Luftur Rahman, the former Tower Hamlets Mayor has been recently spotted in the same locality, campaigning and distributing leaflets for an Independent group, for the upcoming local elections in May, though he is believed not to be participating as a candidate, so far.
Ward residents were surprised when Rahman knocked on their doors and handed over a leaflet that had his photo with his endorsement for the Blackwall and Cubitt Town ward Independent Group Action team and Mayoral candidate Cllr Ohid Ahmed. The Action team includes Abdul Malik, Mohammed Aminur Rahman and Bellal Uddin, who are also candidates standing as Councillors from this ward.
Ironically the starting few lines of a note from this Action team on the promotional leaflet reads as: “We will work hard to build on the achievements of Lutfur Rahman’s Administration.”
The Met police in the meantime have reportedly received 15 complaints of electoral fraud and malpractice already, in relations to the election on May 3rd, from the Tower Hamlets area alone.
An angry local resident who received the leaflet from the hands of Rahman said, “he has no shame.”
Rahman, who was removed from his office over corruption claims in 2015, to people’s shock, had apparently the latest application for forming a new political party approved. Though report says that the nominator for the party's registration during this second attempt was not Rahman himself, but public holds the opinion that Aspire still allegedly belongs to Rahman and he may have taken a back office role now, because of the complications arising from his ill-reputation. The party, which has been named as ‘Aspire’, is widely believed to be Rahman’s second attempt to come back into local politics, after he was removed from his office by an Electoral Court in 2015 for “corrupt and illegal practices.”
Speaking to Asian Voice, about Rahman's alleged link with the party, a spokesperson from the Electoral Commission added, "The terms of Lutfur Rahman’s conviction mean that he is presently barred from standing as a candidate at any elections. For each registered party there must be a registered leader, nominating officer and treasurer, which are given in their application. The names of ‘Aspires’ officers are Kalam Mahmud Abu Taher Choudhury as Leader; Lilian Collins as Nominating officer and Jahed Bokth Choudhury as Treasurer.”
In a statement about the registration of the Aspire party, the Commission clarified that, "Following a rigorous assessment of Aspire’s application to register as a political party, the Commission was satisfied the application met the statutory tests for registration. This includes that the name and emblem were suitable to appear on the register. This also includes that the party has a constitution that sets out its structure and organisation and that it has adopted a scheme that sets out the party’s arrangements for regulating its financial affairs for the purposes of PPERA (the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000)."
