Newly elected Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed and Deputy Speaker Kaiser Kamal of the National Parliament have resigned from all party positions in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
On Thursday (12 March) afternoon, both leaders submitted separate resignation letters to BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman, informing him of their decision.
According to parliamentary convention, the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker must remain politically neutral. In his letter, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said that after being elected speaker, he decided to resign from his position as a member of the BNP’s Standing Committee, the party’s highest policy-making body, to perform his duties impartially as the guardian of parliament.
Meanwhile, Kaiser Kamal said in his letter that he was stepping down from his role as Law Affairs Secretary of the BNP National Executive Committee after assuming the office of Deputy Speaker.
Earlier on Thursday morning, during the first session of the 13th National Parliament, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, elected from Bhola-3, was unanimously chosen as Speaker, while Kaiser Kamal, elected from Netrokona-1, was elected Deputy Speaker.
Later in the afternoon, they were formally sworn in at Bangabhaban by Mohammed Shahabuddin.
