Jatiya Sangsad seating plan to be changed: Hamid...........

The Jatiya Sangsad seating plan, which has drawn some complaints, will be changed, said speaker of the House Abdul Hamid on Monday, a day after the maiden sitting of the ninth parliament.

"The seating arrangement made by the outgoing speaker was not right," Hamid told us.

"The new layout will be decided after consultation with both the ruling and opposition parties," he said.
Chief whip Abdus Shahid had earlier protested Jamiruddin Sircar's decision on the seat arrangements, saying it equalled "dishonouring the treasury bench and the leader of the House".

Outgoing speaker Sircar, the day before parliament convened, rejected chief whip's proposal for a new seat plan, and granted two front benches on the left of the speaker to the main opposition BNP and two other parties.

Shahid in his draft plan gave the BNP three out of ten seats in the front bench as the main opposition gained only 30 seats in the 300-seat parliament which convened on Sunday.

"I called the speaker and sought a clarification from him on why he made a decision unilaterally," Shahid told us on the eve of the first sitting.

Shahid quoted Sircar as telling him: "I have done what I thought right as per the parliamentary practices and rules of procedure. If you think my decision is incorrect, the next speaker can change the arrangement.8"

According to the rules of procedure, the speaker will decide the seat arrangement and he can either accept or reject the recommendations of the treasury bench.