desk report :
The newly elected members of parliament (MPs) to the reserved seats for women in the 13th National Parliament took oath on Sunday.

Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad administered the oath to 49 MPs to the reserved seats at the oath chamber of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban around 9pm in the presence of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

Secretary of the Parliament Secretariat Md Golam Sorwar Bhuiyan conducted the ceremony.

After taking the oath, the lawmakers signed the oath book as per parliamentary procedure.

On the occasion, Leader of the House and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman congratulated the newly elected women MPs and urged them to play an effective role in the country’s development and to consolidate democracy.

LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman, and State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam, JS Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal, and Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni were present on the occasion, among others.

The oath-taking followed a gazette notification issued by the Election Commission on 30 April, declaring 49 candidates elected unopposed to the reserved women’s seats.

According to EC sources, 54 candidates, including NCP leader Nusrat Tabassum, submitted nomination papers. Of them, 36 candidates from the BNP alliance, 12 from the Jamaat alliance, and one independent candidate were declared valid and gazetted as elected MPs to the reserved seats.

Meanwhile, NCP Joint Convener Nusrat, also a nominee of the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance, did not take oath on Sunday, as she had not been gazetted as an MP despite her nomination being declared valid. She submitted her nomination paper 19 minutes late.