Harunur Rashid's resignation was not accepted: Speaker

Chapainawabganj-3 Constituency Member of Parliament Harunur Rashid's resignation has not been accepted, said the Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.

In this regard, she told reporters, “Harunur Rashid has sent the resignation letter by e-mail; his signature has been scanned and affixed. It will not be accepted. He has to send the resignation letter again.”

On Sunday morning, Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has accepted six resignation letters tendered by BNP lawmakers.

Addressing the reporters, the Speaker said that she had accepted six resignation letters out of seven submitted by the BNP MPs.

Around 11:00 am, five BNP parliamentarians entered to the parliament and tendered their resignation to Speaker.

The MPs who were present in person are Md Aminul Islam of Chapainawabganj-2, Md Zahidur Rahman of Thakurgaon-3, Md Mosharof Hosen of Bogura-4, Gulam Mohammad Siraj of Bogura-6, and Rumeen Farhana, a lawmaker from a seat designated for women.

Two more resignation letters were also submitted to the Speaker on behalf of two other BNP lawmakers - Md Harunur Rashid of Chapainawabganj-3 who is now abroad and Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan of Brahmanbaria-2 who is ill.

Among them, Abdus Sattar's resignation letter was accepted as his signature matches with the attendance record of the parliament. And Harunur Rashid's resignation letter was not accepted as he gave the scanned signature.

According to the law, resignation letter sent by e-mail is not enforceable. As per the Rules of Procedure, the resignation must be submitted in writing in person.

Coming out of the Parliament after submitting their resignations, the BNP MPs spoke to the reporters.

They said, “There is no opportunity to speak for the people in the Parliament. That is why they resigned from the 11th National Parliament to strengthen the movement to overthrow the government.”

At December 10 rally held in Golapbagh playground in Dhaka, the BNP announced the resignation of its all seven MPs as per the decision of the party’s standing committee.