Elected members must make wealth info public

The elected representatives to the local government bodies will have to make public their wealth statement upon entering office, recommends a high-powered committee on local government. Formed on June 3 by the caretaker government, the seven-member committee headed by former secretary Dr AMM Shawkat Ali will submit its report to Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed today with a set of recommendations on how to strengthen the local government institutions and ensure good governance at the grassroots level. The existing laws lack a provision requiring the representatives to publish their wealth statements. They only state that those elected to local government units will declare their wealth to the government.About the rationale for its proposal, the committee said once the wealth accounts are made public, the constituents will be able to know about the assets belonging to their representatives and they can also notice if the office-holders are involved in illegal income abusing their positions. If the recommendations translate into laws, the ones elected to the union parishads, city corporations, and municipalities and also to zila and upazila parishads will have to announce their wealth statements. Talking to reporters at his office yesterday, LGRD and Cooperatives Adviser M Anwarul Iqbal said on receipt of the report the government will form an inter-ministerial committee for quick implementation of the recommendations. He also said they are considering holding the long overdue elections to upazila parishads alongside the next parliamentary polls to save expenditure. The adviser said the Election Commission (EC) would get back the authority to announce the schedule for upazila polls. At first, the committee was given three months' time to come up with recommendations. But the time was extended for another two months that will end next month. Soon after formation, the committee held a series of view-exchange meetings with professionals, political leaders, former lawmakers and other stakeholders.It drew up the recommendations taking into account the opinions of experts and stakeholders and review of the present structure and functions of the local government units.The report suggests setting up an independent commission to check interference from the political government in local government affairs, dissolving the controversial Gram Sarker system and introducing a three-tier local government comprising zila, upazila and union parishads, sources close to the committee said. In addition, it outlines qualifications and disqualifications for the aspirants to the local government bodies. It also redefines jurisdiction and functions of the institutions to ensure increased participation of women. The committee thinks election expenditure for the mayoral candidates should be fixed on the basis of number of voters in a given city corporation.The current laws allow a mayoral candidate to spend Tk 5 lakh regardless of the size of voters. The committee recommends Tk 5 lakh cap on election expenses for a contestant in Dhaka City Corporation, Tk 3 lakh for Chittagong and Tk 2 lakh for other city corporations.