The first session of the 13th National Parliament will be held on 12 March. The House will elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker at this initial sitting.
Generally speaking, the outgoing Speaker or Deputy Speaker presides over the first sitting of a newly elected Parliament, and the House proceeds to elect the new Speaker and Deputy Speaker at the outset.
However, given the changed circumstances, the question has arisen as to who will preside during the election of the Speaker at the first sitting.
On 5 August 2024, a mass uprising led to the fall of the Awami League government. 18 months later, on 12 February, the 13th National Parliament election took place under the interim government.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) formed the government with a two-thirds majority.
Under the constitution, the president must summon the first sitting of Parliament within 30 days of the declaration of the general election results.
At a meeting held yesterday, Sunday at the Secretariat, chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, discussions included arrangements for the first sitting of the 13th National Parliament.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed told journalists after the meeting, “The president will summon the parliament on 12 March. The relevant summary will be forwarded from the National Parliament Secretariat to the Prime Minister’s Office and then to the president. The president will summon parliament in accordance with the prime minister’s advice.”
We have not yet discussed who will preside at the first sitting.Salahuddin Ahmed, home minister
Salahuddin Ahmed further stated that the House would elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker at this sitting.
In addition, it would table the ordinances promulgated during the tenure of the interim government. The House would also adopt a motion of condolence and hear the president’s address.
On 13 February, the Election Commission published the gazette notification for the newly elected members of parliament.
Ordinarily, after publication of the gazette, the outgoing Speaker administers the oath to the newly elected members. However, this time the process differed.
Under the Constitution, if the Speaker or a person nominated by the Speaker fails to administer the oath within three days, the chief election commissioner may administer the oath within the following three days.
Accordingly, chief election commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin administered the oath to the newly elected members on Tuesday after three days had elapsed since the publication of the gazette.
Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury served as Speaker of the 12th Parliament. Following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, she resigned from the office of Speaker in September 2024 and has not appeared publicly since.
The outgoing deputy speaker, Shamsul Haque Tuku, was arrested in connection with a murder case and remains in custody.
Under the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad, Parliament must elect the Speaker at its first sitting following a general election, in accordance with the prescribed rules.
This is effectively the first business of a newly elected Parliament. The outgoing Speaker usually presides over this process. If the outgoing Speaker is a candidate for the position, the outgoing Deputy Speaker presides instead.
In the present circumstances, in the ‘absence’ of both the outgoing Speaker and Deputy Speaker, discussions have arisen as to who will preside over the first sitting of the 13th Parliament and during the election of the Speaker.
Responding to journalists yesterday, Sunday, BNP standing committee member and home minister Salahuddin Ahmed said, “We have not yet discussed who will preside at the first sitting.”
Under the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad, Parliament must elect the Speaker at its first sitting following a general election, in accordance with the prescribed rules. This is effectively the first business of a newly elected Parliament. The outgoing Speaker usually presides over this process. If the outgoing Speaker is a candidate for the position, the outgoing Deputy Speaker presides instead. In the present circumstances, in the ‘absence’ of both the outgoing Speaker and Deputy Speaker, discussions have arisen as to who will preside over the first sitting of the 13th Parliament and during the election of the Speaker.
Procedure for the election of the Speaker
Under the Rules of Procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad, any member may submit a written notice proposing another member for election as Speaker at least one hour before the time fixed for the election.
The member must address the notice to the secretary of the parliament secretariat, and a third member must second it. The notice must also include a statement from the proposed candidate confirming that he or she agrees to serve as Speaker if elected.
However, no member may propose or second his or her own name for the office of Speaker. In addition, no member may preside over the sitting during consideration of his or her own election.
The House will put properly moved and seconded motions to a vote in the order in which Members have proposed them. Where necessary, the House will decide the matter by division.
Once the House adopts a motion, it will not put the remaining motions to a vote. The House follows the same procedure when electing the Deputy Speaker.
The president administers the oath of office to the newly elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker. This ceremony usually takes place at the president’s office within the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
After taking the oath, the newly elected Speaker presides over the sitting of parliament and may conduct the election of the Deputy Speaker.
Generally speaking, after publication of the gazette, the outgoing Speaker administers the oath to the newly elected members. However, this time the process differed. Under the Constitution, if the Speaker or a person nominated by the Speaker fails to administer the oath within three days, the chief election commissioner may administer the oath within the following three days.
Provisions in the constitution and the rules
Article 74 of the Constitution sets out the provisions relating to the Speaker and Deputy Speaker. It states, “After any general election, at its first meeting, parliament shall elect from among its members a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker; and if either office falls vacant, Parliament shall, within seven days or, if Parliament is not then sitting, at its first meeting thereafter, elect from among its members a person to fill that office.”
Article 74(3) provides that if the office of Speaker falls vacant, or if Parliament determines that the Speaker is unable to perform his or her functions for any other reason, the Deputy Speaker shall perform all the functions of the Speaker.
If the office of Deputy Speaker also falls vacant, a member of parliament shall perform those functions in accordance with the rules of procedure.
In any sitting of parliament, if the Speaker is absent, the Deputy Speaker shall preside; and if the Deputy Speaker is also absent, a member shall preside in accordance with the rules of procedure.
Section 5 of the Rules of Procedure states that, before the first sitting of parliament following a general election, every person elected to Parliament shall take the oath in the form prescribed in the Third Schedule to the Constitution before the outgoing Speaker; in his or her absence, before the outgoing Deputy Speaker; in the absence of both, before a person nominated by the outgoing Speaker; and where both the offices of Speaker and Deputy Speaker are vacant, before a person nominated by the president for the purpose of administering the oath and presiding over Parliament until the election of the Speaker.
The constitution also provides that even if the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker falls vacant, the incumbent shall be deemed to continue in office until a successor assumes the functions of that office.
On this occasion, the president did not nominate any person to administer the oath to members of parliament. The chief election commissioner administered the oath.
Discussion has therefore arisen as to whether the president may now nominate a person solely to preside over Parliament until the election of the Speaker.
Section 21 of the Rules of Procedure states that a sitting shall be deemed duly constituted if the Speaker, or any other member qualified under the Constitution or the rules of procedure, presides.
On that basis, some observers consider that any member of parliament may preside.
Furthermore, under the rules of procedure, the Speaker nominates a panel of chairpersons at the commencement of a session. In the absence of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, members of that panel preside.
Section12(2) provides, “If at any time during a sitting of parliament neither the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker nor any member of the panel of chairpersons is present, the secretary shall inform parliament accordingly, and parliament shall elect one of its Members to preside by means of a motion.”
However, opinions differ as to whether this provision applies to the first sitting of a newly elected parliament.
Parliamentary affairs researcher and former professor at the University of Chittagong, Nizam Uddin Ahmed, told Prothom Alo that, in the present changed circumstances, the chief election commissioner administered the oath to the newly elected members of parliament.
He stated, “Under Section 5 of the rules of procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad, a person nominated by the president (on the advice of the prime minister) may preside at the first sitting of the 13th National Parliament until the Speaker is elected.”