Election Commissioner Md Alamgir said on Sunday that elections for seats left vacant, after 5 BNP MPs resigned, will be held within 90 days as per the constitution.
He made the remark while speaking with journalists at his office in Election Commission Bhaban in Dhaka after news of the resignation of five BNP MPs emerged.
“We are yet to get a gazette of the vacant seats. If they (BNP MPs) truly resigned, the election to vacant seats will be held within 90 days,” he said, adding that the gazette will be circulated after the Speaker or Deputy Speaker receives the resignation letters.
EC Alamgir said there is a constitutional obligation to hold elections for the vacant seats within 90 days after seats get vacated.
Asked about the resignation of the BNP MPs, he said they saw the matter as normal and an MP can resign.
“It is narrated in the constitution, how the resignation can go, here the EC has nothing to gain or lose,” he said.
Five parliamentary seats now vacant: Speaker
Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury on Sunday said that as five Members of Parliament of the BNP have submitted their resignation in person, their seats have fallen vacant.
“I have received resignation letters from five BNP MPs,” she told reporters at her office at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
“Among the remaining two, one is sick and another is abroad. There is no constitutional obligation to submit resignation letters in person. Now the Parliament Secretariat will scrutinise the letters of the two MPs and decide on them later,” she added.
About BNP MP Harunur Rashid’s resignation, the speaker said that he will have to send his resignation letter again due to some technicalities.
“Harun has resigned through email and his signature was included in the letter through scanning, which is unacceptable. He’ll have to sign the letter by himself and send it again,” Shirin said.
The speaker added that the Parliament Secretariat will soon issue a notification declaring the seats of the resigned MPs vacant.
5 BNP MPs tender their resignation
Five of seven Members of Parliament (MPs) of BNP tendered their resignation to the Speaker of Parliament on Sunday as part of their anti-government movement with a 10-point demand that includes dissolution of parliament.
The BNP MPs submitted their resignation letters at 12:20 pm, Mohammad Siraj, MP of Bogura-6, confirmed.
The MPs who resigned are— Md Zahidur Rahman (Thakurgaon-3), Md Mosharof Hosen (Bogura-4), Gulam Mohammad Siraj (Bogura-6), Md Aminul Islam (Chapainawabganj-2) and Rumeen Farhana (Women’s Reserved Seat).
Md Harunur Rashid of Chapainawabganj-3, who is now in Australia and ailing MP of Brahmanbaria-2 Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan could not submit their resignation to the Speaker on Sunday.
They will tender their resignation later as they have to resign in person later, said Mohammad Siraj.
Speaking to the reporters at the Jatiya Sangsad, BNP’s international affairs secretary Rumeen said they submitted their resignation to the Speaker following their demand for dissolution of parliament.
“This is just the beginning. Now the other MPs from different political parties who support democracy should also come forward and resign.”
On Saturday, Rumeen Farhana announced the decision from the party’s Golapbagh rally.
The MPs sent their resignation through an email on Saturday.
BNP on Saturday unveiled a 10-point charter of demands from the Golapbagh rally aimed at unseating the government through a simultaneous movement.
