EC declares BNP’s Ishraque Hossain as mayor of Dhaka South

The Election Commission issues a gazette with guidance from the law ministry

The Election Commission has accepted the court’s ruling and declared BNP leader Ishraque Hossain as the mayor of Dhaka South five years after the polls.

EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said the commission had issued a gazette appointing him as mayor on Sunday.

The EC published the gazette after receiving word from the law ministry, he said.

A copy of the gazette was sent to the Local Government Division to take the next step for the swearing-in of the new mayor.

On Mar 27, Judge Md Nurul Islam of Dhaka District Judge’s Court and the Election Tribunal court declared Ishraque Hossain as the mayor of Dhaka South, scrapping the 2020 election results where Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh emerged victorious.

The gazette issued by the government declaring Taposh, elected under the boat symbol, as mayor had also been cancelled.

Ishraque, the son of former mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, was declared mayor as a candidate under the paddy sheaf symbol of the BNP.

Dhaka North and South City Corporation elections were held on Feb 1, 2020.

Awami League’s mayor candidates Atiqul Islam and Taposh had won the elections in Dhaka North and South before the EC published the gazette the following day.

They swore in and performed their duties until the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government when they lost their seats.

On Mar 3, Ishraque appealed to overturn the results of the 2020 Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) mayoral election, bringing charges of irregularities, corruption and lack of credibility.