Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has announced Principal Muhammad Shamsuzzaman Helali as its mayoral candidate for the upcoming Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) election. Helali, a former councillor of the Soloshahar ward, was nominated following a meeting of the party’s city-level Shura council held on Monday night. The decision was confirmed by Morshedul Islam Chowdhury, the assistant secretary of the city Jamaat, who said the nomination was based on the opinions of city members and the central committee’s approval.

Helali previously contested the 13th parliamentary election from the Chattogram-10 constituency as a Jamaat candidate but lost to BNP’s Saeed Al Noman by a margin of 46,000 votes. A postgraduate by education, Helali was formerly a teacher and is now engaged in business. Before his nomination, former DUCSU vice president Sadiq Kayem and several other Jamaat leaders had also been considered for the mayoral race.

The party has also finalized candidates for councillor positions in 41 wards, though the list has not yet been made public.