Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday administered oath of office to the country’s only woman city mayor Selina Hayat Ivy. Ivy was elected as the mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC). The oath-taking ceremony took place at a function at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Bangladesh capital. 
Ivy was re-elected mayor of Narayanganj City for the second consecutive time in an election held on December 22, 2016. Elected 27 general councillors and nine reserved women councillors also took oath. 
Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Engineer Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain administered the oath to all elected councillors. Cabinet members, PM’s advisers and leaders of different political parties and senior officials were present on the occasion. After the oath taking ceremony, the mayor and the councillors took photograph with the prime minister. 
According to the Election Working Group (EWG), a poll observer, said the NCC election was the fairest among all held under the incumbent Election Commission, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad. 
“The EWG did not observe any incident of violence or vote rigging and found voter participation substantial amid multiple layers of tight security,” it said. The EWG, a platform of 27 civil society organisations working for promoting fair elections and good governance, revealed its findings at a press conference. 
“In general, polling officials were neutral, voting took place in an efficient and professional manner, and voters were able to cast their votes in an orderly manner,” said EWG Director Abdul Alim. 
In the NCC elections, the EWG observed voting in 31 out of 174 polling stations. Its observation covered preparation and opening of polling stations, voting operation and procedures, closing and counting, and overall environment inside polling stations. The EWG found that all polling stations were equipped with necessary equipment and opened on time, and ballot boxes opened in front of polling agents and observers to demonstrate that the boxes were empty, said the statement. 
Voting took place peacefully from polls opening to closing. No incident of ousting of polling agent was recorded and no complaint on electoral irregularities was made by candidates and their polling agents. The EWG observers found no violence in polling stations. There was no intimidation of voters, ballot stuffing, attacks by miscreants and vote rigging. 
In the NCC election, ruling Awami League (AL) candidate Selina Hayat Ivy bagged 1,75,611 votes beating her nearest rival BNP’s Shakhawat Hossain Khan by 79,567 votes. Among the 27 councillor seats, AL candidates got 13, BNP 12 and Jatiya Party and Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal got one each. Of the winners of nine reserved seats for women, four councillors-elect belong to AL and two to BNP. The rest do not have any political affiliation.