BNP reserved-seat MP Ferdousy Ahmed Mishti resigned from her parliamentary seat on Thursday after being instructed to step down by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
“Ferdousy Ahmed came to my office and submitted her written resignation. As per the provisions of the Constitution, her seat fell vacant immediately upon her resignation,” Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad said at a press briefing in the afternoon.
Later, the Parliament Secretariat issued a gazette notification declaring the seat vacant as per Article 67(2) of the Constitution.
The Speaker said parliamentary rules require MPs to mention no reason when submitting their resignation.
Mishti met the Speaker at his office around 1:30pm and left the room after staying there for a few minutes.
“The Speaker called me, and I met him,” she told reporters in the Parliament tunnel after coming out of the Speaker’s office.
She, however, declined to comment when asked about her resignation.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman instructed Mishti to step down from her parliamentary seat.
The development came amid allegations of her involvement in the attack, vandalism, looting and demolition of the Radda MCH-FP Centre, a maternal and child healthcare facility in Mirpur, Dhaka, on September 24.
The health centre was attacked and vandalised at midnight, with allegations of involvement of ruling party leaders and activists at different levels. Mishti, however, has denied involvement in the incident.
There are 50 reserved seats for women in the Parliament. Under the Constitution, the reserved seats are distributed among political parties in proportion to the number of directly elected MPs secured by each party.
A total of 36 women were elected to reserved seats from BNP in the current Parliament, while nine reserved-seat MPs were from Jamaat, two from National Citizen Party, one each was elected from Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis and Jatiya Ganatantrik Party-JAGPA, and the rest, one, was elected as an independent MP.
The gazette notification for the reserved-seat MPs was issued on April 30, and they took the oath on May 3.
Mishti resigned from Parliament within around five months of taking the oath.