12th session of Parliament resumes, set to continue until Oct 10

The 12th session of the 10th Parliament has started with speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury in the chair. The session will continue until Oct 10.

Parliament Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 25 Sept 2016, 05:02 PM
Updated : 25 Sept 2016, 05:02 PM

The session began at 5pm on Sunday after a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee that decided the duration of the 12th session. The speaker chaired the Committee meeting.

Advisory Committee members Leader of the Opposition Raushon Ershad, Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Law Minister Anisul Huq, MPs Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Suranjit Sengupta, Abul Hasanat Abdullah and Chief Whip ASM Feroz attended the meeting.

Earlier, President Md Abdul Hamid convened the 12th session of the current 10th Parliament on Sep 5 as per the constitution that made it mandatory to hold session within 60 days of the previous session had ended.

At the outset, the speaker nominated a five-member panel of chairmen to preside over the sittings of the House in the absence of the speaker and deputy speaker.

The session panel members include in seniority order Abul Matin Khasru, Mahmud Us Samad Chowdhury, Enamul Haque, Fakhrul Imam and Ayesha Ferdaus.

The House on Sunday unanimously adopted obituary references on a number of distinguished personalities including two former state ministers and four members of parliament.

Parliament also adopted condolence notes at the death of a number of eminent personalities.

Besides, the House also condoled the deaths in a factory fire at Tongi, a launch-capsize in the Barisal and those killed in road accidents across the country and abroad.

A total of 15 bills including 11 old ones have been placed in Parliament for passage during this session. The new fours include the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Bill 2016, and Bangladesh National Cadet Core Bill 2016.

Parliament Secretariat’s legal wing said the drafts of several new laws may also be placed during this relatively short session for consideration.

The 11th session, which had cleared the current fiscal’s budget, had ended on Jul 27 after passing 16 bills in 32 working days.

Leader of the House and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is currently on an official visit to the USA, missed the inaugural day of the 12th session.

The Parliament is adjourned until 5pm on Monday.