Maiden session of 12th parliament starts

Following the national parliament election on January 7, the inaugural session of the 12th National Parliament commenced on Tuesday.

The proceedings started at 3pm at the National Parliament Building in the capital.

Deputy Speaker Shamsul Hoque Tuku will preside over the initial session.

Among the agenda items for this session is the election of the speaker and deputy speaker for the 12th National Parliament.

The ruling party, Awami League, has already put forward Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury as the nominee for the position of Speaker and Shamsul Haque Tuku for the role of Deputy Speaker.

In adherence to the customary practices of the National Parliament session, President Mohammed Shahabuddin is slated to deliver an address during the opening session of the new term.

This marks the commencement of the first session of the 12th National Parliament and also serves as the inaugural session for the year 2024.

Similar to the 11th parliament, the Jatiya Party (JaPa) assumes the role of the opposition with 11 members. The ruling party won an overwhelming majority by getting 223 seats and the Workers Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, and Bangladesh Kalyan Party won one seat each.

Notably, this time there is a significant presence of independent parliamentarians–with 62 in total, but 59 of them align with the Awami League politics and will play an opposition role.

The 11th parliament completed its five-year term on January 29. Despite a relatively lower number of working days, totaling 272, this parliament witnessed a record-setting 25 sessions. The active participation of the opposition Japa prevented any parliamentary boycott.