Two hundred and eighty-nine MPs elected in the 10th parliamentary polls are set to take oath today, amid the opposition’s allegation that the government has been violating the constitution by keeping two parliaments alive simultaneously.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury told the Dhaka Tribune that she would administer oath to the newly elected MPs at 10am, as the Election Commission published the gazette Wednesday.
According to the parliament practices, 228 MPs belonging to the Awami League will first take oath in the oath-room of the Jatiya Sangsad. The other MPs will take oath after this has been completed.
Sheikh Hasina has vacated the Rangpur 6 seat to represent the seat in Gopalganj 3.
The gazette says the other MPs comprise of 33 members of the Jatiya Party (Ershad), six from the Workers Party, five from the Jatiya Samajtatrik Dal, 14 independent candidates, and one candidate each from the Jatiya Party (Manju), Tariqat Federation and Bangladesh Nationalist Front.
Sk Afil Uddin (Jessore 1) and Monirul Islam (Jessore 2) do not appear on the gazette, as the Election Commission has been investigating allegations of electoral code of conduct violations by the two Awami League candidates.
If the allegations prove to be true, their nomination papers may be cancelled, EC officials have said.
The gazette also omitted the names of eight constituencies where the Election Commission has announced re-elections, as violence in the areas had disrupted polls.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties have claimed that the article 123 (3) (b) of the constitution debars the MPs of a new parliament from “assuming office” without the expiration of the stipulated five years of the previous parliament.
According to the allegations made by the opposition, the MPs cannot take oath before January 24, when the current ninth parliament will expire after five years.
The government had not dissolved the ninth parliament till filing of the report at 8pm Wesnesday.
“I do not know whether the government will dissolve parliament. According to the constitution, the speaker is not the authority to dissolve parliament,” Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury told the Dhaka Tribune at her office on Wednesday.
“I am under constitutional obligation to administer oath in three days after the publication of the gazette by the Election Commission,” she said.
The speaker said it was a question whether the words “assuming the office” and “taking oath” could be interpreted differently.
“Our position is there cannot be two parliaments simultaneously; this is violation of the constitution. They [government] must dissolve the ninth parliament right now,” Lt Gen (Retd) Mahbubur Rahman, a member of the BNP’s highest policy making standing committee, told the Dhaka Tribune.
The Awami League will then hold the meeting of the parliamentary party and select the leader of the house, who would form the government.
According to the constitution, the president must convene parliament in 30 days after oath taking.
Following their taking oath, the new MPs will join a meeting of the Awami League Parliamentary Party to re-elect Sheikh Hasina as its leader and she will eventually form the new government, Chief-Whip Abdus Shahid told the Dhaka Tribune after a meeting with Hasina at her Ganabhaban residence.
The 10th parliament will start its journey after termination of the ninth parliament on January 24, he said.
“The newly elected prime minister will request the president to convene the first session of the 10th parliament after January 24,” Shahid said.
“The newly elected MPs of the 10th parliament will assume office as members of parliament with the commencement of its first session.”
The current ninth parliament started its term on January 25, 2009 and is set to end on January 24, 2014, according to the constitution.
When asked, Barrister Shafique Ahmed, the immediate past law minister and prime minister’s law affairs adviser, said he was not in a position to comment on the issue.
The debate over the timing of the 10th parliament's taking office arises as a result of the reinsertion of an article which the original 1972 constitution contained. The article stipulates that the general elections may be held 90 days before the expiry of the previous parliament.
In line with the article, the Election Commission arranged the 10th national polls on January 5, without dissolution of the ninth parliament.
Though the insertion in 1972, the article regarding the holding of polls 90 days before the expiry of legislation could not be implemented because of interruption of democratic practices. All the previous parliaments up to 1996 were dissolved within five years.
The BNP-led parliament that lasted for only 12 days dropped the provision, inserting the arrangement of the non-party caretaker government which used to assume office after the completion of the mandated five years.
The non-party caretaker government, now demanded by the BNP, used to hold general elections 90 days after the end of a parliament. The last caretaker government was in power for about two years beyond constitutional approval and arranged the ninth general polls on December 29, 2008.
On June 30, 2011, the Awami League government dropped the non-party caretaker government under a directive of the Supreme Court, restoring the original provision of holding elections under the incumbent government 90 days before expiry of the previous parliament.
