The Election Commission (EC) sent a letter on Wednesday to the parliament secretary for taking necessary preparations to arrange the oath-taking ceremony for the newly-elected members of parliament (MPs), reports UNB.
EC Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed said this while talking to reporters at Nirbachan Bhaban in the city on Wednesday.
"We've sent a copy to the parliament secretary so that they can take preparations for holding the oath-taking ceremony," he said.
Tarique Mahmud, director (Public Relations) of the Parliament Secretariat, said the oath-taking ceremony would be held at 11 am today (Thursday).
Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury will conduct the oath at the 'Oath Room' and all the necessary preparations in this regard have been taken.
After the oath, the MPs of the political parties concerned will sit in their respective rooms to elect the house leader, according to sources at the secretariat.
Replying to a journalist's query whether the EC is happy with the election, the EC secretary said, "Our CEC has said a peaceful election was held in the country and he also thanked everyone related to the election process for their efforts in this regard."
"A few incidents of small-scale violence occurred on the voting day and the Commission directed the Inspector General of Police to submit a report after investigating the incidents," he said.
The EC secretary also said the commission decided to hold the Upazila Election in March as SSC and HSC examinations would be held in February and April, he said.
Responding to a question over the uncertainty about oath-taking of five elected BNP MPs, he said it is a rule to take oath within three days of publication of the gazette and the 11th parliament will go into session within a month. If anyone fails to take oath within 90 days of the 1st session, his constituency will fall vacant.
According to article 148 (2A) of the Constitution, the newly-elected members of parliament will be obliged to take oath within three days after the publication of the election results in official gazette, or else, their memberships will cease to exit.
