‘Grand’ alliance lawmakers take oath; AL chief picked as parliamentary party leader, she warns MPs against bad report; Zillur AL’s choice for presidency
Shakhawat Liton and Hasan Jahid Tusher
Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina, who was unanimously elected majority party leader yesterday, will be sworn in as prime minister Tuesday.
Her election by the AL parliamentary party (ALPP) came within hours into oath-taking by the AL-led grand alliance lawmakers in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in the afternoon.
Zillur Rahman, the veteran AL leader, was picked as the deputy leader.
Speaking at a press briefing afterwards, Hasina declared Zillur will be her party’s nominee for presidency.
According to the constitution, the 300-member parliament will elect president within 30 days of its first sitting.
The grand alliance enjoys a thumping majority as it won 262 out of 299 constituencies that went to polls on December 29. AL alone bagged 230.
At the first ALPP meeting, Hasina asked her deputies to work sincerely to make parliament effective and implement AL’s electoral manifesto, meeting sources said.
In a note of warning, she said she does not want to see any complaint against any of them. Stern actions would be taken if allegations come against any AL MP, some lawmakers told The Daily Star after the meeting in the parliament building.
In a resolution to be sent to Bangabhaban this morning, the ALPP will request President Iajuddin Ahmed to appoint Hasina as the prime minister.
The constitution says the president shall appoint as prime minister the member of parliament who commands support of the majority of the lawmakers.
Hasina and her prospective cabinet will take the oath of office at Bangabhaban, official residence of the president.
With formation of the new government, the caretaker government’s tenure will come to an end.
After being sure about the time of oath-taking ceremony, the cabinet division started sending out invitations yesterday evening. It was however yet to be confirmed about the number of cabinet members to be sworn in, said sources in the cabinet division.
“We have almost completed our preparations. We were informed of the [oath-taking] date this morning,” said a senior official at the cabinet division yesterday.
Cabinet Secretary M Abdul Aziz met the AL chief and discussed the swearing-in.
Meanwhile, some senior AL leaders hinted that the cabinet’s size would not be much large.
On the first day, Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar administered oath to 259 MPs at a simple ceremony. Parliament secretariat officials welcomed the newly elected lawmakers on their arrival in the parliament building.
Of them, 227 were from AL, 25 from Jatiya Party (JP), two from Workers Party of Bangladesh, three from Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) and two were independent lawmakers.
Hasina, JP Chairman HM Ershad, JSD President Hasanul Haque Inu and Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon were among those sworn in yesterday.
The oath-taking was conducted in three sessions as the oath hall in the JS building does not have enough room to accommodate so many lawmakers at a time.
The lawmakers-elect of BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Jatiya Party of Bangladesh and others have been invited to take oath today.
The Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex came alive after around two years as a huge crowd gathered outside to greet the newly elected lawmakers.
The formalities following the oath-taking took a few hours as the number of lawmakers on the first day was larger that it usually is.
The authorities took stringent security measures in and around the parliament building.
WHAT LAWMAKERS PLEDGED
Those sworn in as lawmakers yesterday promised to discharge their duties faithfully and have faith in and allegiance to Bangladesh.
Taking oath, they also pledged not to allow personal interests to affect their duties.
The parliament secretariat handed them copies of the constitution, rules of procedure of parliament, and remuneration and allowances order.
At the parliamentary party meeting, the AL chief asked her deputies to read necessary books to do their job in parliament competently.
TAKING OATH ON PAROLE
AL lawmaker Habibur Rahman Mollah took oath after being freed on parole from Dhaka Central Jail.
Mollah, elected from Dhaka-5, was released for seven hours and taken back to jail in the evening.
A court sent him to jail on his surrender there in November last year in two cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Courtesy: thedailystar.net
