Ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance yesterday declared city AL president and outgoing Mayor of the Barisal City Corporation (BCC) Shawkat Hossain Hiron as their mayoral candidate for the upcoming BCC election 2013.
Six candidates including three from BNP, two from AL and JL and one from Communist Party of Bangladesh collected nomination papers for the post of mayor and 157 for 30 general and 43 for 10 reserved female councillor candidates collected nomination papers for the third BCC election.
However, BNP led 18-party alliance is yet to officially nominate their candidates.
The AL-led 14 party alliance Friday afternoon held a workers-leaders rally at Barisal Club auditorium, which was presided over by district council administrator and former district AL president Mokhlesur Rahman.
From the rally district AL president and former chief whip Abul Hasanat Abdullah declared Hiron as the official candidate of the 14-party alliance, a decision taken by the central body of the alliance.
Lawmaker and district AL secretary Advocate Talukdar Md Yunus, AL lawmaker Principal Shah Alam, central AL publicity and research secretary Advocate Afzal Hossain, Nazrul Huq Nilu of Workers Party, Advocate Abdul Hye Mahbub of JSD, Shafikur Rahman of NAP, addressing the rally declared their whole hearted support for Hiron.
Hiron addressing the rally expressed his full confidence in the alliance’s leadership in running BCC.
Mujibur Rahman, Khulna regional Election Commissioner and Returning Officer for the BCC elections said: “Ashok Madhav Roy, additional secretary of local government ministry informed that outgoing mayor Hiron submitted his resignation from BCC mayor’s post on Thursday to contest in the upcoming election.”
The chief executive officer of BCC will perform the administrative duties until the newly elected mayor takes charge, he said.
The election office remained open during the weekend and till Friday, six candidates collected nomination papers for one mayoral post.
During the same time, 157 people availed papers for 30 general ward councillors’ and 43 individual collected nomination papers for 10 reserved female ward councillors’ posts.
Advocate Kamrul Hasan Shahin, city BNP secretary, Ahsan Habib Kamal, district (south) BNP president and former Mayor of BCC , Ebaidul Huq Chan, former district BNP secretary and former president of Barisal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also collected nomination papers for mayoral post.
BNP leaders said the BNP-led 18-party alliance has not yet decided to participate in scheduled city corporation elections and they will follow the decision of the party.
Outgoing mayor and city AL president Shawkat Hossain Hiron and Mahmudur Rahman Khan Mamun, joint secretary of district Jubo League, Abul Kalam Azad, district CPB president, collected nomination papers for the mayoral post.
BCC has 210,482 voters in 30 wards in an area of 45 sq-km. Last date for collecting and submitting nomination papers is tomorrow while the upcoming BCC election is scheduled for June 15, 2013.
