United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s 13th Parliament started its five-year journey with its first session on Thursday morning, just one month on from the February 12 general election. Unlike in the past however, the first session of the new parliament began with the Chair of Speaker vacant as the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are currently unavailable. At the outset of the session, Leader of the House and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will deliver a welcome speech and nominate the name of a senior member of parliament to temporarily chair the House before election to the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker by Members of Parliament. Following their elections, the session is likely to be adjourned for some time and the new Speaker and Deputy Speaker will take oath. President Mohammed Shahabuddin will administer the oath. Then the session will resume with the newly elected Speaker or Deputy Speaker in the chair. In the first-day sitting of the session, a condolence motion will be placed, expressing profound grief at the death of three-time prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, former MPs and other noted personalities. President Mohammed Shahabuddin will also deliver his speech in the House on Thursday. Traffic restrictions in parts of Dhaka this morning over parliament session A meeting of the BNP Parliamentary Party chaired by Tarique Rahman was held at the ruling party’s meeting room at Sangsad Bhaban, a day before the maiden session of the 13th parliament. Following the meeting, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters on Wednesday that the prime minister will nominate a senior BNP lawmaker to temporarily preside over the House as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are currently unavailable. “Since the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are not available, the leader of the House will announce who will preside over the House. Then the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker will be elected,” he said, outlining the tentative procedure of the first day business of the maiden session. After their election, the newly elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker will take oath. “The President (Mohammed Shahabuddin) will administer the oath to them as per the rules of procedure of Parliament, " he said. Salahuddin said then the House will sit again and the panel of chairmen for the first session of Parliament will be announced. Then a condolence motion will be placed and discussion on the motion will be held, he added. The Law Minister will place 133 ordinances (seeking endorsement of parliament) and several parliamentary committees such as the business advisory committee of parliament will be elected, he said. “Then the President will deliver the speech in the House,” said Salahuddin Ahmed. The first meeting of the business advisory committee is likely to be held the following day and the session is most likely to be adjourned after another sitting on March 15, he said. Usually the first session of a new parliament begins with the Speaker of the previous parliament in chair and then the election of the new Speaker and Deputy Speaker is held. First Kalema in Arabic calligraphy inscribed in Parliament’s session hall Meanwhile, Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni on Wednesday said the ruling party wants the 13th parliament to be effective and vibrant where problems will be resolved through discussion and debate. “Our goal is to run an effective, vibrant and responsible parliament. We want an environment of constructive discussion, rational argument and healthy debate on national issues in parliament,” he said at a press briefing after a meeting of BNP’s parliamentary party. He said a member nominated by the Prime Minister will temporarily preside over the House. The Chief Whip said the BNP Parliamentary Party (BPP) on Wednesday authorised the Prime Minister and Leader of the House Tarique Rahman to decide the candidates for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 13th Parliament. “We have entrusted the Leader of the House with the responsibility of deciding the Speaker and Deputy Speaker. He will take the decision, and we will know it tomorrow,” he said. He said the proceedings of Thursday’s sitting will begin with the Speaker’s chair vacant. The session will start with recitation from the Holy Quran, he added. After that, the Leader of the House will propose the name of a senior MP to preside over the sitting temporarily, which will be seconded by another MP. The nominated member will then preside over the session, said the Chief Whip. Nurul Islam also said 133 ordinances promulgated during the tenure of the interim government will be placed before parliament on Thursday. Replying to a question, the Chief Whip said the Prime Minister showed “great generosity” by offering the post of Deputy Speaker to the opposition. “But we have not received any positive response from them so far. If we do, necessary steps will be taken accordingly,” he said. Energy conservation plea goes unheeded as Dhaka malls glow with lights On February 23 last, President Mohammed Shahabuddin summoned the first session of the new parliament under the powers conferred by Article 72(1) of the Constitution. This session will mark both the inaugural sitting of the 13th Parliament and the first parliamentary session of 2026. The parliamentary elections were held on February 12 last, with Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) winning it with two-thirds majority. The 13th parliamentary election was held in 299 out of the country’s 300 constituencies on February 12 as the election to Sherpur-3 constituency was postponed following the death of a candidate. The Election Commission of Bangladesh published the gazette notification on February 13, declaring results for 297 seats. In the 297 constituencies, BNP won in 209 parliamentary seats, while Jamaat-e-Islami in 68, NCP settled victory in six constituencies, independent candidates in seven constituencies, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish in two, Islami Andolan Bangladesh in one, Bangladesh Jatiya Party-BJP (led by Andaleeve Rahman Partho) in one, Ganaodhikar Parishad in one, Ganasamhati Andolan in one and Khelafat Majlish in one parliamentary seat. Later, the newly elected MPs were sworn in on February 17 and Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin administered the oath. BNP chairman Tarique Rahman, who was elected from two constituencies, took oath as MP from Dhaka-17 constituency, leaving Bogura-6 constituency for by-election. According to Article 72(1) of the Constitution, Parliament must be summoned to meet within 30 days after the declaration of the results of polling at any general election. The same article also states that unless sooner dissolved by the President, Parliament shall stand dissolved on the expiration of five years from the date of its first meeting. So, the five-year tenure of the 13th Parliament will officially commence with its first sitting on March 12.

The 21st session of the current parliament that began Thursday will continue till February 9. The session will start at 4:15pm on each working day. On January 10, a special discussion will be held on the Homecoming Day of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The decisions came at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the current parliament held at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in Dhaka. Read more: Parliament back in session; to continue till July 4 Committee Chair and Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury presided over the meeting. It also decided to hold a special session in April to observe the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad. President Abdul Hamid will address the session and general discussion will be held on Thanksgiving motion of his speech. It also decided that the Speaker may extend or cut the working days of the current session. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Opposition Leader Raushon Ershad, Amir Hossain Amu, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Obaidul Quader, Rashed Khan Menon, Hasanul Huq Inu, Deputy Speaker M Shamshul Huq Tuku, Anisul Huq, Golam Mohammad Quader, Anisul Islam Mahmud and Noor-E-Alam Chowdhury attended it. Read more: 19th JS session to continue till September 1

President Abdul Hamid on Monday convened the 21st session of the 11th Parliament on January 5, 2023. The President convened the first session of 2023, exercising the power bestowed upon him as per the Clause (1) of Article 72 of the constitution, said a press release of Parliament Secretariat. The winter session will begin at 4pm on January 5. Read more: PM thanks JaPa for playing positive role in parliamentary democracy The President has to address the first parliament session in a new year, according to Article 73(2) of the Constitution. Later, there’ll be a discussion over a thanksgiving motion on the President’s speech in the House during the session. Earlier, the 20th session of the current parliament was prorogued on November 06 only after six sittings. So, the House is going into session after a recess of 59 days. Read more: 5 parliamentary seats now vacant after BNP MPs’ resignation: Speaker

Jatiya Party’s parliament members have decided to join the parliamentary session on Monday, a day after they announced to stay away from parliament till the speaker recognises GM Quader as the leader of the opposition instead of Raushan Ershad. JP Chairman GM Quader directed all the MPs of the party to join the 20th session of parliament on Monday upon assurance from Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, said Khandakar Delwar Jalali, JP press secretary. Earlier on Sunday, Jatiya Party announced they will stay away from Parliament after a discussion with the speaker where she offered no hint of a positive decision in this regard coming soon. Currently, Raushan Ershad is the opposition leader who has been abroad for a long time for medical treatment with GM Quader as her deputy. Read: Jatiya Party removes Ranga as opposition chief whip Earlier on September 3, the JP parliamentary party proposed to make GM Quader the opposition leader of the parliament instead of Raushan but the speaker is yet to take a decision in this regard. The 20th session of the current parliament that began Sunday will continue till November 6.

The 19th session of the 11th Parliament will begin at 5 pm on Sunday where the new deputy Speaker will be elected. President Md Abdul Hamid convened the session exercising the power bestowed upon him as per the Clause (1) of Article 72 of the constitution. On 30 June, the eighteenth session of 11th Parliament was prorogued after 20 sittings. The new deputy Speaker will be elected on the first day of this session. Before the start of the Parliament session at 4 pm, the duration of the session and other functions will be decided in the business advisory committee meeting. The business of the day will start with the nomination of the panel chairmen followed by the election of the new deputy Speaker.   In this case, an MP will place the name of the new deputy Speaker, which will be supported by another MP. The Speaker will then put the proposal on vote.   Generally, the Chief Whip of the Parliament places the proposal while another whip or senior member supportes it. According to the rules, if the post of Speaker or deputy Speaker becomes vacant, there is a provision for election within seven days if the Parliament is in session at that time.   And if the Parliament is not in the session, there is an obligation to elect on the first day of the next session.   Read: AL hails EC decision to use EVMs in 150 JS seats in next polls That is why the deputy Speaker will be elected at the beginning of Sunday's proceedings. Fazle Rabbi Miah, tgen deputy speaker, passed away on July 22 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, USA, while undergoing treatment.   His death left the post of deputy Speaker and Gaibandha-5 seat vacant. The new deputy Speaker will be sworn in by the President Hamid at 7pm. According to the sources, this oath will be taken in the President's chamber in the Parliament building. After the election of the deputy Speaker, the Speaker will move the condolence motion on Fazle Rabbi Miah. According to custom, the session will be adjourned after the discussion on the condolence motion. In this session as well, all the employees of the parliament secretariat, including the members of Parliament, are being tested for coronavirus.   Three bills have been prepared to be placed in the upcoming session. These are the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bill, the Public Service (Amendment) Bill and the Universal Pensions Management Bill.

The fourteenth session of the 11th parliament was prorogued on Thursday, after only seven sittings as it was another short session amid the Covid pandemic. Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury read out the prorogation order of the President. Earlier, Leader of the Parliament and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Parliament GM Quader delivered their concluding speeches. Nine bills were placed in the session that began on the first day of this month. During the brief session, 31 important notices under section 71 of the rules of procedure were received, but none of them was discussed. Read: Medical Degrees (Repeal) Bill goes through Parliament Twenty-four questions were received for prime minister’s question-answer session and she replied to 16 of them. The session also received 584 questions for different ministers with the minsters answering 389 ones. Only a limited number of MPs joined the parliament session maintaining health safety rules due to the pandemic. There was a parliament sitting of this session on Friday, which is unusual as the day is a public holiday.    Before reading out the prorogation order, the Speaker thanked all the MPs of treasury and opposition benches and all other officials concerned for their cooperation in holding the session smoothly.

The 14th session of the 11th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) will begin on September 1 next. President Abdul Hamid has summoned the session exercising the power bestowed upon him by Article 72 (1) of the Constitution. The session of the Jatiya Sangsad will begin at 5pm on the day with Parliament Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair. The 13th session of the 11th Parliament, which was actually the budget session 2021-22 fiscal, was prorogued on July 3.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said she can pass a wonderful time during the parliament session as she is apparently confined in a ‘large prison’ due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The 11th session of the 11th Parliament was prorogued on Tuesday soon after the House unanimously adopted the thanksgiving motion on the President's speech in the first session of the new calendar year of 2021.

Six Parliamentary Standing Committees were reconstituted on Wednesday.