Accused of electoral fraud and financial embezzlement but apparently unflustered, Luftur has dared UK local government minister Eric Pickles to stop him from 'fulfilling my pre-election promises'.
"I challenge Pickles, he can't stop me."
Lutfur claimed the Price Waterhouse Coopers report has not come up with anything unbecoming of him and insisted the Local government minister had misled the parliament.
He threatened legal action against the minister if he overstepped the limits of parliamentary conduct.
On Nov 4, the 200-page report by accountants Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) was released. It blamed the Tower Hamlets council for handing out hundreds of thousands of pounds in public money to local bodies that were not eligible for it.
It also criticised the east London council for “failing in its duty to acquire best value for local taxpayers”.
Rahman, an independent politician popular with the Bangladeshi community, was re-elected in May but his victory has been challenged in the High Court amid charges that the vote was riddled with fraud.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles ordered the PwC in April to investigate allegations of poor governance, financial mismanagement and fraud.
At an hour-long hearing on Tuesday, he told MPs that there was evidence of “cronyism”.
After the report was published, the council was barred until 2017 from disbursement of public money, sale of assets and senior appointments at the Council. Three administrators were appointed to keep the local government department informed.
In protest, Lutfur's party Tower Hamlets First organised a gathering at East London's Water Lily Banquet Hall on Wednesday.
It was attended by other Labour leaders like former London Mayor Ken Livingstone.
"I am answerable to my constituents only, those who have voted for me. Nobody, not even Eric Pickles, can stop me from fulfulling my pre-election promises," said a defiant Lutfur.
Blaming his detractors for 'racist tendencies', Luftur said: "London like Paris and New York is one of the world's leading cities. So these people who are after me are those who can’t come to terms with the idea of a Bengali Muslim Mayor in the heart of the city,"
Ken Livingstone came to Luftur's defence alleging that the Labour Party was not defending the Bangladesh-origin Mayor.
“They need to take him back,” said the former London Mayor.
