Newly elected MPs, cabinet members to take oath today
All 296 newly elected Members of Parliament (MPs) of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) will take oath at the Jatiya Sangsad on Tuesday.
The lawmakers will first take oath as Members of Parliament and then as members of the Constitutional Reform Council, according to a press release issued by the JS Secretariat on Monday.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin is expected to administer the oath to the lawmakers at the Oath Room of the Sangsad Bhaban at 10:00am, the release said.
Cabinet Secretary Dr Nasimul Ghani will conduct the oath-taking ceremony.
Lawmakers elected from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), including party chairman Tarique Rahman, will take oath first.
Later, lawmakers from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis, Khelafat Majlish, Gano Odhikar Parishad, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), Ganosamhati Andolon and independent MPs will take oath.
According to the official results, the BNP bagged 209 seats alone, while its alliance partners Gano Odhikar Parishad and Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) won one seat each, and Ganosamhati Andolon secured one seat.
Besides, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami secured 68 seats, emerging as the main opposition party, while its alliance partners National Citizen Party (NCP) won six seats, Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis two and Khelafat Majlish one.
Islami Andolon Bangladesh won one seat, while independent candidates were elected in seven constituencies.
Earlier, on Friday night, the Election Commission published the gazette for 297 out of 299 parliamentary seats in the 13th parliamentary polls.
However, the announcement of results in two seats — Chattogram-2 and Chattogram-4 — was postponed due to legal issues.
Voting in the Sherpur-3 constituency was also postponed following the death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin will administer the oath to the new cabinet members at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad on Tuesday afternoon.
“The Parliament Secretariat is set to hold the oath-taking ceremony of the new cabinet members at 4:00pm,” said Secretary of the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat Kaniz Maula.
The Cabinet Division and the Parliament Secretariat have been making all-out preparations for the ceremony since Saturday, two days after the 13th Jatiya Sangsad polls were held, she added.
Breaking a long-standing tradition, the swearing-in ceremony of the new government will be held at the South Plaza of the Parliament Complex instead of Bangabhaban.
The cabinet secretary will conduct the oath-taking ceremony, a Bangabhaban source familiar with the development said.
As per the rules, following the swearing-in of the newly elected MPs, a meeting of the Parliamentary Board of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which secured an overwhelming majority, will be held to elect its parliamentary leader, according to BNP sources.
The leader of the House will then meet the President and inform him that the party commands an absolute majority in Parliament, formally seeking appointment as Prime Minister.
Subsequently, the President will appoint the party leader as Prime Minister, who will then select other cabinet colleagues.
President Shahabuddin, as Head of State, will first administer the oath to the Prime Minister, followed by the ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers on the same day.
Source: BSS