The Election Commission issues a gazette notification to this end
Published : 09 Oct 2024, 12:01 AM
The Election Commission has announced BNP candidate Shahadat Hossain as Mayor of Chattogram City Corporation, or CCC, following the verdict issued by the port city’s electoral tribunal.
The EC Secretariat issued a gazette notification replacing Awami League-backed former mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury with him on Tuesday.
EC Secretary Shafiul Azim said, “The gazette has been issued upon the legal opinion taken from the law ministry. There is an obligation of the court order as the commission is non-existent now. The ministry gave its opinion taking this into consideration and in this case, the EC Secretariat can issue the gazette notification.”
He said the Local Government Division will take the next step. The agency is also free to hand over the responsibility by organising the oath of office.
On Oct 1, the Chattogram Electoral Tribunal declared Shahadat as CCC mayor three and a half years after the election was held.
Shahadat, former organising secretary of the BNP, went to the electoral tribunal alleging rigging and seeking the election result be nullified.
The paddy sheaf candidate secured the second-highest 52,489 votes in the CCC mayoral elections.
The EC declared Rezaul, joint general secretary of Awami League’s Chattogram unit, the winner of the election as he had fetched 369,248 votes.
The mayors and councillors of all city corporations were removed and replaced by administrators after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government.
Rezaul was removed by the interim government and replaced by the city's divisional commissioner who was appointed as an administrator to this role on Aug 19.