UNB, Dhaka :
Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad on Tuesday voiced wonder over the suspension of elected mayors of Rajshahi and Sylhet cities and Habiganj municipality by the Local Government Ministry.
“No one can scratch the authority of elected
representatives. We now see elected chairmen are being suspended. Which country we’re now living in? Chairmen can’t be suspended as they’re elected by people,” he said.
Ershad, also a former military dictator, came up with the comment at a programme at his Banani office.
He said, though he had introduced the local government system for decentralisation of power, BNP annulled it after assuming office without any reason.
The Jatiya Party chairman said Awami League later revived upazila system, but made the upazila chairmen powerless. “The current upazila is not the one what I’d introduced. There’s now no court in the upazilas while its chairmen have no power.” Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) mayor Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul and Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury were suspended for the second time on Sunday, hours after they took charge through legal battles. The government suspended RCC mayor Bulbul on May 7, 2015 as well since he had been charged with criminal offences, while Ariful Haque on January 7, 2015 as he had been made accused in the murder case of former Finance Minister SMA Kibria.
Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad on Tuesday voiced wonder over the suspension of elected mayors of Rajshahi and Sylhet cities and Habiganj municipality by the Local Government Ministry.
“No one can scratch the authority of elected
representatives. We now see elected chairmen are being suspended. Which country we’re now living in? Chairmen can’t be suspended as they’re elected by people,” he said.
Ershad, also a former military dictator, came up with the comment at a programme at his Banani office.
He said, though he had introduced the local government system for decentralisation of power, BNP annulled it after assuming office without any reason.
The Jatiya Party chairman said Awami League later revived upazila system, but made the upazila chairmen powerless. “The current upazila is not the one what I’d introduced. There’s now no court in the upazilas while its chairmen have no power.” Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) mayor Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul and Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury were suspended for the second time on Sunday, hours after they took charge through legal battles. The government suspended RCC mayor Bulbul on May 7, 2015 as well since he had been charged with criminal offences, while Ariful Haque on January 7, 2015 as he had been made accused in the murder case of former Finance Minister SMA Kibria.
