Parliament session resumes Tuesday

The first session of the tenth Parliament resumes at 4:30 pm on Tuesday, after a five-day recess. The maiden session of the new Parliament started on Wednesday without the presence of BNP, one of the main political parties of the country, as it and its allies boycotted the national election held on January 5. The BNP-led alliance boycotted the election as its demand for holding the polls under a non-partisan administration went unheeded. For the first time since the restoration of Parliamentary democracy in the country in 1991, BNP is out of Parliament and it has been pushing for fresh polls. The new parliament in its first sitting on January 29 elected the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, and adopted a condolence motion mourning the death of sitting MP Shawkat Momen Shahjahan. On the first day, President Abdul Hamid also delivered his speech in Parliament. This was also the first speech of Abdul Hamid in Parliament since he has been elected President after the death of then President, according to a news agency.