By-election within 90 days of Gazette notification: EC

The Election Commission will take action to hold by-elections when it gets the gazette notification designating the seven parliamentary seats vacant due to the resignation of BNP lawmakers.

Md. Alamgir, the election commissioner, informed reporters in his office that they would begin their job as soon as they received the gazette notification from the parliament secretariat.

He declared that within 90 days of the date of the gazette announcement, by-elections will be held in the vacant constituencies.

On Sunday, Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury received resignations from five of the seven BNP members in person and from the other two by email.

The Speaker asserted, using a provision of the Constitution, that resignation letters need not be sent personally. She also indicated that the parliament secretariat would check the signatures on two other letters to determine whether the senders of those letters had sent the letters.

Reporters were informed by Speaker Shirin Sharmin that one MP's resignation letter was rejected since his signature was scanned. He must resubmit his letter of resignation.

If the Speaker receives the letter of resignation signed by the Member of Parliament, the seat becomes vacant.

At a protest in the capital earlier on Saturday, the BNP declared that seven of its MPs had tendered their resignation to the Speaker.

The BNP MPs stated in their resignation letters that "severe tyranny" currently rules in Bangladesh.

They gave a number of justifications for leaving the House, such as the government's anti-democracy and anti-people activities, the repression of political opponents, mass arrests, forced disappearances, killings, and restrictions on free speech, voting, and human rights, as well as the inefficiency of the legislature.