Technical Glitch Halts 13th Parliament Session for 20 Minutes

A 20-minute recess was declared during the second segment of the first session of the 13th National Parliament due to a technical glitch. The issue was detected while Speaker Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed was delivering his remarks.

On Thursday, 12 March, after the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker and a 30-minute break, the second segment of the session began. At 12:51 pm, after taking his seat in the Speaker’s chair, Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed attempted to address the House but found that the microphone was not producing sound.

Despite several attempts, the microphone could not be restored, prompting officials to hand the Speaker a cordless microphone. However, members of Parliament informed him that they still could not hear his voice in the chamber.

Speaker Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed then stated that the microphone was not functioning due to a mechanical fault and announced a 20-minute break, noting that the call to prayer had also been made.

Earlier, the first session of the 13th National Parliament began at 11:00 am under the chairmanship of Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain. Under his supervision, Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Bir Bikrom, was elected Speaker of the National Parliament through a voice vote, while Kaiser Kamal was elected Deputy Speaker. After being elected, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed resigned from his position as a member of the BNP Standing Committee.

In his opening address at the start of the session, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said that the journey of a truly representative and accountable National Parliament had begun through the suffering under fascism, the cries of countless people, and the sacrifice of thousands of lives.

He stated that the BNP aims to build a prosperous, secure, and democratic Bangladesh by making every family self-reliant.

The Prime Minister also called on members of Parliament from all parties present in the House to work together toward building a fascism-free, independent, and self-reliant Bangladesh, despite differences in political ideology.

Meanwhile, Shafiqur Rahman, the Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, was present in the session as the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.

DBTech/MAR/MUM/OR