The Parliament Secretariat has published gazette notifications vacating the parliamentary seats held by six BNP MPs who have resigned in protest against what they said was extreme authoritarianism of the ruling Awami League.
The six MPs who have resigned are Md Zahidur Rahman from Thakurgaon-3, Md Mosharof Hosen from Bogura-4, Gulam Mohammad Siraj from Bogura-7, Md Aminul Islam from Chapainawabganj-2, Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan from Brahmanbaria-2, and Rumeen Farhana from one of the reserved seats for women.
The Parliament Secretariat published the gazette notification on Sunday night. Now the Election Commission will hold by-elections to the seats by mid-March 2023, or within 90 days from the date the seats were vacated, according to bdnews24.com.
The next general election is scheduled to be held by the end of 2023 or early 2024, but the commission must organise by-polls to parliamentary constituencies following the law if they are declared vacant at least 180 days before the end of parliament’s tenure.
The BNP announced in a rally at Golapbagh in Dhaka on Saturday that all its seven MPs would quit parliament, as the party continued protests for the resignation of the government before the next parliamentary election. It demands the election be held under a caretaker government.
Five of the BNP MPs submitted their resignation letters to Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury on Sunday morning, but Md Harunur Rashid, the BNP lawmaker from Chapainawabganj-3, is currently abroad, while Sattar could not join the group in parliament due to illness. Party Whip Rumeen submitted Sattar’s resignation letter with his signature and Harunur emailed his one.
Speaker Shirin said the Parliament Secretariat would speak to Sattar in order to verify his signature before accepting his resignation. However, Harunur's emailed letter will not be accepted and he will have to submit his resignation in person later. BNP leaders said Harunur would submit the resignation upon his return from Australia after a week.
The BNP participated in the 2018 national elections under the banner of the Jatiya Oikya Front and won seven parliamentary races. But one of them was later vacated as the party's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir refused to take his oath of office. The party was later allocated a seat from those reserved for women.
Initially, the BNP said its candidates would boycott parliament, alleging widespread election fraud. But they later changed tack and were sworn in as MPs.
