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The eighth Jatiyo Shangshad was the second
Parliament elected after the Constitution (Thirteenth
Amendment) Act 1996 providing for holding of general
election under a non-party caretaker Government came
into force. In the general election held on October
1, 2001 the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (B. N. P.)
secured an absolute majority winning as many as 191
seats. B.N. P and its allies in the Four-party Alliance
secured a comfortable two-third majority in the House.
The strength of the parties in Parliament, as
it emerged after the general election held on the 1st
of Oct. 2001 and after the by-elections respectively
are as follows: -
| |
Political Party |
October 2001 |
27-10-2006* |
1 |
Four-party Alliance - |
214 |
264
|
|
a. Bangladesh Nationalist Party |
191 |
233 |
|
b. Jamat-e-Islami, Bangladesh |
17 |
20 |
|
c. Jatiya Party (N.F) |
04 |
04 |
|
d. Islami Oikya Jote |
02 |
05 |
|
Jatiya Party(N.F) & Islami Oikya Jote(Woman
Reserve Seat) |
00 |
01 |
2 |
Bangladesh Awami League |
62 |
56 |
3 |
Jatiya Party (Ershad) |
14 |
17 |
4 |
Jatiya Party (Manju) |
01 |
01 |
5 |
Krishak Sramik Janata League |
01 |
01 |
6 |
Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh |
00 |
01 |
7 |
Independents |
06 |
04 |
8 |
Vacant |
-- |
02 |
| |
TOTAL
|
298 |
345 |
*at
the date of dissolution of 8th Parliament.
The 8th Parliament was summoned to meet on 28
Oct, 2001. A
provision in the constitution requires that Parliament
should be summoned to meet within 30 days after declaration
of the results of polling at any general election. Upon
commencement of the first sitting, the outgoing Speaker
presided over the uncontested election of Barrister
Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar as Speaker and Akhtar Hameed
Siddiqui as Deputy Speaker.
According to the Rules of Procedure, the Prime
Minister or a Minister who is a Member of Parliament
and is nominated by the Prime Minister may function
as the Leader of the House. The Prime Minister nominates
a Deputy Leader of the House. In the 8th Parliament
Veteran politician and Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Prof.A.Q.M. Badrudduza Chowdhury was nominated as the
Deputy Leader of the House. He had earlier been the
Deputy Leader of the House in the fifth and the sixth
Parliaments. He was Deputy Leader of the Opposition
in the seventh Parliament. Prof. Chowdhury was later
elected as the President of the Republic. After that
no deputy leader was nominated by the Prime Minister
in the residual period of the 8th Parliament.
In
the 8th Parliament the outgoing Speaker
had recognized Sheikh Hasina as the Leader of the Opposition
immediately following her unanimous election as the
leader of the Awami League Parliamentary Party. The
newly elected Speaker recognized the outgoing Speaker
Mr. Md.Abdul Hamid as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
Sheikh Hasina is the immediate past
Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She assumed the
office of Leader of the Opposition for the third time.
Khandaker
Delwar Hussain, Chief Whip of Parliament in the fifth
and the sixth Parliaments and a Member of Parliament
for the fifth time, was appointed Chief Whip of the
eighth Parliament. He was also Chief Whip of the Opposition
in the seventh Parliament. The Bangladesh (Whips) Order,
1972 provides for six Whips, in addition to the Chief
Whip. The following Members of Parliament held their
offices of Whip of Parliament:
1.
Al-haj Syed Wahidul Alam
2.
Mr. Ashraf Hossain
3.
Mr. Rezaul Bari Dina
4.
Syed Shahidul Huque Jamal
5.
Mr. Md. Jahed Ali Chowdhury
6.
Md. Fazlul Haq (Achpia)
The
Chief Whip enjoys the status of a Cabinet Minister.
A Whip has the status a Minister of State. The Chief
Whip of the Opposition, although not a post as such,
is recognized by the Speaker in the floor of the House.
He is also provided with an office and some limited
facilities. Mr. M. Abdus Shahid, was Chief Whip of the
Opposition and also he was a former Whip of Parliament.
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