BNP leader Ishraque Hossain today announced the ongoing protests over his mayoral oath suspended for the next 48-hours.
He made the announcement while talking to the party men outside Kakrail mosque this afternoon.
“Following the High Court verdict, our party has decided that the movement will remain suspended and we will observe the government’s actions in the next 24 to 48 hours. The next course of action will be taken based on this,” he said.
The announcement came hours after he urged protesters not to leave the streets and to intensify their movement.
He also apologised for the public sufferings and disruption of civic services caused by these protests.
Earlier in the day, the High Court summarily rejected the writ petition that sought a stay on the Election Commission’s decision to declare BNP-nominated candidate Ishraque as DSCC mayor.
However, Ishraque supporters still kept different roads occupied demanding resignations of Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain and Information Adviser Mahfuj Alam.
On March 27 this year, Judge Md Nurul Islam of Dhaka First Joint District Judge and Election Tribunal overturned the 2020 DSCC’s election result, declaring Ishraque as the winner and ordered the EC to issue a gazette within ten days.
The EC on April 27 issued a gazette notification declaring Ishraque as the mayor of DSCC.
Mamunur Rashid, a DSCC resident, on May 14 submitted the writ petition to the HC challenging the legality of the tribunal’s verdict and EC’s gazette notification.
He said in the petition that the tribunal delivered the verdict hastily and without following proper legal procedures.
The EC did not wait for the law ministry’s opinion before issuing the gazette notification declaring Ishraque as DSCC’s mayor, he said in the petition, adding that since the mayoral term had already expired and the position was vacated through an ordinance, the tribunal lacked the jurisdiction to declare Ishraque elected as DSCC mayor.
