Bangladesh's newly elected MPs to take oath of office on Wednesday

DHAKA - The newly elected members of Bangladesh's parliament will take the oath of office on Wednesday, K.M. Abdus Salam, senior secretary of Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat, told Xinhua Tuesday.

He said that Bangladesh's Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury will administer the oath of office to the lawmakers including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a ceremony in capital Dhaka at 10:00 am local time on Wednesday.

The election results would be published in the form of a gazette on Tuesday, the senior secretary added.

According to the Election Commission, the Awami League (AL) party led by Hasina won 223 out of 298 seats, more than enough for her party to form a straight fourth five-year term government since January 2009 after ruling the country in 1996-2001.

The result showed that independent candidates won 61 seats while the Jatiya Party bagged 11 seats and other AL allies got two seats. Apart from this, another political group the Bangladesh Kalyan Party secured one seat.

Voter turnout in Bangladesh's 12th parliament polls held on Sunday reached 41.8 percent of the total eligible voters, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal had earlier told reporters.