Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's family members and former Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus, among others, were present as the audience during the maiden session of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday. — FE Photo The first session of the 13th National Parliament saw the VVIP lounges on both sides of the Speaker and the surrounding visitor galleries packed with invited guests, reports UNB.
Among those present in the VVIP gallery were Chief Adviser of the interim government Muhammad Yunus, former Law Adviser Asif Nazrul, and Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin.
The session officially began at 11:05am, with elected Members of Parliament arriving from 10:00am, checking their seats and exchanging greetings. The Parliament Secretariat invited distinguished citizens, diplomats, senior government officials and professionals from various fields to attend. Seats were arranged for the guests around the galleries. Members of the Prime Minister's family were also present.
In the right-side VVIP gallery, Prime Minister's wife Zubaida Rahman, her mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu, Tarique Rahman's daughter Zaima Rahman, and wife of late Arafat Rahman Koko, Sharmila Rahman, were seated. In the second row sat the younger brother of the late Khaleda Zia, Shamim Iskander, his wife Kaniz Fatema, and Zubaida Rahman's elder sister Shahina Khan Bindu.
Other notable attendees included the Prime Minister's Defence Adviser ATM Shamsul Islam, Chief of Army Staff Waker-uz-Zaman, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral M Nazmul Hassan, and Chief of Air Staff Hasan Mahmood Khan.
In the left-side gallery were diplomats such as US Ambassador Brent Christensen, British High Commissioner Sarah Cooke, Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen, Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma, and Pakistan High Commissioner Imran Haider, along with other ambassadors and high commissioners based in Dhaka.
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