Desk Report,
Ishraq fulfills mayor’s ‘responsibilities’ without taking oath
Ishraq Hossain speaking at the meeting. Even though he has not taken oath as mayor, the banner read ‘Honorable Mayor’ Prothom Alo
Even though he has not yet taken oath as mayor, BNP leader Ishraq Hossain held a meeting at the Dhaka South City Corporation’s head office, Nagar Bhaban. The banner of the meeting held at Nagar Bhaban on Monday afternoon read ‘Meeting with officers and employees of the Waste Management Department to ensure clean Dhaka and citizen services. Chief guest Engineer Ishraq Hossain. Honorable Mayor, Dhaka South City Corporation.’
Ishraq fulfills mayor’s ‘responsibilities’ without taking oath
Around 70 cleanliness inspectors of the City Corporation participated in the meeting. They were accompanied by some former councilors of the BNP-backed Dhaka South City. The meeting lasted for about two hours in the Nagar Bhaban Mayor Mohammad Hanif auditorium. However, questions have been raised about how Ishraq Hossain was able to hold a meeting at the city hall without taking the oath and whether he gave instructions to the officials and employees.
Local government experts say that the way Ishraq Hossain has started ‘performing the duties of mayor’ without taking the oath is completely illegal and a clear violation of the law. No one can perform the duties of mayor by force, bypassing the rules and regulations and the law. They also believe that the role of the interim government in this case is questionable.
Regarding Ishraq Hossain’s meeting at the city corporation in the name of mayor, Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Advisor Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan told Prothom Alo on his mobile phone at night, ‘The matter is very embarrassing for us. If any official wants to go to the city corporation, they are being treated aggressively.’
Asif Mahmud said, ‘It is being said that the local government department has broken the law in the entire matter of Ishraq Hossain. In fact, the local government department has not broken any law. While the matter was pending in court, the gazette expired. At the same time, the term of the City Corporation also expired. After the term of the City Corporation expires, there is an opportunity to elect a new mayor. Apart from this, there is no opportunity to take oath. However, I would expect that a big party like BNP will take into account the suffering of the citizens. At the same time, I would expect more responsible and mature behavior from the person who is carrying out the entire program and sitting in the city hall.
