Members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) elected in the recently concluded parliamentary polls were sworn in as lawmakers of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on Tuesday.
A total of 212 members from the BNP-led alliance took the oath of office as Members of Parliament. The ceremony followed an announcement by the Election Commission of Bangladesh that the swearing-in would cover both parliamentary membership and participation in a proposed Constitution Reforms Commission.
The oath was administered by Chief Election Commissioner A.M.M. Nasir Uddin at the Parliament’s Oath Taking Hall. BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman led the newly elected MPs to the ceremony.
Refusal To Take Reform Commission Oath
BNP lawmakers, however, declined to take the second oath related to the Constitution Reforms Commission. Within minutes of completing the parliamentary oath, Rahman led party MPs out of the hall for the first meeting of the BNP Parliamentary Party.
According to a report by The Hindu, the meeting was convened to finalise the composition of the Cabinet. Senior BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed had earlier indicated that the party would not participate in the reform commission, arguing that such an oath could conflict with lawmakers’ constitutional pledge to uphold the integrity of Bangladesh’s Constitution.
There has also been uncertainty over the structure and mandate of the proposed commission. According to party sources, the entire Parliament was expected to function as a reform body for 180 days, a move that has drawn mixed reactions from political stakeholders.
Opposition Divisions Emerge
The swearing-in ceremony was briefly paused after BNP members completed their oath, as representatives from the opposition bloc did not initially appear. Reports suggested that elected members of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance were reconsidering whether to take the parliamentary oath.
The party could launch protests if the BNP continued to avoid taking the second oath aimed at converting the Jatiyo Sansad into a constitutional reform body, the report said.
Later, after a delay of nearly an hour, members of the 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami, along with independent candidates, arrived at Parliament. They were sworn in as Members of Parliament and also took the additional oath for the Constitution Reforms Commission.
BNP Calls It ‘New Beginning Of Democracy’
Speaking after the ceremony, BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Choudhury said the party had taken the parliamentary oath to respect the mandate of voters.
“We have taken oath as people have voted for us and taking oath is a way to honour people’s trust,” he said. He added that participation in the reform commission did not reflect the spirit of the current Constitution and maintained that the decision to take or refuse a particular oath was a matter of individual choice.
Describing the development as a “new beginning of democracy,” Choudhury said the BNP’s focus would remain on parliamentary functioning, even as debate continues over the proposed constitutional reform process.
