BNP MPs select Tarique Rahman as leader of parliamentary party

Fakhrul says the country will progress under the BNP chief’s leadership

Tarique Rahman has been elected as the leader of the 13th parliament for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The BNP parliamentary party held its first meeting at 12pm on Tuesday, where members unanimously chose him as their leader, according to Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

He said it was “a historic moment after years of oppression under the previous government, destruction of democracy, and a paralysed parliament”.

“Through a fair election, the party has won a majority and elected our leader [Tarique] as parliamentary leader. We are confident the country will progress under his leadership,” he added.

Fakhrul also confirmed that the party decided BNP MPs will not accept any duty-free cars or government plots.

Earlier, at 10am, the BNP lawmakers took the oath at the parliament oath room, administered by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin.

The national elections were held on Feb 12. Of the 300 seats, the results of two remain suspended and one election was cancelled due to the death of a candidate.

Of the remaining 297 seats, the BNP won 209, Jamaat 68, National Citizen Party (NCP) 6, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis 2, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Bangladesh National Party (BJP), Ganosamhati Andolan, and Khelafat Majlis one seat each. Independents won seven seats.

On Monday, Tarique retained the Dhaka-17 seat and vacated Bogura-6. A by-election will be held in the latter constituency.