Parliament premises to go smoke-free as fourth session runs until 18 November

The fourth session of the 13th National Parliament (the fourth session of 2026) will run until 18 November. The House will sit every day at 4:20pm except on public holidays (Friday and Saturday). The Speaker has been given the power to change the sitting time and working days if necessary.

The decisions were taken at the fifth meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, held on Sunday (8 November) in the cabinet room of the Parliament building, chaired by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed.

At the meeting, Leader of the House and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman proposed declaring the National Parliament premises a 'smoke-free area', and everyone present accepted the proposal spontaneously.

It was informed at the meeting that one government bill has been received for tabling in this session. In addition, three ordinances issued between the third session and the fourth session will be placed before the House on its first day.

The ordinances are the Public Procurement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026; the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026; and the Special Solar Power Installation Ordinance, 2026.

A total of 3,751 questions have been submitted for this session, including 174 for the prime minister and 3,577 for other ministers. There are also 92 notices for drawing attention under Rule 71 and 281 notices of resolutions under Rule 131.

At the meeting, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman asked about the progress of installing the sound system and solar power panels in the National Parliament.

On the sound system, Parliament Secretary Barrister Md Golam Sarwar Bhuiyan said the new sound system will be inaugurated on Monday (9 November) at 3:30pm under the supervision of the Public Works Department.

On solar power, Deputy Speaker Barrister Kaiser Kamal, convener of the sub-committee concerned, said 7 megawatts of electricity could be generated through solar power. While meeting the session's demand of about 6 megawatts, the surplus electricity will be added to the national grid.

The prime minister directed that solar power generation include a storage facility. The deputy speaker also informed the committee of the latest progress on e-Parliament and recruitment to vacant posts in the National Parliament.

Committee members who attended the meeting included Leader of the Opposition Dr Shafiqur Rahman, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Deputy Speaker Barrister Kaiser Kamal, Chief Whip Md Nurul Islam Moni, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman, ATM Azharul Islam and Opposition Chief Whip Md Nahid Islam.

Parliament Secretariat Secretary Barrister Md Golam Sarwar Bhuiyan provided secretarial support at the meeting, and senior officials of the Parliament Secretariat were present.