Municipality bill passed dropping MPs as advisers

Parliament yesterday passed the Local Government (Municipality)-Bill 2009 dropping the controversial provision of making the MPs advisers to the local government body.
The change came at the final stage of passing the bill when ruling party MP and former chairman of Gazipur municipality AKM Mozammel Huque opposed the provision for making the MPs the advisers of the local government and urged the speaker to cancel this clause of the bill. Mozammel also opposed the provision for the posts of deputy mayor in the bill. Later the bill was passed with those amendments by voice vote.     
Local government and rural development minister Syed Ashraful Islam piloted the bill in parliament keeping provision for making MP’s advisers to the local government body and creating post of deputy mayor in the municipality.
Awami League MP A K M Mozammel Haq, proposed some amendments to the bill and urged the government not to make the MPs advisers to the local government body.
Some MPs, irrespective of parties, started shouting “we don’t accept” when Haq was speaking against the provision of making the MPs ex-officio advisers.
“As there is a provision of making a panel of chairmen, I think there is no need to create two posts of deputy mayors,” he said.
Speaker Abdul Hamid, who was presiding over the session, then placed the proposals to vote to decide their fate.
“The MPs will not remain advisers to the municipalities the way it has been passed.”
Syed Ashraf tabled the bill on March 3, which was then sent to parliamentary standing committee on local government for scrutiny.
The standing committee inserted the provision of making the MPs ex-officio advisers to municipalities, proposing that the lawmakers should be the advisers but their recommendation would not be mandatory.
According to Clause 29 (1) of the bill before taking oath the mayors and the councillors have to submit statements of their movable and immovable properties and those of their family members at home and abroad including taxpayer’s identification number (if applicable) through affidavit. And it will be considered misconduct if a mayor or councillor submits false statement. There is provision for taking legal action against them.
The bill further said that a loan defaulter would not be eligible for contesting for mayoral or councillor posts.
Chief whip Abdus Shahid confirmed to bdnews24.com that the MPs would not be the advisers.
Parliament also passed another bill titled Pesticides (Amendment) Bill-2009 yesterday. Agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury placed the bill and it was passed by voice vote.

Courtesy of The Independent