TDS Desk:

The parliamentary secretariat issued a notification today, asking the Election Commission to take necessary steps to fill the vacancy.

The resignation letter of reserved-seat lawmaker Ferdousy Ahmed Mishti was accepted today (1 October), leaving seat 23 of the reserved seats for women in the 13th National Parliament vacant, according to a notification issued by the Parliament Secretariat.

The Legislative Support Wing of the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat issued the notification under Article 67(2) of the Constitution.

The notification, signed by Parliament Secretariat Secretary Barrister Md Golam Sarwar Bhuiyan, requested the Election Commission to take the necessary steps to fill the vacant seat.

The development follows Mishti’s meeting with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed earlier today, after which she declined to comment directly on her resignation.

“I was called by the Speaker, so I met him,” she told journalists, adding, “Let there be an investigation” when asked about her resignation.

Mishti resigned following Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s directive after her alleged involvement in the attack, looting and demolition of Radda MCH-FP Centre in Dhaka’s Mirpur came under scrutiny. The prime minister’s press secretary, Abu Abdullah M Saleh, had earlier confirmed to The Business Standard that Tarique himself had ordered her to resign.

The clinic was attacked by around 200–250 masked people around midnight on 24 September, with the looting and demolition continuing into the early hours of 25 September.

Mishti had served as joint convener of the BNP’s Dhaka North City unit committee until the party dissolved the committee on 30 September.

The parliamentary secretariat also sent copies of the notification to relevant government offices, including the Cabinet Division and the Election Commission Secretariat, and requested its publication in an extra issue of the Bangladesh Gazette.