Newly-elected MPs to be sworn in Thursday

The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday sent a letter to the parliament secretary for taking necessary preparations to arrange the oath-taking ceremony of the newly-elected members of parliament (MPs).
EC Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed said this while talking to reporters at Nirbachan Bhaban on Wednesday.“The gazette containing the details of 298 newly-elected MPs has been published and we’ve sent a copy to the parliament secretary so that they can take preparations for holding the oath-taking ceremony,” he said.Meanwhile, Tarique Mahmud, director (Public Relations) of the Parliament Secretariat, said the oath-taking ceremony will be held at 11 am on Thursday.
Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury will conduct the oath at the ‘Oath Room’ and all the necessary preparations in this regard have been taken.After the oath, the MPs of respective political parties will sit in their respective rooms to elect the house leader, according to sources at the secretariat.
Replying to a journalist’s query whether the EC is happy with the election, the EC secretary said, “Our CEC has said a peaceful election was held in the country and he also thanked everyone related to the election process for their efforts in this regard.”
Asked about Oikyafront’s memorandum placed before the EC, he said, “Anyone can place a memorandum or a letter to the Election Commission. We accepted it and the commission will take the decision in this regard.”
“A few incidents of small-scale violence occurred on the voting day and the Commission directed the Inspector General of Police to submit a report after investigating the incidents,” he said.The EC secretary also said the commission has decided to hold the Upazila Election in March as SSC and HSC examinations will be held in February and April,” he said.
Responding to a question about not oath taking of five elected BNP MPs, he said it is a rule to take oath within three days of publication of the gazette and the 11th parliament will go into session within a month. If anyone fails to take oath within 90 days of the 1st session, his constituency will fall vacant.
According to article 148 (2A) of the Constitution, the newly-elected members of parliament will be obliged to take oath within three days after the publication of the election results in official gazette, or else, their memberships will cease to exit.

source: UNB