Dhaka mayors-elect Atiqul, Taposh likely to wait for over three months to take charge

Atiqul Islam and Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh may have to wait as long as for more than three months to take charges after winning the mayoral elections to the Dhaka North and South City Corporations, respectively.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 2 Feb 2020, 10:09 PM
Updated : 2 Feb 2020, 10:09 PM

Election Commission officials said they were preparing to gazette the results of the polls won by the Awami League candidates on Saturday.

The Local Government Division will then organise the oath-taking ceremonies.

But in the South, Mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon still has until May 13 to run his five-year term.

“It’s clear when the Dhaka South mayor’s tenure will begin. The mayor-elect [Taposh] will take charge after the end of the outgoing mayor’s tenure,” Helal Uddin Ahmad, a former Election Commission secretary, told bdnews24.com on Sunday.

Former election commissioner Md Abdul Mobarak agreed. “He [mayor-elect] must wait until the end of current city corporation’s term,” he said.

The case is a little different in the North as Atiqul has been re-elected this time. He had been elected mayor last year in a by-election after the death of Annisul Huq.

Annisul’s tenure would also have run until mid-May had he been alive.

“The city corporation’s tenure has not ended. So the mayor-elect [Atiqul] will remain in the same position until the end of the term even after publication of the gazette and swearing-in,” Mobarak said.

“I think they all will have to wait until May. There will be no problem in publication of the gazette and taking oath. Now let’s see what the legal analysts say,” Helal said.