Shahadat to take oath as CCC Mayor on Sunday

BNP leader Dr Shahadat Hossain, who was declared the mayor-elect of the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) following a court order, will be sworn in on Sunday.

The oath-taking ceremony will be administered by AF Hassan Ariff, Adviser to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, in the conference room of the Local Government Division (LGD) at the Secretariat in Dhaka at 11:00 am.

It is reported that senior government officials and central leaders of the BNP will also be present at the event. A large number of party activists from Chattogram are expected to travel to Dhaka to attend the ceremony.

Shahadat's personal secretary, Maruful Haque Chowdhury, stated that after taking the oath, the mayor will visit the mausoleum of BNP founder and martyred President Ziaur Rahman to pay his respects. He will return to Chattogram on November 5 to assume his responsibilities.

The Chattogram City Corporation election was held on January 27, 2021, and was marked by widespread irregularities; Awami League candidate Rezaul Karim was elected with 369,000 votes.

On February 24, 2021, Shahadat filed a case with the election tribunal against nine defendants. In the complaint, he claimed that the gazette published regarding the election results, which declared Rezaul Karim as the mayor, was illegal, invalid, and contrary to the principles of justice.

Following the mass uprising of students and civilians that led to the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, Judge Khairul Amin, the first joint district judge of Chattogram and the judge of the election tribunal, declared Shahadat the mayor on October 1. The court also annulled the election results of Rezaul Karim Chowdhury. Additionally, the judge directed the election commission secretary to issue a notification within ten days. Eight days after the court ruling, on October 8, the election commission secretary signed a notification regarding this matter.