{"id":4297,"date":"2015-04-23T16:12:37","date_gmt":"2015-04-23T16:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=4297"},"modified":"2015-04-23T16:12:37","modified_gmt":"2015-04-23T16:12:37","slug":"lutfur-rahman-sacked-as-tower-hamlets-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/lutfur-rahman-sacked-as-tower-hamlets-mayor\/","title":{"rendered":"Lutfur Rahman sacked as Tower Hamlets mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lutfur<\/a>The Tower Hamlets mayoral election has been declared void and will have to be re-run after incumbent mayor Lutfur Rahman was found guilty of corrupt and illegal practices.
\nAn Election Commissioner concluded Rahman had breached election rules and would have to vacate his post immediately.
\nFour voters alleged Mr Rahman used \u201ccorrupt and illegal practices\u201d in last year\u2019s election. Mr Rahman, who denied any wrong-doing, has been banned from standing again.
\nThe verdict comes after a high-profile and sustained media and political campaign by right-wing journalists and politicians against Mayor Rahman.
\nAt the special High Court hearing, Election Commissioner Richard Mawrey also ordered Mr Rahman to pay \u00a3250,000 in costs.
\nOne of Mr Rahman\u2019s aides Alibor Choudhury was also found guilty of corrupt and illegal practices.
\nTower Hamlets First, the party which Mr Rahman represents, said the judgement was a \u201cshock\u201d and they were seeking further legal advice in relation to a judicial review.
\nMr Mawrey \u2013 who sat as a judge \u2013 said the mayor had \u201cdriven a coach and horses through election law and didn\u2019t care\u201d. Mr Mawrey described Mr Rahman as \u201cevasive and discursive witness whose evidence was untruthful on occasion\u201d.
\nHe also suggested Mr Rahman, who was born in Bangladesh, had played \u201crace\u201d and \u201creligious\u201d cards. Mr Rahman ran a \u201cruthless and dishonest campaign to convince electorate his rival John Biggs was a racist\u201d, Mr Mawrey said.
\nAfter the ruling, Labour politician Mr Biggs said: \u201cToday\u2019s ruling\u2026 is a victory for honest politics.
\n\u201cBy setting out to break the rules and going to extraordinary lengths to win last May\u2019s mayoral election, Lutfur Rahman and his allies robbed the people of Tower Hamlets of the free and fair mayoral election they deserved and betrayed everyone in our community who trusted and voted for him.\u201d
\nThe four voters mounted the legal challenge made a series of allegations, including \u201cpersonation\u201d in postal voting and at polling stations and ballot paper tampering.
\nLawyers for Mr Rahman, who was re-elected for independent party Tower Hamlets First last May, described the claims as \u201cinvention\u201d, \u201cexaggeration\u201d and \u201cin some cases downright deliberately false allegations\u201d.
\nIn a statement, Tower Hamlets First said: \u201cToday\u2019s judgment has come as a shock \u2013 the Mayor strongly denies any wrongdoing and had full confidence in the justice system, and so this result has been surprising to say the least.\u201d<\/p>\n

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