Dhaka: The newly elected women Members of Parliament (MPs) took oath on Sunday to represent their respective parties from the reserved seats. Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, Bir Bikram, administered the oath at 9:07pm at the Oath Room of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. The oath-taking ceremony was conducted by Parliament Secretariat Secretary Golam Sarwar Bhuiyan. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, along with cabinet members and senior leaders of the ruling BNP, opposition Jamaat, and NCP, were present on the occasion.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the Election Commission had earlier published a gazette on April 30, declaring 49 lawmakers elected unopposed to the reserved women’s seats in the 13th parliament. Of these, 36 MPs are from the BNP alliance, including notable figures such as Selima Rahman, Shirin Sultana, and Rasheda Begum Hira among others. Meanwhile, 12 lawmakers have been elected from the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance, featuring Nurunnisa Siddika and Marzia Begum, among others. The independent MP for the lone reserved seat is Sultana Jasmin.
The Parliament allocates 50 reserved seats for women. The last remaining seat, intended for the National Citizen Party (NCP), faced complications as the Election Commission initially rejected the nominations of two NCP aspirants. Monira Sharmin’s candidacy was deemed ineligible, while Nusrat Tabassum submitted her paperwork late. Although Nusrat’s nomination was later declared valid, it was too late for her to be sworn in alongside the other MPs. Meanwhile, Sharmin has an appeal pending in the High Court regarding the rejection of her nomination.