One of the central objectives of the mass uprising that brought down the Sheikh Hasina government was to establish a democratic system of governance, the foremost prerequisite of which is government based on the consent of the people.

Such consent is expressed through elections—not only to the Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) but also through the election of representatives at every level. To this end, our Constitution provides for both parliamentary elections and elections to local government bodies. The 13th parliamentary election has already been held, in February.

Since the national election, we have repeatedly heard assurances from the government that local government elections will be held soon. The election commission (EC) has also repeatedly said that it is preparing for them. It is understood that elections at all levels of local government will begin with union parishad elections towards the end of this year.

However, the government has already appointed political figures as administrators of city corporations and district councils (Zilla Parishads). It has now begun appointing administrators to union parishads as well.