Dhaka, Jan 29 (UNB) – The maiden session of the 11th parliament begins on Wednesday, within 31 days of the national election held on December 30 with participation of all the registered political parties.
President Abdul Hamid convened the session on January 9 exercising his power bestowed upon him by article 72 (1) of the Constitution.
It will also be the first session of the New Year, which will start at 3pm.
The five-year tenure of the 10th parliament expired on Monday as its first sitting was held on January 29, 2014 after the 10th general election held on January 5, 2014.
Awami League won an absolute majority bagging 258 seats in the recent election.
Jatiya Party secured 22 seats and will act as the main opposition in parliament. The party has already announced that its chairman HM Ershad will be the opposition leader in parliament while his brother and party cochairman GM Quader deputy opposition leader.
Though BNP and its alliance partners joined the election, the party bagged only six seats while its alliance partner Gano Forum two seats.
However, the Jatiya Oikyafront MPs still did not take the oath of office.
On January 7, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina along with her 46 cabinet members took oath following her party’s massive victory in the 11th national election.
Apart from the Prime Minister, there are 24 ministers, 19 state ministers and three deputy ministers in the new cabinet.
Of the 47-member cabinet, 27 are new faces who are picked in a bid to infuse dynamism into the cabinet activities to implement the election manifesto the ruling party placed before the nation.
Unlike the previous government, no one out of Awami League was inducted in the cabinet.
At the beginning of the session, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House are supposed to be elected and they will be sworn in by the President.
During her election campaign in Rangpur, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hinted at reelecting current Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.
However, it is still not clear who is going to be elected as the Deputy Speaker of the House.
As per the convention, the President will first address the session and the MPs will address on his speech all over the session.
