Nusrat Tabassum sworn in as MP for reserved women’s seat

Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, administered the oath to Mst Nusrat Tabassum Jyoti, the newly elected member of parliament for a reserved women’s seat in the 13th National Parliament.

The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Speaker’s Office in the Parliament Secretariat today (6 May).

Parliament Secretariat Secretary Barrister Md Golam Sarwar Bhuiyan moderated the ceremony, conducted in accordance with Article 148 of the Constitution and Rule 5 of the Rules of Procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad.

Following the oath, Nusrat Tabassum signed the official oath book. The deputy speaker, the chief whip of the opposition, and senior officials of the Parliament Secretariat were also in attendance.

The Election Commission (EC) recently decided to publish the gazette in the name of Nusrat Tabassum, a joint convenor of the National Citizen Party (NCP), following a High Court directive.

Her nomination was initially rejected by the returning officer after being submitted 19 minutes past the 4pm deadline on 21 April.

However, she filed a writ petition in the High Court, which subsequently ordered the EC to accept her nomination and proceed according to the law.

Nusrat’s candidacy arose at the last moment after the NCP’s original nominee, Monira Sharmin, faced disqualification.

Monira’s nomination was cancelled under Article 12(1)(c) of the Representation of the People Order, which mandates a three-year gap between resigning from a government job and seeking election.

Monira had resigned from Bangladesh Krishi Bank in December 2023. Although Monira filed a writ petition to halt the gazette publication in Nusrat’s name, Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Mashud confirmed that the EC acted on the existing court order regarding Nusrat’s valid nomination.

Under the proportional representation system for the 50 reserved women’s seats, the BNP alliance secured 36 seats, the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance secured 13, and the independent alliance got a single seat.

The EC had previously gazetted 49 seats on 30 April, with Nusrat Tabassum’s seat being the final one to be filled from the 13 candidates of the Jamaat-led alliance.