Bangladesh: The first session of the newly elected 13th Parliament of Bangladesh is expected to begin in the second week of March, spokesman Tarique Rahman said on Saturday.
A spokesperson for the newly elected prime minister – Salahuddin Ahmed – said the first session of the 13th Parliament is expected to convene either on March 12 or a few days earlier, PTI reported.
“The meeting will also present (chaired by Muhammad Yunus) interim government orders and condolence proposals,” Ahmed, who is also interior minister in Rahman’s new cabinet, posted on social media.
Bangladesh election results
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Tarique Rahman formed the government after securing a stunning two-thirds majority in key elections held on February 12 this year, while the far-right Jamaat-e-Islami emerged as the main opposition.
Members of Parliament were sworn in on February 17, and on the same day BNP chairman Rahman, 60, and his cabinet were sworn in as prime minister and ministers.
Who will chair the constituent meeting?
Bangladesh’s constitution mandates that President Mohammad Shahabuddin must convene a constituent session of the newly elected parliament within 30 days of the announcement of the election results in the Gazette, based on written advice from Rahman.
But it remains unclear who will chair the constituent meeting of the first parliamentary session.
According to standard practice, Parliament is chaired by the last Speaker, in his absence by the Deputy Speaker, only for the purpose of electing a new Speaker.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Choudhury resigned earlier and is now living at an unknown location while Deputy Speaker Shamsul Haque Tuku is in jail.
