Kathmandu: A new government is set to be formed in Bangladesh today, with newly elected lawmakers taking the oath as Members of Parliament.
However, Members of Parliament elected from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) did not take the oath as members of the Constitutional Reform Council. The BNP secured a two-thirds majority in the recent general election.
According to BBC Bangla, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed announced ahead of the swearing-in ceremony at the parliament building that BNP lawmakers would not take the oath for the Constitutional Reform Council.
Ahmed stated, “None of us were elected as members of the Constitutional Reform Council, and it has not yet been incorporated into the Constitution. If the Council is to be formed based on the decision of the referendum, it must first be included in the Constitution, and clear provisions must be made regarding who will take the oath as its members.”
In contrast, lawmakers from Jamaat-e-Islami took the oath both as Members of Parliament and as members of the Constitutional Reform Council. A referendum on constitutional reform was held on February 12, the same day as the general election.
After more than a year and a half, an elected political government in Bangladesh begins its new term today. Following the morning swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected MPs at the parliament building, the oath-taking ceremony for members of the new government is scheduled for the afternoon.
Earlier, BNP lawmakers unanimously selected Tarique Rahman as the parliamentary party leader and Prime Minister. Rahman, the BNP chairman who won the 13th parliamentary election, is set to be sworn in as Prime Minister on Tuesday afternoon.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin will also administer the oath to the new Council of Ministers during the same ceremony.
