Salahuddin Ahmed takes Mirza Fakhrul's seat, will he be the next Deputy Leader of the House

Following the election of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as President, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has taken his seat in the National Parliament.

On Thursday, during the first day of the third session of the 13th National Parliament, he was seen sitting in the seat adjacent to Prime Minister and Leader of the House Tarique Rahman under the new seating arrangement. Discussions have now begun in political circles regarding whether Salahuddin Ahmed is being made the Deputy Leader of the House.

However, no official decision or announcement has been made so far regarding making Salahuddin Ahmed the Deputy Leader of the House. The authority to decide who will be the Deputy Leader rests with the Leader of the House and the Prime Minister.

Relevant observers say that the new seating arrangement cannot be viewed directly as a decision to make him the Deputy Leader. Nevertheless, many consider his placement in this important seat to be significant.

Until now, the recently departed Secretary General of the BNP and Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir used to sit in the seat next to the Leader of the House, Tarique Rahman. After being elected president, he resigned from the posts of Secretary General and Local Government Minister. Simultaneously, his parliamentary constituency, Thakurgaon-1, has been declared vacant.

In the previous seating arrangement, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir occupied the seat next to the Prime Minister in the front row of the treasury bench. Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury sat in the next seat, and Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed was in the fourth seat.

Under the new arrangement, Salahuddin Ahmed has moved up to Mirza Fakhrul Islam’s seat, and Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury occupies the seat next to him.

Concurrently, the seats of other leaders have also changed. Senior BNP leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain is now sitting in Salahuddin Ahmed’s previous seat. In the new arrangement of the 10 seats in the front row of the treasury bench, the new member of the BNP Standing Committee, Amanullah Aman, has moved to the front from the back row.

The placement of Salahuddin in the seat next to the Prime Minister is also gaining significance due to his political and official standing. Salahuddin, a member of the BNP National Standing Committee, currently holds the portfolio of Home Minister. Furthermore, his name is also being discussed as a potential Secretary General of the party.

Discussions have intensified regarding whether there is any contemplation to bring this leader, who holds an important position in the government and party decision-making levels, into a more significant role in parliamentary activities.

The post of Deputy Leader of the House is an important position supportive of the Leader of the House. In the absence of the Leader of the House, the Deputy Leader must play a crucial role in conducting parliamentary activities. In the past, too, there have been precedents of keeping senior leaders of the ruling party in this position.

Following Mirza Fakhrul's departure from parliament, Salahuddin Ahmed has received his seat. Whether this is merely a new seating arrangement or preparation to give him a more significant responsibility in parliament will become clear once an official decision is reached.

When asked about this, BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told Prothom Alo on Saturday, that he knows nothing about this matter. He added that this falls under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister and Leader of the House.