More than five and a half months after Chattogram City Corporation’s term expired, BNP leader Shahadat Hossain continues to serve as mayor, despite legal experts and Election Commission officials saying he has no basis for remaining in office.
The Local Government Division has neither explained how he continues to hold the post nor moved to appoint an administrator or seek clarification from the court.
The situation is comparable to someone continuing to claim the status of a member of parliament after parliament has been dissolved.
During the interim government’s tenure, the Local Government Division wrote to the commission in February asking it to prepare for elections, noting that the corporation’s term would expire that month. Since BNP came to power, however, the division has taken no further action.
Although EC is responsible for holding local government polls, the government decides when those elections will take place.
Awami League candidate Rezaul Karim Chowdhury was declared the winner of the 27 January 2021 election and took the oath on 11 February. The corporation’s first meeting was held on 23 February.
Under the Local Government (City Corporation) Act, the corporation’s five-year term is calculated from the date of its first meeting. It therefore expired on 22 February 2026.
Shahadat challenged the election result before the election tribunal on 24 February 2021. Following the 2024 mass uprising, the court ruled in his favour on 1 October, and he took the oath as mayor on 3 November that year.
The verdict did not create a fresh five-year term. Yet no election has been called and no administrator has been appointed since the corporation’s term expired.
Retired senior district and sessions judge and former joint secretary of the EC Legal Wing Shahjahan Saju said that a mayor appointed through a court verdict could serve only for the remainder of the corporation’s existing term.
“Suppose only five days remained of the five-year term by the time the case was resolved. In that case, that person could serve as mayor for only those five days. Once the five-year term expires, there is no legal scope to continue serving as mayor,” he explained to TIMES of Bangladesh.
Several EC officials, speaking anonymously, also said Shahadat had no legal basis for remaining in office. They added, however, that enforcing the law was not the commission’s responsibility.
They said the commission had merely published a gazette following the court verdict and had not granted him a fresh five-year term.
“What happens after the corporation’s term expires is a matter for the Local Government Division,” one official said.
“The law does not specify a personal term for a mayor. It specifies the term of the corporation. Once the corporation’s term ends, the mayor’s tenure also ends. Perhaps no one is questioning it, so he continues to perform the duties.”
An election commissioner told TIMES, “Election Commission has no role here. The Local Government Division will decide. If the government instructs us to hold the election, the commission is ready.”
Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of SHUJAN – Citizens for Good Governance and former chairman of the Electoral System Reform Commission, also said Shahadat had no legal basis for remaining in office.
“Under the law, he was declared mayor for the remaining period of the corporation’s term. But he is claiming a full term. There is no justification for that. It is inconsistent with the rule of law,” he said.
What the law says
Section 6 of the Local Government (City Corporation) Act 2009 states that a corporation’s term shall be five years from the date of its first meeting.
When the law was amended in 2011, the provision allowing officeholders to continue until the first meeting of a reconstituted corporation after the expiry of the term was repealed.
Further amendments in 2011, 2012 and 2024 covered the appointment of administrators in special circumstances, the government’s power to appoint administrators and committees, and the timing of elections.
The law provides that elections should be held within 180 days before the expiry of a corporation’s term or within 180 days after its dissolution.
After coming to power, the government appointed BNP leaders as administrators in six city corporations on 23 February and in another five on 14 March. The Local Government Division said they would serve until the corporations were reconstituted or further orders were issued.
The ordinance containing amendments introduced during the interim government was passed as an amendment bill on 9 April.
Govt offers no clear answer
Officials of the Local Government Division were unable to explain how Shahadat continues to serve as mayor.
Joint Secretary (City Corporation) Md Robiul Islam declined to comment and referred the matter to the division secretary.
Local Government Division Secretary Md Shahidul Hasan said, “The minister is the spokesperson. He will comment on this.”
State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam also declined to comment and referred the matter to the minister.
Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir later responded through his Personal Secretary Md Moniruzzaman.
“The minister said this is a matter for the court, and the court will deal with it,” the response said.
However, neither the ministry nor Shahadat has approached the court over the matter.
Poll preparations stalled
On 1 February, during the interim government’s tenure, the Local Government Division asked EC to prepare for elections in Dhaka North, Dhaka South and Chattogram city corporations.
The letter noted that Chattogram City Corporation’s term would expire on 22 February.
After assuming office, however, BNP gave no further instruction to the commission.
Election Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarker said at the time that the commission’s next steps would depend on the BNP government’s decision.
Former local government adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan told TIMES that Shahadat’s tenure should have ended the moment the elected corporation’s term expired.
“Under the law, EC should have been asked to arrange the election within 180 days of the expiry of the term. It is quite clear that he is trying to cling to power illegally,” he said.
TIMES called Shahadat several times and sent him a text message for his comments but he didn’t respond.
He has, however, repeatedly claimed to journalists in Chattogram that, under the court verdict, his term runs until 3 November 2029.
