Mohammed Shahabuddin on August 17 approved the advisory council's recommendation to amend four related laws, allowing the interim government to appoint administrators to the local government bodies under special circumstances.
Md Mahmudul Hasan, additional secretary and the newly appointed administrator of the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), on Tuesday said services would continue uninterrupted. "We will prioritize the expectations of the people in all our activities."
Meanwhile, Dr Sher Ali, the administrator of the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), said decisions on services previously handled by councillors and their positions would be made centrally by the government.
Efforts were being made to address issues with damaged councillor offices, he said, adding expressing hope that recent events would not disrupt citizen services.
Earlier, Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Adviser AF Hassan Ariff told the media that while 12 city corporation mayors had been removed, no decisions had been made regarding councillors or union parishad chairmen.
“The key point is that administrators will replace mayors and chairmen. We will proceed step by step. This is an effort to clean up the entire local government."
