Jamaat-e-Islami’s Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar criticized the recently established BNP government for appointing party members as administrators to six city corporations, deviating from public expectations. The party’s central publicity department issued a statement yesterday highlighting this concern. The Local Government Division’s notification on February 22 appointed party affiliates as administrators to Dhaka North City Corporation, Dhaka South City Corporation, Khulna City Corporation, Sylhet City Corporation, Narayanganj City Corporation, and Gazipur City Corporation, according to the statement.
Porwar condemned the decision, stating that it goes against the people’s desires and the objectives of the July uprising, which aimed to establish a fair and democratic social system, ensure justice for past atrocities, and enact essential reforms. He emphasized that following the 13th parliamentary election and a referendum, the public expected democratic elections for local government representatives to be the next step.
The statement mentioned positive signals from the Election Commission regarding local government polls, making the appointment of ruling party members as administrators contradictory to public hopes. Porwar criticized the move as ethically wrong and deceptive to the citizens, raising suspicions of a potential delay in local government elections and the likelihood of manipulated outcomes.
Porwar demanded the immediate revocation of the appointments and urged the prompt announcement of election schedules for city corporations and all other local government levels. Meanwhile, National Citizen Party (NCP) spokesperson Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan accused the ruling party of evading city polls due to weak electoral prospects by appointing unelected mayors nationwide. In a post on his verified Facebook account, Asif Mahmud highlighted the irony of the ruling party, which previously criticized unelected officials, now endorsing unelected mayors across the country.