9th JS goes into inaugural sessionHamid made Speaker

9th JS goes into inaugural sessionHamid made Speaker,
Shawkat Deputy Speaker BNP walks out objecting to the President addressing the Parliament Staff Correspondent The 9th National Parliament went in its inaugural session on Sunday with the outgoing Speaker Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar in the chair.Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina along with her grand alliance MPs and BNP Chairperson and leader of the opposition in parliament Begum Khaleda Zia along with her party's lawmakers joined the inaugural session wearing black badges.In the inaugural session, Advocate Abdul Hamid MP was elected new Speaker and Colonel Shawkat Ali (retd) Deputy Speaker of the new parliament. Chief Whip Vice Principal Abdus Shahid moved the motion for the election of the Speaker while whip Shagufta Yasmin Emily seconded it with Speaker Barrister Mohammad Jamir Uddin Sircar in the chair. Whip ASM Firoz moved the motion for election of the deputy speaker and it was seconded by Whip Mujibul Haque. President Iajuddin Ahmed administered the oath of office of Speaker Advocate Mohammad Abdul Hamid and Deputy Speaker Shawkat Ali at the President's chamber at the Parliament Complex.Later the outgoing Speaker gave his farewell address and adjourned the House at 3.44 pm to allow oath-taking of the two new presiding officers by the President.In his speech, Jamiruddin Sircar hoped the 9th Parliament would be the centre of all activities but cautioned the ruling alliance to be careful about their absolute majority in exercising authority. "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are always bad men . . . there is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it," he said quoting British historian Lord Acton. Earlier, Awami League Parliamentary Party (ALPP) held a meeting with Sheikh Hasina and nominated the names of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker. The meeting also approved the decision of giving another Deputy Speaker post to the opposition. Meanwhile, a meeting of BNP Parliamentary Party was also held in the parliament complex.After taking over charge the new Speaker delivered his welcome speech, obituary reference was made for those politicians and intellectuals who died in last few years and MPs from both ruling and opposition parties gave their addresses felicitating the new Speaker.Later, Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed placed 122 ordinances promulgated during the regime of the caretaker government and the Speaker read out all the ordinances separately. Meanwhile, the opposition BNP MP Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury after being refused the floor, shouted and said that his party would not want to listen to President Iajuddin Ahmed's speech on the allegation that he violated the constitution. "The two top leaders BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina were arrested and sent to jail during his tenure. So we will not listen to his address," Salahuddin Quader said. Soon after his brief speech, BNP-Jamaat alliance MPs led by opposition leader and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia walked out of the parliament session. President Iajuddin Ahmed gave his speech saying that people have elected the new government with a hope of bringing massive changes in political and economic arenas. "As per people's expectation, the new government will have to work for arresting price hike and keeping the prices of essentials within tolerable limit. The government will also have to establish rule of law to ensure the basic rights of the people," he said.