Ishraque issues various ‘instructions’ without taking oath, govt keeps mum

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Ishraque Hossain, who has declared himself mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) without swearing in, held a meeting with around 70 ward secretaries of the DSCC at Nagar Bhaban on Tuesday.

The meeting took place in an auditorium on the ground floor of the DSCC’s headquarters. Officials from the city corporation’s 10 administrative zones also attended the meeting.

The banner for the meeting at Nagar Bhaban read, “A meeting to exchange views with administrative officers and ward secretaries to ensure citizen services at the ward level. Chief guest is Engineer Ishraque Hossain, Honourable mayor, Dhaka South City Corporation.”

Sources from the meeting said that Ishraque Hossain instructed forming of a five-member committee in each ward, comprising former ward councillors, who are involved with BNP, and prominent individuals.

He also directed that the services previously handled by the councillors’ offices will be provided through those committees.

He has also instructed ward secretaries to attend office regularly and to continue delivering civic services such as birth and death registrations, heir certificates, and character certificates.

DSCC has 75 wards, each with a ward secretary. They are responsible for carrying out civic services including birth and death registration.

Local government experts and urban planners have criticised Ishraque Hossain’s actions, stating that his attempt to take control of the mayor’s office without legal authority or official oath sets a bad precedent.

They have also described his forcible takeover of Nagar Bhaban as unprecedented and raised concerns over the silence of the interim government, particularly the local government ministry.

Administrative activities at Nagar Bhaban, the DSCC headquarters, have been paralysed for over a month due to the protests demanding that Ishraque be formally handed the responsibilities of mayor.

Amid this, the BNP leader has been performing “mayoral duties” on his own since Monday. On that day, he held a meeting with around 70 cleaning inspectors and gave directives regarding the dengue situation.

Despite widespread criticism, Isharque proceeded with Tuesday’s meeting with ward secretaries and administrative officials.

Sources at Nagar Bhaban stated that Ishraque would hold a meeting with mosquito control supervisors from each ward of DSCC today, Wednesday. His close associates informed Prothom Alo that he plans to hold meetings with every department in the coming days.

Before holding a meeting with ward secretaries and administrative officials at Nagar Bhaban, Ishraque Hossain spoke to the media, demanding the resignation of local government adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain.

He alleged that the adviser had provided “false and misleading” information to the media regarding his swearing in as mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation.

The BNP leader also urged the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate corruption allegations against the adviser.

“By presenting false and misleading information to the media, the local government adviser has lost the moral right to hold office. He has violated his oath. We demand his resignation for that,” Ishraque said.

Ishraque further claimed that once the official gazette declaring the election winner is published, individuals like Shojib Bhuyain may encourage defeated candidates or any citizen to file a writ petition at the High Court to prevent the winner from taking the oath. If such a petition remains unresolved and the 30-day period mentioned in the gazette elapses, the elected public representative may permanently lose the opportunity to be sworn in.

Prothom Alo tried to contact local government adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain over phone last night to get his response to these allegations, but he did not answer.

However, on Monday, he told Prothom Alo, “Once the city corporation’s term has ended, a new mayor can only be appointed through fresh elections. There is no opportunity to administer an oath otherwise.”

The DSCC mayoral election was held on 1 February 2020. The election was marred by allegations of widespread irregularities and vote rigging. Ishraque Hossain was the BNP candidate in the election.

After the fall of the Awami League government in a mass uprising on 5 August last year, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh was removed from the DSCC mayoral post.

Later, on 27 March this year, an electoral tribunal declared Ishraque Hossain the winner of that election. The election commission (EC) then published a gazette on 27 April declaring him mayor.

A “leave to appeal” was filed seeking to suspend the tribunal’s verdict and the gazette, but on 29 May the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court disposed of the appeal with observations.

Following the SC court order, Ishraque’s lawyer AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon told newspersons that the court had observed that the EC, being an independent constitutional body, would decide the matter.

After reviewing the court’s observations, election commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah told newspersons on 4 June that the EC had completed its responsibilities by publishing the gazette declaring Ishraque Hossain as mayor.

Ishraque’s supporters have been staging a continuous protest taking positions inside the Nagar Bhaban since 14 May, demanding their leader be officially handed over the mayoral responsibilities.

The movement is being organised under the banner of “residents of Dhaka”. On the second day of the demonstrations, the doors of Nagar Bhaban were locked. Since then, all official work at the Nagar Bhaban stopped, except for mosquito control and cleanliness operations. The officials are also not being able to attend their offices.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Ishraque Hossain said he had received a message from the government suggesting a resolution (regarding his swearing-in as mayor).

He warned the government that the movement on the streets will resume again if no solution is provided.

Isharque further said, “The interim government and its advisers are responsible for this situation. The chief adviser cannot avoid this situation. I urge him to address the issue and provide a logical solution to free the citizens of Dhaka.”

Ishraque’s supporters and a group of DSCC employees staged a sit-in protest on the ground floor of Nagar Bhaban from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm even on Tuesday

Speaking about the situation, Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) president Adil Muhammad Khan said that Ishraque has directly challenged the state’s administrative structure by occupying Nagar Bhaban with his supporters.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, he further said that holding meetings and issuing directives to various departments without taking the oath is effectively a challenge to the authority of the interim government.

According to Adil Muhammad Khan, the election commission’s decision and the court’s ruling should have resolved the stalemate.

The government must now take action as per the law, he remarked.

Calling Ishraque’s forceful assumption of control over Nagar Bhaban a bad precedent, the BIP president expressed, as a major political party, the BNP must take the matter seriously.

Ishraque Hossain as a young political leader also should develop a deeper realisation of the responsibilities involved, he added.