The government has appointed six leaders of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party as administrators to six city corporations, including two city corporations in Dhaka.
The Local Government Division, in a notification, confirmed the appointments of six BNP leaders on Sunday, five days after the party formed the government following its landslide victory in the February 12 parliamentary elections.
The city corporations are Dhaka South, Dhaka North, Khulna, Sylhet, Narayanganj and Gazipur.
The appointments were confirmed amid preparations for the upcoming local government elections.
LGRD and cooperatives minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who is also the BNP secretary general, said that the next local government elections would not be delayed due to these appointments.
BNP chief’s advisory council member Md Abdus Salam has been appointed the administrator of Dhaka South City Corporation.
In Dhaka North City Corporation, the responsibility has been given to BNP leader Md Shafiqul Islam Khan, who contested in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections for the Dhaka-15 constituency but lost to Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami amir Shafiqur Rahman.
BNP central organising secretary Nazrul Islam Manju has been appointed as the administrator of Khulna City Corporation.
Manju, a former BNP lawmaker for the Khulna-2 constituency, was also defeated by a Jamaat-backed candidate in the 13th parliamentary elections.
Sylhet district unit BNP president Abdul Qayyum Chowdhury has been made administrator of Sylhet City Corporation, while Narayanganj city unit BNP convener Md Sakhawat Hossain Khan has been assigned to Narayanganj City Corporation.
In Gazipur, city unit BNP president Md Shawkat Hossain Sarkar has been appointed as the city corporation administrator.
Asked whether the appointments of the administrators would delay the local government elections, LGRD and cooperatives minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that they would take all measures to hold the elections to the local government bodies in time.
‘Holding elections to the local government bodies will obviously be given due importance,’ he added.
Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman termed the appointments a bad example of deliberate partisan political capture of local government institutions.
‘The government can appoint administrators, but it would be good if they appointed experienced non-party people in the positions,’ he said.
He suspected that the appointment of political leaders in the local government institutions before the election might influence the election.
‘The Government should have avoided such a bad precedent so soon after a historic national election that is expected to move away from the culture of monopolistic control of the politico-governance ecosystem,’ he said.
According to the Local Government Division notification, the appointments have been made under the Local Government (City Corporation) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024.
The administrators will serve on a full-time basis until elected corporations are constituted.
The administrators will exercise the powers and perform the duties of mayors and will receive allowances in accordance with the rules.
On August 19, 2024, shortly after assuming office on August 8, 2024, the interim government removed the mayors of 12 city corporations and appointed administrators.
Following the July uprising in 2024, elected representatives from 12 city corporations, 330 municipalities, 497
upazila parishads and several district councils were removed.
At present, all local government institutions, except union parishads, are being run by administrators.
Meanwhile, discussions have begun over holding local government elections following the 13th National Parliament polls.
Towards the end of its tenure, the interim government’s Local Government Division wrote to the Election Commission requesting preparations for elections to the two Dhaka city corporations and Chattogram City Corporation.
Election commission’s senior secretary Akhtar Ahmed told New Age on February 18 that the commission had received letters from the local government division regarding the elections in the three city corporations and that necessary measures were being taken in accordance with the rules.
On the first working day of the new government on February 18, LGRD minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters that steps would be taken to arrange elections to local government bodies as soon as possible.
Election Commission officials said that the five-year tenure of Dhaka South City Corporation expired on June 1, 2025, and that of Dhaka North ended on June 2, 2025, while the tenure of Chattogram City Corporation expired on February 22 this year.
Under the Local Government (City Corporation) Act, a corporation’s tenure runs for five years from the date of its first meeting, and elections must be held within 180 days preceding the expiry of that term.
In line with this provision, the commission has been requested to take the necessary steps to arrange the polls.
