As the newly formed parliament went into session Thursday, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said the Jatiya Sangsad would become central forum for debate and resolution of all national issues.
Addressing lawmakers at the outset of the maiden sitting of the post-uprising new legislature, the Leader of the House said the parliament belongs to the people and should function as the primary platform for democratic debate, accountability and policymaking.
"Today's parliament is the parliament of the people of Bangladesh. The people of the country are looking upon this parliament with expectations," he said, to rousing response from the house.
The session followed the election of senior BNP parliamentarian Hafiz Uddin Ahmed as Speaker and Kayser Kamal as Deputy Speaker unopposed.
Rahman notes that the role of the Speaker is crucial to ensuring a vibrant and effective parliament, adding that the office should remain above partisan politics.
"From now on, the Speaker is no longer affiliated with any political party but the guardian of the entire parliament," he said, pledging that lawmakers would extend full cooperation to ensure smooth parliamentary proceedings.
The prime minister said the formation of the new parliament marked a turning point after what he described as more than a decade of democratic backsliding. He argued that political rights had been curtailed during the previous administration and that the legislature had lost its representative character.
"During that period, parliament was turned into a club of those who snatched away people's rights," he said, adding that many of those who had served as lawmakers over the past decade and a half had not been elected by genuine public vote.
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