Shirin steps down as JS speaker
FROM PAGE 1
A gazette issued yesterday said the president accepted Shirin’s resignation and it already came into effect.
Shahabuddin on August 6 dissolved the parliament formed through the January 7 national election.
On August 14, former deputy speaker Shamsul Hoque Tuku was arrested in the murder case of a rickshaw puller who was killed in the capital’s Paltan during the quota reform protest.
Now the questions have come up whether the post of the Speaker has fallen vacant and who will administer the oath of office to the newly elected members of the next parliament.
According to the constitution, even after her resignation, Shirin will continue as Speaker until her successor takes over.
In other words, she will be considered as the Speaker until the next elected Speaker takes over.
Shirin will administer the oath of office to the lawmakers of the new JS.
The Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad is the third highest post of the state.
Article 74 of the constitution states how the posts of the Speaker and deputy speaker will become vacant.
It says that the Speaker’s post will fall vacant due to five reasons.
The constitution stipulates that if the president’s office becomes vacant or if the president is unable to perform his duties due to absence, illness or any other reason, the Speaker shall carry out the duties of the president until a new president is elected or the president resumes his duties, as the case may be.
On the other hand, Article 50 of the constitution says, “The president may resign with a signed letter addressed to the Speaker.”
Article 74 of the constitution deals with the election of the Speaker and the deputy speaker.
According to the constitution, parliament shall elect a Speaker and a deputy speaker from among the MPs during the first sitting of the Jatiya Sangsad after a general election.
Nizam Uddin Ahmed, a former professor of public administration at Chittagong University and also a parliamentary affairs expert, yesterday said despite her resignation, Shirin will remain as the Speaker until the new Speaker is elected in the next parliament.
Shirin became the Speaker for the first time on April 30, 2013. She has been holding the post since then.
She was first elected an MP from Rangpur-6 in the 2014 national election.
After the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, many cases have been filed against AL leaders across the country. On August 27, a case was filed against Shirin over the death of Muslim Uddin, a jeweler, in Rangpur during the quota reform protest.
Muslim Uddin’s wife Dilruba Akter filed the case at Rangpur Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, accusing 17 people, including the Speaker.
Former commerce minister Tipu Munshi, now behind bars, was shown arrested in the same case.