5 city polls: AL excludes two incumbents in final nomination

The ruling Awami League (AL) has excluded two incumbents in its final pick for candidates in the upcoming mayoral polls in five city corporations – Gazipur, Sylhet, Khulna, Rajshahi and Barishal.

Mired by controversy, Barisal's current Mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah and Gazipur's temporarily suspended mayor Jahangir Alam have been dropped from the final list despite seeking nominations.

The party has picked Ajmatullah Khan and Abul Khayer Abdullah, respectively for Gazipur and Barishal city corporations.

However, Khairuzzaman Liton of Rajshahi and Talukder Abdul Khalek of Khulna were able to regain their nominations. 

Besides, Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury, who is the current Joint General Secretary of the United Kingdom Awami League, has been nominated for Sylhet City Corporation election.

Several central leaders of the AL said the party and its president Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina selected candidates with good image and good leadership qualities because the government wants to hold transparent and competitive elections.

Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif told The Business Standard that 40 people had collected party nomination papers. "Among them, five have been selected." 

Regarding the exclusion of two incumbents in the nomination, Mahabubul Alam Hanif said Sheikh Hasina has finalised the nomination keeping in mind the past, present and future of all the candidates.

Abul Khair Abdullah, who is nominated in Barishal, is the younger son of Amena Begum, the sister of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He is the younger brother of Awami League central leader Abul Hasanat Abdullah and the younger uncle of current mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah.

However, Abul Khair Abdullah alias Khokon Serniabat has no position in Awami League and had been mostly politically inactive since 1975. 

Local Awami League leaders said that Khokon Serniabat has had a long-standing family conflict with his nephew Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah. 

In 2021, Khokon Serniabat's name came to the fore after Sadiq openly clashed with the local Upazila Nirbahi officer.

Since the incident in 2021, a negative attitude was created toward Sadiq Abdullah in various quarters of the government, several AL leaders said.

Besides, another excluded incumbent Jahangir Alam came to the fore when he contested the Gazipur mayor election in 2013 as an independent. 

In the 2018 election, Jahangir Alam was expelled as mayor. Later, the expulsion from Awami League was withdrawn. However, the order of temporary suspension from the post of mayor was not withdrawn.

In September 2021, a video of Jahangir Alam's controversial speech on Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and some important leaders of his district went viral on social media. 

Due to this, he was expelled from the post of General Secretary of Gazipur Metropolitan Awami League.

Earlier on 3 April, the Election Commission (EC) announced the schedules of elections to the corporations.

The elections will be held in Gazipur on 25 May, Khulna and Barishal on 12 June, and Rajshahi and Sylhet on 2 June.