Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Ishraque Hossain’s supporters, mostly members of several Dhaka South City Corporation workers’ unions, for the 14th consecutive day on Sunday kept halted operations at the DSCC headquarters, Nagar Bhaban, and the corporation’s zonal offices, demanding Ishraque’s swearing-in as the city mayor.
The protesters staged a sit-in and demonstration at the Nagar Bhaban on the day.
The suspension of essential public services, including holding tax collection and the issuance of death and birth certificates and trade licences, since May 15 has plunged thousands of citizens into distress.
Former government official Moshiur Rahman, a coordinator of the movement, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· on Sunday that the protest would continue until Ishraque is made mayor.
On May 29, the Appellate Division refused to intervene in the DSCC mayoral dispute and left the matter to the Election Commission, reaffirming that the commission must discharge its constitutional responsibilities independently and in accordance with law.
A seven-member bench led by chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed made the observation while disposing of a leave-to-appeal petition filed by Dhaka South resident and lawyer Mamunur Rashid, who challenged the legality of the EC’s April 27 gazette that declared Ishraque DSCC mayor, replacing ousted Awami League-backed mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh based on a March 27 tribunal verdict.
On the same day, chief election commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin told reporters that the Election Commission would proceed to take its next step in this regard after examining the related law and the court’s decision.
Following the court verdict, Ishraque warned of intensifying protests if the government and the Local Government Division fail to promptly arrange his swearing-in.
Ishraque’s long-standing challenge to the 2020 DSCC mayoral election results gained traction after the fall of the authoritarian Awami League regime on August 5, 2024, in a mass uprising. All mayoral posts in the country were vacated on August 19, 2024. Â
Taposh, who took charge as DSCC mayor on May 16, 2020, held the first board meeting on June 2, 2020.
According to the Local Government (City Corporation) Act 2009, elections to any city corporation should be held within 180 days after its five-year tenure that starts with the first meeting of the board of the corporation.
