Dhaka4 days ago
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Tariq Rahman took oath as the PM of Bangladesh on Tuesday evening.
BNP President Tariq Rahman has become the new Prime Minister of Bangladesh. President Mohammad Shahabuddin administered the oath of office to Tariq at the Parliament House. Tariq Rehman has become the Prime Minister for the first time.
Earlier this afternoon, BNP MPs elected him as the parliamentary party leader. He is the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President Ziaur Rehman. He returned to Bangladesh only two months ago after living in London for 17 years.
Apart from Rehman, 25 cabinet ministers and 24 ministers of state have also been administered the oath of office. These also include a Hindu minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury and a Buddhist minister Dipen Devan Chakma. Of the 25 cabinet ministers, 17 are new faces. All 24 ministers of state are new.
India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was also present at his swearing-in ceremony. Whereas PM Modi invited Tariq Rehman to visit India.
In the general elections held last Thursday, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) crossed the 150 mark required for majority by winning 209 out of 299 seats. Apart from this, its allies won 3 seats.
President Mohammad Shahabuddin swore in Tariq Rahman as Prime Minister. Later both of them shook hands.
Tariq Rehman signs after taking oath as Prime Minister.
Many leaders from around the world including Speaker Om Birla, former Chief Advisor of Bangladesh Mohammad Yunus were present in the swearing-in ceremony.
President Mohammad Shahabuddin administered the oath to the cabinet members.
Thousands of people reached near the Parliament House to watch the swearing-in ceremony.
Om Birla met Tariq Rehman
India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla met Tariq Rehman. He extended best wishes from India on the formation of the new government. This meeting took place soon after the new government was sworn in in Dhaka. During the meeting Om Birla invited Tariq Rehman to visit India.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Riyaz Hamidullah said that both the leaders expressed confidence that India and Bangladesh will work together in the interest of the common people.
In the meeting, both sides talked about increasing mutual cooperation, so that the people of both the countries get direct benefits and the relations become stronger.
Om Birla also gave a congratulatory letter to Tariq Rehman.
Political conflict intensifies over constitutional change
Meanwhile, the political conflict regarding changes in the Constitution has intensified. In fact, along with the Parliament elections, a referendum on the ‘July Charter’ was also held on 12 February. In this, 62% people voted ‘yes’. According to the July Charter, the new Parliament will function like a Constituent Assembly for 180 days. During this period changes were made in the constitution and democratic institutions.
The purpose of the July Charter is to end the monopoly of power in the country and create balance. This would reduce the power of the Prime Minister and give powers to the President. BNP had signed the July Charter, but its leaders are objecting to many provisions. The party says that they were not consulted while preparing the charter.
BNP said- There is no provision for any such council in the Constitution.
BNP standing committee member and MP Salahuddin Ahmed said that no MP from the party will take oath as a member of this council.
There is no provision for such a council in the present Constitution, nor is there any separate format of oath. He says that the Members of Parliament are elected only to the Parliament and not to the Constitutional Reform Council.
To make this council legal, it will first have to be amended and included in the Constitution, then it will have to be adopted in the Parliament and only then will the oath have a legal basis. This council has been formed to implement constitutional reforms under the July Charter.
The plan was that along with the new Member of Parliament, he would also become a member of this Council and take oath for both, but BNP termed it as unconstitutional and only the Member of Parliament would take oath.
With the July Charter, a leader will be able to remain PM for a maximum of 10 years.
Under the July Charter, a strict lifetime term limit of 10 years (or a maximum of two terms) has been imposed for the PM, so that no one can remain in power for a long time.
PM cannot continue with the post of party chief, written consent of the cabinet and opposition leader will be required to declare emergency. The role of the President will be strengthened, such as the President will get more independent powers in the appointment of heads of many independent institutions, which were earlier under the influence of the PM.
The formation of a bicameral Parliament (Upper House) will control the decisions of the PM-centric lower house and separate selection committees will be formed for many institutions, which will reduce the PM’s unilateral control.
Newly elected MPs took oath in the National Parliament
Newly elected members of the 13th National Parliament of Bangladesh took oath at the South Plaza of the National Parliament on Tuesday. At around 10:42 am (local time), Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin administered the oath to the MPs.
According to Bangladeshi media Prothom Olo, the swearing-in ceremony was held amid tight security and was attended by more than 1,000 local and foreign guests. The Quran was read before the swearing-in ceremony.
The main function will start at 4 pm. President Mohammad Shahabuddin will administer the oath of office to Prime Minister-elect Tariq Rahman and his inaugural cabinet.
Official invitations have been sent to 13 countries for the swearing-in ceremony, which include big names like India, China, Pakistan. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has reached Bangladesh from the Indian side. Foreign Secretary Vikram Mishri will also join him.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has reached Bangladesh today to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Tariq Rahman.
Representatives from many countries and regional organizations participated
| Person | Country/Organization |
| Om Birla | Lok Sabha Speaker, India |
| Tshering Tobgay | Prime Minister of Bhutan |
| Ahsan Iqbal | Planning Minister, Pakistan |
| Bala Nanda Sharma | Foreign Minister, Nepal |
| Abdullah Khalil | Foreign Minister, Maldives |
| Nalinda Jayatissa | Health Minister, Sri Lanka |
| Seema Malhotra | UK Indo-Pacific Under Secretary |
Know the process of selection of ministers
According to party sources, the final composition of the cabinet will be decided by the BNP Standing Committee and Chairman Tariq Rehman. As Prime Minister, he can make changes in the final list at any time.
Today, after the MPs take oath, the ruling party and the opposition will hold separate meetings to elect their parliamentary leaders. The leader of the majority party will then go to Banga Bhavan and meet President Mohammad Shahabuddin.
The President will formally invite him to form the government. After this, the contenders for the post of Prime Minister will submit the list of ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers to the President.
The President will send the list to the Cabinet Division, which will complete the preparations for the oath ceremony. The Cabinet Secretary will personally call the nominated ministers and invite them to attend the oath-taking ceremony and official vehicles will be sent to their homes.
Tariq Rehman gave up one of the two seats he won
BNP Chairman Tariq Rehman has decided to retain the Dhaka-17 seat and vacate the Bogra-6 seat. In the 13th parliamentary elections, Tariq Rehman won both the seats with an overwhelming majority.
From Dhaka-17, he secured around 72,699 votes, while from Bogra-6, he secured 216,284 votes, defeating the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate by a huge margin.
Now Tariq Rahman has formally announced to leave the Bogra-6 seat by sending a written letter to the Bangladesh Election Commission (EC). EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed has confirmed this.
According to the Rules of Bangladesh (RPO), when an MP wins from two seats and vacates one seat, a by-election has to be held on that vacant seat. Therefore, there will now be a by-election on Bogra-6 seat, which the EC will have to organize within 90 days.
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