4 city mayors sworn in

Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed administers oath to four newly elected mayors of city corporations at LGED auditorium in the city yesterday. From right are SCC Mayor Badaruddin Ahmed Kamran, BCC Mayor Shawkat Hossain Hiron, RCC Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton and KCC Mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque.Photo: PID

Mayors elect of Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet city corporations took oath of office in a ceremony held at the LGED Auditorium of the Local Government Division yesterday.
Talking to reporters after the oath-taking ceremony, they said the people are keen on parliamentary elections rather than local government elections. They said the stalled parliamentary elections should be held ahead of the upazila polls.
Khulna City Corporation Mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque, Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Badaruddin Ahmed Kamran, Rajshahi City Corporation Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton and Barisal City Corporation Mayor Shawkat Hossain Hiron looked cordial and delighted while taking oath.
Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed administered the oath and the ceremony was also attended by advisers to the caretaker government, special assistants to chief adviser, top bureaucrats, representatives of diplomatic missions and local donor agencies and civil society members.
The mayors expressed their commitment to neutrally carry out development activities in their cities and provide city dwellers with better facilities.
"Although we are elected as party candidates we will not have any partisan attitude while working for the people," Rajshahi City Corporation Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton told reporters.
He said parliamentary polls should be arranged first as most political parties and the people are waiting for it eagerly. Liton said it would be more convenient for him to work under a political government.
Kamran, who was arrested on charges of corruption and released on bail on September 4, said all elections should be held but he would be happy if the parliamentary elections are held ahead of the upazila polls.
Kamran ran for the mayor office from behind bars.
Kamran said, "In my view schedules for parliamentary and upazila elections could be announced simultaneously with the upazila polls scheduled just after the parliamentary elections."
Asked about elections to the city corporations and municipalities ahead of parliamentary polls, he said the elections were litmus tests for the government. "The fair elections held in a peaceful atmosphere proved the tests were successful," he added.
The Khulna mayor said as per the roadmap of the Election Commission (EC), preparation for the parliamentary elections should be started immediately so that the political parties get enough time to participate properly.
"Only two months are left before the parliamentary polls in December. If you hold the upazila elections first then there will be little time for holding the national polls smoothly and in a free, fair and peaceful manner," Khaleque observed.
"We do not have much time for upazila polls," he said, adding the government should respect demands of the political parties and the people.
Most of the country's political parties, including the Awami League (AL), have been demanding parliamentary elections first.
The four mayors also urged the government to provide sufficient budgetary allocation for the cities and pledged to work to resolve problems related to roads, drainage and waterlogging in their cities.
Earlier all four mayors-elect, who won with AL tickets, gave up their party posts in accordance with the legal provisions.
After the oath taking of mayors, 157 councillors of four city corporations were sworn in by Adviser Anwarul Iqbal.
Of them, two detained councillors-elect took oath after they had been freed on parole from Dhaka Central Jail. They are Sylhet City Corporation councillor Jagadish Chandra Das and Khulna City Corporation councillor Golam Maula Shanu.
Local Government Division Secretary Sheikh Khurshid Alam moderated the ceremony.