Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed announced that the next session of Bangladesh’s parliament will begin on March 12. He said the session will be convened by the president on the advice of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. The minister made the statement after a meeting with the prime minister at the Secretariat on Sunday. He added that elections for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be held on the same day, while discussions on the new president have not yet taken place.

The 13th national parliamentary election and referendum were held on February 12, followed by the publication of the official gazette the next day. According to constitutional requirements, the first session of the new parliament must be held by March 14. Newly elected members took their oaths on February 17. Tarique Rahman, chairman of the BNP, has been elected as the leader of the house and has already formed a new government.

Jamaat-e-Islami’s Amir Shafiqur Rahman has been chosen as the leader of the opposition, with Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher as deputy opposition leader and Md Nahid Islam of the National Citizens Party as opposition chief whip.