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The Jatiya Sangsad on Sunday elected lawmaker for Pabna-1 constituency Shamsul Haque Tuku as its new deputy speaker.
He was elected unopposed at the beginning of the 19th session of the 11th Jatiya Sangsad. He succeeded the late Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Mia.
After the nomination of panel chairmen for the current session, Chief Whip Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury proposed the name of former state minister for home affairs Shamsul Haque as deputy speaker and former law minister Kamrul Islam seconded it.
As Shamsul Haque was the lone candidate, there was no obstacle in his way to being elected. However, as per the rules, the Speaker put the Chief Whip’s proposal to vote. Later it was passed by voice vote.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury then told parliament, “Honorable member Shamsul Haque Tuku informed that he will serve as deputy speaker if elected.”
Later in the evening, President M Abdul Hamid administered the oath of the new deputy speaker at his Jatiya Sangsad office at 7:00pm.
On January 30, 2019, Fazle Rabbi Mia was elected as the deputy speaker of the 11th parliament. He died in the United States on July 22 after undergoing treatment for a long time. His death left the post of deputy speaker and Gaibandha-5 constituency vacant.
According to the rules, if the post of the speaker or deputy speaker falls vacant and parliament remains in session at that time, there is a provision for holding an election within seven days. And if not in session, there is an obligation to elect on the first day of the next session. That is why the deputy speaker is elected at the beginning of the day’s program on Sunday.
A former student of Rajshahi University, Shamsul Haque was a member of Mujib’s Bahini during the liberation war. A leader of the Pabna district unit Awami League sat in parliament for the first time through elections on December 29, 2008.
He was first given the responsibility of state minister for energy and mineral resources and later he was assigned to the position of state minister for home affairs.
Shamsul Haque, who has been elected three times as a member of parliament, is currently serving as the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Shamsul Haque Tuku was born on May 31, 1948 in Brishalikha in Bera of Pabna. He is the father of three sons.
At the onset of the 19th session of the current parliament, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury nominated a five- member panel chairman as per the article 12(1) of the rules of procedure.
The panel members are Major (retd) Rafiqul Islam, Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali, Abdul Majid Khan, Anisul Islam and Ayesha Ferdous.
The panel members will chair the parliament session according to the seniority in absence of the speaker and deputy speaker.
The last JS session was prorogued on June 30th, the last day of the 2021-22 fiscal year, with the passage of the budget for the current fiscal among other things. But the passing of the budget takes paramount importance in the session known as ‘the budget session’, that closes the fiscal year.
That last session was also incidentally the 18th of the current parliament. It was prorogued after 20 sittings - typical for a budget session that generally takes up the whole of June once the finance minister presents the budget proposal.
In the hour prior to the start of Sunday’s session, the Business Advisory Committee decided that the 19th session of the current parliament will continue till September 1.
The session will start at 5:00pm on each working day.
