Bangladesh's opposition lawmakers quit parliament, demand fresh vote

Seven lawmakers of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have submitted their resignations to the parliament speaker, demanding fresh elections under a neutral government and dissolution of the existing parliament.

"We tendered our resignations to the speaker in line with the party's decision. It is a no-confidence against the government," BNP's international affairs secretary, Rumeen Farhana, told reporters outside the parliament on Sunday.

"The first of the 10 demands is the dissolution of parliament and holding of fair poll under a neutral caretaker government. The resignations are part of our solidarity with the party's 10-point demand,” Farhana said.

Earlier on Saturday, tens of thousands of Bangladeshis from across the country gathered in the capital Dhaka to support the main opposition political party's demand that the present government should quit and elections should be held under an apolitical interim framework.

READ MORE: Why is Bangladesh’s opposition out on the streets?

Elections for vacant seats

Talking to reporters, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said five out of seven BNP seats have been declared vacant following the resignations. 

The other two applications will be scrutinised and decided soon, she added.

According to the existing law, elections for the vacant seats will be held within 90 days.

The by-elections will be held after a gazette notification is issued by the parliament on the resignations, Election Commissioner Md Alamgir told reporters in Dhaka.

In 2018, BNP won seven out of the total 350 seats in the country’s 11th parliament, which has 50 reserved seats for women.

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