Bangladesh News

The mayors and councillors elect who hold party posts will have to resign from those posts before taking oath of offices in accordance with the new laws on formation and functions of city corporations and municipalities.

This will create a vacuum in the leadership of the political parties at the grassroots level and the Awami League (AL) which won majority posts in Monday’s polls to four city corporations and nine municipalities will be the most affected.

The caretaker government promulgated the laws in May this year with the strict provision in an effort to free the local government institutions from the grips of partisan politics.

Most of the 278 mayors and councillors elected in Monday’s polls are actively affiliated with political parties and holding posts of party committees at the grassroots levels.

Senior AL leaders yesterday told The Daily Star that they would ask the government to amend the laws to allow the elected mayors and councillors to hold party posts.

“We will ask the government not to implement the law,” AL Presidium member Amir Hossain Amu said, adding that they had already opposed the law and demanded that the government change it.

Talukder Abdul Khaleque, who has been elected Khulna City Corporation (KCC) mayor, holds the post of Khulna city AL chief; Badar Uddin Ahmad Kamran, who won the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) mayoral polls, is the Sylhet city AL president; AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) mayor elect, is the general secretary of Rajshahi city AL; and Shawkat Hossain Hiron, who won the Barisal City Corporation (BCC) mayoral race, is the convener of Barisal city AL.

AL-backed candidates, who hold posts in different local committees of the party, won eight of the nine municipality mayoral posts.

Most of the 157 councillors elected in the four city corporations and 108 councillors elected in the nine municipalities are grassroots level leaders of different political parties. The AL-backed candidates had a landslide victory in these polls.

According to the laws, elected mayors and councillors will have to take oath of the new offices in a month since publication of the election results through official gazettes which, according to Election Commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hussain, would be published in a day or two.

If an elected mayor or councillor fails to abide by the legal provisions, they will be disqualified from taking oath of their new offices.

The AL senior leaders yesterday said the government should not enforce the law at this moment.

Referring to several countries where city mayors hold their party posts, AL Presidium member Tofail Ahmed termed the law “illogical”.

Another AL Presidium member Motia Chowdhury said a process is going on in the party to take a decision on the matter and that the party’s legal cell would look into it.

The AL hopes that the government will come to a solution to the problem soon, said AL’s legal expert Suranjit Sengupta, adding, “Political identity should not be an obstacle to taking oath since people have elected them with their political identities.”

Newly elected KCC Mayor Khaleque told The Daily Star yesterday that he would consult with the party high command before taking any decision on resigning from his party post.

BCC Mayor elect Hiron meanwhile said he is not aware of the restrictions imposed by the law and that he would definitely resign from his party post if the law asks to do so.

RCC Mayor elect Liton told The Daily Star that there should not be the law for the sake of fair practice of democracy.

He, however, said, “If the government does not amend the law before we take oath, we will have to abide by the law.” He would talk to the party high command regarding the matter, he added.