Supporters of Ishraque Hossain staged a demonstration on Wednesday in front of Nagar Bhaban, the Dhaka South City Corporation headquarters, demanding he be sworn in as mayor of DSCC.
Despite being declared the winner by the Election Tribunal and having the result officially gazetted by the Election Commission, Ishraque has not yet been given mayoral responsibilities, the protesters said.
The protest began at 9am and was ongoing as of the filing of this report.
The protesters said Ishraque is the legitimate mayor according to the tribunal's verdict and the Election Commission’s gazette.
They demanded an explanation as to why he has not been sworn in yet, saying a clean, mosquito-free, and corruption-free Dhaka requires a people-friendly mayor like Ishraque.
They warned that they will continue their sit-in in front of the Nagar Bhaban until Ishraque is sworn in and escalate their protest if necessary.
Delwar Hossain, a resident of Ward 42, said: “Ishraque was the real winner of the 2020 election, but the government abused its power to declare Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh the mayor. The court has now proven Ishraque to be the legitimate mayor. Yet, he has not been sworn in, which is highly suspicious.”
He added: “We are only demanding that the legitimate mayor take the oath. If he is not sworn in by the end of the day, we will announce tougher programs.”
The DSCC election took place on February 1, 2020.
Awami League’s Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh was declared mayor after he defeated BNP candidate Ishraque Hossain by 188,083 votes.
However, on March 27 this year, the Dhaka Election Tribunal overturned that result and declared Ishraque the valid mayor.
On April 22, the Election Commission sent the tribunal’s verdict to the Law Ministry for opinion.
When no response came within the stipulated time, the commission published a gazette on April 27 declaring Ishraque as mayor.
On April 30, the commission said the gazette had been issued to implement the court’s order.
Later, it confirmed it would not appeal the ruling.
However, more than two weeks have passed since the gazette was issued, and Ishraque has yet to take the oath, as the Local Government Division—responsible for arranging the ceremony—has not done so.
Taposh assumed office as mayor on May 16, 2020, following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The first board meeting took place in the first week of June that year.
Accordingly, his tenure was set to end in June 2025.
