United News of Bangladesh

A four-member parliamentary delegation led by Deputy Speaker Barrister Kayser Kamal returned home on Saturday after completing a four-day official visit to China. The delegation arrived in Dhaka at around 2pm. Before their departure from Kunming, Vice Governor of China's Yunnan Province Yuan Fang saw off the delegation at Kunming International Airport at noon local time. During the visit, Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal attended the opening ceremony of the 7th China-South Asia Cooperation Forum in Kunming as an invited guest at the invitation of the Governor of Yunnan Province. The Deputy Speaker also participated as a special guest in the 10th China-South Asia Exposition. Bangladesh participated in this year's exposition as the theme country, with 84 pavilions showcasing Bangladeshi products. A total of 68 countries participated in the international trade fair, which runs until June 16 in Kunming. During the visit, the Deputy Speaker held separate meetings with Vice Chairman of China's National People's Congress He Wei, Secretary of the Yunnan provincial committee of Chinese Communist Party Wang Ning and Yunnan Governor Wang Yubo. On his way to the airport on Saturday morning, the Deputy Speaker visited a pilot project on autonomous or driverless transportation systems in Yunnan Province. Other members of the delegation were NCP Member Secretary Akhtar Hossen, MP, BNP lawmaker Khaled Hossain Mahbub and Independent lawmaker (Reserved Seat) Jesmin Sultana Jui, said a press release from parliament secretariat.

Opposition Leader Dr Md Shafiqur Rahman on Sunday appreciated Deputy Speaker Barrister Kayser Kamal for expressing his views in his introductory speech to play impartial role in Parliament. “The sentiment you have expressed here today through your speech is exactly what the people of Bangladesh desire. They want Parliament to be turned into the center of all activities in the country,” he said. Earlier the first session of Parliament resumed on Sunday after a 14-day break as its third sitting began at 3:00pm with Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal in the chair. Jamaat Ameer mourns death of speaker’s wife Dilara Hafiz While presiding over the House for the first time, the Deputy Speaker made his introductory speech and expressed his views to remain neutral and would play impartial roles in the Parliament. He also cited that he already resigned from the post of his party (BNP) for the sake of being impartial. Following his speech, Dr Shafiqur Rahman, also the Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, took the floor and hailed his views. “We congratulated you once when you were elected Deputy Speaker. Today, we are officially congratulating you again,” he said. “This chair is a very important chair of justice. The message you have given from this chair is that you will impartially consider everything and give everyone what is due to them. So, I congratulate you once again for this attitude,” he went on. The Opposition Leader assured the Deputy Speaker that they would extend all sorts of cooperation to all reasonable steps taken by him.

Deputy Speaker Barrister Kayser Kamal on Monday said the Parliament Library can play an important role in preparing objective bulletins and disseminating accurate information. He made the remarks while visiting the Parliament Library at the Jatiya Sangsad complex where he reviewed its activities and preservation system. During the visit, the Deputy Speaker discussed the library’s role in preserving daily news clippings, local and international newspapers, journals, parliamentary debates and the British parliamentary debate record Hansard. Parliament to be centrepiece in building prosperous state: Speaker He stressed the need to accelerate the activities of the Parliament Library through coordination among the Public Works Department and other relevant offices and branches. Kaisar Kamal also instructed officials to ensure the regular preservation of government gazettes and the DLR (Dhaka Law Reports). The Deputy Speaker further discussed ways to ensure the effective and full utilisation of the library with the participation of members of parliament. According to the Rules of Procedure of Parliament, the Deputy Speaker serves as the chair of the Library Committee. Senior officials of the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat were present on the occasion.

Senior BNP leader Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Bir Bikrom and MP Barrister Kayser Kamal on Thursday took oath as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively of the 13th Parliament. President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath while Leader of the House and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was also present. At the end of the ceremony, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker signed the oath book. At the outset of the maiden session of the newly formed Parliament, MPs first elected Hafiz Uddin, six-time parliamentarian and Liberation War Affairs Minister in the new cabinet, as the Speaker of the 13th parliament and then first-time MP Barrister Kayser Kamal as the Deputy Speaker.