Parliament begins third session

The third session of Parliament has begun.

The 16th Amendment to Bangladesh's Constitution that aims to return powers to impeach Supreme Court judges to Parliament is scheduled to be tabled in this session.

Opposition Jatiya Party has said it plans to oppose the amendment.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury greeted the MPs and nominated the panel of chairs for the session at the beginning.

The panel members are Abul Kalam Azad, Shamsul Hoque Tuku, Mahmud-us-Samad Chowdhury, Nurul Islam Omar and Rebecca Momin.

The speaker then raised condolence motions on the demise of 21 personalities including Professor Sardar Fazlul Karim, AN Mahfuza Khatun Baby Maudud, Language Movement veteran Nurul Islam and photojournalist Jahirul Haque.

Condolences were also offered for the victims of Pinak-6 capsize in Padma River. A prayer was offered and one-minute silence observed for the dead.

Session to run until Sep 18

The third session was convened as there are obligations to hold a session within 60 days of the last.

Earlier in the day, the Business Advisory Committee decided to continue the session for only 14 working days until Sep 18, the Parliament Secretariat said in a media statement.

The speaker will extend or shorten the session as she saw fit, it added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Opposition Leader Raushon Ershad attended the meeting among others.

Until Sunday, three bills were submitted to the Parliament Secretariat for the session. They are, Bangladesh Hotel and Restaurant Bill 2014, Bangladesh Fuel and Power research Council Bill 2014 and Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2014.

Four other bills are being scrutinised by parliamentary committees and another is left over from the last session.

The 10th Parliament began on Jan 29, after the Jan 5 elections that were boycotted by the BNP. Its second session ended on July 3.