Court-declared mayor Shahadat now appointed Chattogram City administrator

The government has appointed ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Shahadat Hossain, who became mayor of Chattogram City Corporation following a court ruling, as the administrator of the same corporation.

He was appointed on a full-time basis through a notification issued by the Local Government Division on Sunday (25 October).

The Local Government Division had prepared a proposal to appoint Shahadat Hossain as administrator in March as well, but no order was issued at the time. He has now been appointed administrator amid questions over the tenure of the elected council and his continuation in the mayoral office.

The notification, signed by Local Government Division Deputy Secretary Jewel Rana, states that Shahadat Hossain will serve as administrator until further orders under Section 4 of the Local Government (City Corporation) (Amendment) Act, 2026.

According to the notification, he will receive monthly remuneration and other allowances in accordance with the rules. The order, issued in the public interest, takes immediate effect.

On 27 April, Prothom Alo ran a report on the tenure of Chattogram City Corporation’s elected council and Shahadat Hossain’s continuation in office. Citing documents from the Local Government Division, the report said the elected council held its first meeting on 23 February 2021. Accordingly, its five-year term ended on 22 February this year.

Shahadat Hossain, however, had told Prothom Alo at the time that, under a court order, his tenure would continue until November 2029. However, documents from the Local Government Division stated that although the court had declared him mayor, it had issued no separate direction regarding the length of his tenure.

According to the report, a proposal to appoint Shahadat as a full-time administrator had been prepared in March, but no order was issued. Earlier, on 3 February, the Local Government Division had written to the election commission requesting that arrangements be made to hold an election.

BNP leader Shahadat Hossain contested the mayoral election of Chattogram City Corporation held on 27 January 2021. According to the results announced at the time, Awami League candidate Rezaul Karim Chowdhury was declared the winner with 369,248 votes. Shahadat Hossain, his closest rival, was shown to have received 52,489 votes.

Alleging widespread irregularities and vote-rigging, Shahadat filed a case with the election tribunal on 24 February that year, seeking to have the results annulled. Nine people, including the then chief election commissioner, were named as defendants.

Following the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August 2024, Rezaul Karim Chowdhury was removed from the mayoral post. On 19 August that year, the government appointed Chattogram Divisional Commissioner Md Tofail Islam as administrator of the city corporation.

Subsequently, on 1 October, Mohammad Khairul Amin, judge of the Chattogram election tribunal and joint district and sessions judge, delivered a verdict in Shahadat’s case. The ruling overturned the decision to declare Rezaul Karim Chowdhury elected and declared Shahadat Hossain the elected mayor. It also directed that a notification be issued to this effect within 10 days.

Following the court’s order, the election commission issued a revised notification on 8 October, declaring Shahadat Hossain mayor. He was sworn in on 3 November in the conference room of the Local Government Division at the Secretariat. AF Hassan Ariff, the then local government adviser to the interim government, administered the oath.

Nearly three years and nine months after the election, Shahadat was sworn in as mayor. He will now run the corporation as an administrator appointed by the government.