Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has alleged partisan considerations in the appointment of administrators to city corporations and district councils, as well as in the replacement of vice-chancellors at several public universities, terming the process "contrary to democratic continuity."
The allegation was made by Jamaat Assistant Secretary General and Central Executive Council member Maulana Abdul Halim at a press conference held at the party’s central office in Dhaka's Moghbazar today.
According to the Jamaat leader, instead of entrusting responsibilities to representatives elected by popular vote, the government has appointed administrators based on party considerations. Through such steps, he said, public opinion in the local government system has been disregarded. He urged the authorities to hold local government elections without delay and hand over responsibilities to elected representatives.
Abdul Halim said people had expected that local government polls would be arranged swiftly after the national election. However, he alleged that by appointing administrators instead, the government was trying to create a favourable situation for itself.
The Jamaat leader also said that after a prolonged movement demanding the restoration of democratic processes, such “partisan decisions” were hurting public expectations.
Raising similar allegations over district council appointments, Abdul Halim said the government had announced the appointment of administrators in 42 district councils on March 15. He said that party considerations had also dominated these appointments.
Abdul Halim also expressed concern over developments in the higher education sector. He said the matter could have been viewed differently if the authorities had clearly explained any shortcomings in the qualifications or performance of the previous appointees. However, he argued that appointing individuals with party links to key academic posts ran counter to the principle of merit-based recruitment.
The Jamaat leader also raised the issue of the change in the Bangladesh Bank governor at the press conference.
Responding to a question on whether Jamaat viewed the government’s recent actions as indicative of authoritarian tendencies, Abdul Halim said the party did not want to make such strong remarks at this stage. He said Jamaat, as a responsible opposition party, was currently lodging its protest while observing the situation. However, he warned that phased programmes could be announced if their demands were not met.
