Shafiqur Rahman recognized as opposition leader

Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed has recognized Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Shafiqur Rahman as the opposition leader and the party’s Nayeb Amir Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher as the deputy leader. The Bangladesh National Parliament Secretariat published a gazette in this regard on March 12.
According to the gazette issued by the National Parliament Secretariat, this recognition has been given under Rule 2(1)(p) of the Rules of Procedure of the National Parliament of Bangladesh and the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Remuneration and Facilities) Act, 2021.
It also said that Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, a member of parliament from Comilla-11 constituency, has been recognized as the deputy leader of the opposition under the same act. The Speaker gave this recognition as the parliamentary party or alliance opposing the government has the largest number of members in the 13th National Parliament.
The 12th Parliament was dissolved about seven months after the fall of the Awami League government in the August 5, 2024 mass uprising. The 13th National Parliament elections were held on February 12, about a year and a half after the interim government. In that election, the BNP won 209 seats, Jamaat-e-Islami 68, Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP) 6, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis two, and Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Gana Odhikar Parishad, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), Gana Sanghati Andolan, Khelafat Majlis one seat each, and independent candidates won seven seats.