BNP boycotts Iajuddin's speech........

The maiden sitting of the ninth parliament Sunday saw BNP stage a walkout ahead of President Iajuddin Ahmed's speech, accusing him of breaching his oath.

"The President broke his oath by not arranging elections within 90 days," Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury MP told us after the walkout.

"We cannot hear this President speak. For two years, this President kept this country under undemocratic rule," he said.

But the rest of the House heard the president as he read out a written speech, drafted by the government.

The speech praised prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her government and its 'Charter for Change'.

"This parliament formed through a free, fair and neutral election is the parliament for change," Iajuddin Ahmed told the House, in his last address to parliament.

"The people's expectation from this government is almost boundless," he said.

The president outlined what he hoped would be the main objectives of the government, among them poverty alleviation, elimination of corruption and terrorism, trial of war criminals and establishment of good governance.

The presidential speech over, the Speaker Abdul Hamid adjourned the House at around 6.30 pm to meet again at 4:45pm on Wednesday.

When the House resumed just after the Magrib break, BNP's Chowdhury rose trying to draw the chair's attention but was not immediately allowed to speak.

At this stage, leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia also rose from her seat and led fellow MPs out of the House. Two Jamaat MPs and the lone BJP MP also followed her.

The speaker was then heard saying: "Why are you leaving? Your president is going to address (the parliament). And you are leaving the House."

This was the third time the main opposition staged a walkout at the inaugural sitting of a new parliament. Awami League walked out of the maiden sitting of the fifth parliament on April 5, 1991. BNP staged a walkout at the first sitting of the seventh on July 14, 1996.