Shahjahan authorised to nominate BNP candidates in municipal polls

BNP Joint Secretary General Md Shahjahan has been assigned the task of conveying to Election Commission the name of party-nominated mayor candidates for the municipal polls.

An authorisation letter signed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, was delivered to the EC by the party’s Assistant Publicity Secretary Syed Saleh Imran Prince on Saturday morning.

Deputy Secretary Shamsul Alam of the EC Secretariat received the letter.

Later, another delegation of the party went to the commission to place the BNP’s demand to defer the polls scheduled for Dec 30.

The EC had earlier set Saturday as the deadline for submitting the names of authorised persons who would attest the party-nominated candidates to the EC. This has been made mandatory in the new municipal election laws.

The Awami League too is supposed to submit the name of its authorised person to the commission by Saturday, EC officials have said.

Dec 3 is the last date for filing nominations for the elections to be held on party lines for the first time.

Shahjahan, a former MP from Noakhali Sadar constituency, has been given the charge in absence of the party’s acting secretary general and most other joint secretary generals, who are either behind bars or on the run.

He has also been given the responsibility to coordinate the revamping of the BNP.

BNP’s Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is in jail in connection with cases over violence and arson attacks during the party’s anti-government movements.

Of the joint secretary generals, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and Mizanur Rahman are behind bars, Amanullah Aman is abroad for treatment, Salahuddin Ahmed is fighting lawsuits in India for trespass, and Barkat Ullah Bulu is in hiding with a number of arrest warrants against him. Lawyer Mahbub Uddin Khokon is the other member of the joint secretary general panel.