Jatiya Party Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu on Sunday said his party would play the role of a strong and effective opposition in the Jatiya Sangsad formed through the 12th general election.

“We will play the role of a strong and effective opposition party in the House like the previous term,” he told reporters after submitting the nomination papers of candidates for the women’s reserved seats to the Election Commission in Dhaka.

The party has nominated Advocate Salma Islam (Dhaka) and Nurunnahar Begum (Thakurgaon) to be the member of parliament (MP) in reserved seats.

In the 7 January election, the ruling Awami League won 223 seats, the Jatiya Party secured 11 seats, independent candidates bagged 62 seats, and the Workers’ Party of Bangladesh, the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, and the Bangladesh Kalyan Party got one seat each.

According to the law, the parliamentary seats reserved for women are distributed to the parties in proportion to the seats they win in the general election. The Jatiya Party will get two seats as per the proportional allocation.

Mentioning that the Jatiya Party saved democracy by joining the polls, Chunnu said, “If the 13 MPs [including two from reserved seats] of the party can play their role efficiently, it is possible to make the House effective, numbers do not matter here.”

According to the schedule, nomination papers for the election in the reserved seats for women can be submitted from 9am to 4pm on 18 February. The papers will be scrutinised on 19 and 20 February. The last day for aspirants to withdraw their candidature is 25 February.

The voting for the reserved seats will be held on 14 March.