Tarique Rahman elected leader of parliament, Shafiqur Rahman opposition leader

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairman Tarique Rahman has been elected leader of the house in the Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) in addition to serving as prime minister.

The BNP parliamentary party unanimously elected him as leader of the house at its meeting held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban yesterday, Tuesday at 12:23 pm.

Earlier in the morning, the newly elected members of parliament from the BNP took their oath at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

The BNP secured a landslide victory in the 13th national parliament election held on 12 February.

Following the election of the leader of the house, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told journalists, ‘This is a historic moment that after the oppression and repression of a prolonged fascist government, the destruction of democracy, and the rendering of parliament ineffective, and through much bloodshed of the people, we have secured a parliament through a free election. In this parliament, with a majority of seats, we have elected our young leader Tarique Rahman as the leader of the parliamentary party.’

In the 13th National Parliament election, the BNP won 211 seats independently. Its alliance partners secured three additional seats.

One member of parliament each was elected from Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), Ganosamhati Andolon, and Gono Odhikar Parishad. In total, the BNP-led alliance holds 214 seats.

Shafiqur Rahman, ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, has been elected leader of the opposition in parliament.

After taking oath on Tuesday afternoon, the party’s parliamentary group convened a meeting and unanimously elected him as leader of the opposition.

In the 12 February parliamentary election, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami won 68 seats independently. Its alliance partner, National Citizen Party (NCP), secured six seats.

Among Jamaat’s other alliance partners, two candidates from Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis and one from Khelafat Majlis were elected. Altogether, the Jamaat-led 11-party electoral alliance holds 77 seats.

In addition to electing the leader of the opposition, the Jamaat-led 11-party electoral alliance also nominated the deputy leader of the opposition and the opposition Chief Whip.

Speaking to Prothom Alo yesterday, Tuesday afternoon, Saiful Alam (Milon), member of parliament elected from Dhaka-12 on a Jamaat nomination, said that based on the decision of the MPs of the 11-party electoral alliance, Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, member of parliament for Cumilla-11 (Chouddagram) and nayeb-e-ameer of Jamaat, has been appointed deputy leader of the opposition.

The alliance appointed Nahid Islam, convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP), as the opposition Chief Whip.