It will begin at 3:00 pm, the parliament secretariat said in a statement yesterday.

President Abdul Hamid convened the session exercising his power bestowed upon him by article 72 (1) of the constitution, the statement added.

The president, who usually addresses the first session of a new year, will give a speech on the first day of the session in line with the norms.

According to the rules, a new speaker and deputy speaker will be elected during the first session chaired by outgoing Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.
According to the parliament's rules of procedure, the duration and proceedings of the first session will be finalised at a meeting of the business advisory committee of parliament with the speaker in the chair on the same day.

The new lawmakers took oath on January 3 and the 47-member cabinet was formed on January 7 with Sheikh Hasina as the prime minister.

Hasina has been elected Leader of the House for the 11th parliament while Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad will be the leader of the opposition.

The ruling Awami League won the two-thirds majority again in the December 30 parliamentary election. It won 257 seats while the Jaitya Party bagged 22 seats.

Around 266 MPs will sit on the treasury benches consisting of MPs belonging to the AL, Workers Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Jatiya Party (Manju) and Tarikat Federation.

The treasury bench will get even bigger this time as it will be joined by more than 44 out of the 50 would-be MPs from reserved seats for women.

Alongside 22 JP lawmakers, three independent MPs will sit on the opposition benches.

Seven lawmakers elected from the BNP-led Jatiya Oikyafront are yet to take their oaths.

Meanwhile, the Jatiya Party, which played a dual role in the 10th parliament having represented both the government and the opposition, has decided to sit only in the opposition bench.

The 10th House sat for 410 days in 23 sessions and passed 193 bills with little or no opposition from the then opposition Jatiya Party.

Formed through the largely one-sided election on January 5, 2014, the 10th parliament sat in its maiden session on January 29 that year and is valid till January 28, 2019.