Politics

Speaker-led caretaker government among proposals discussed, Home Minister says

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed says constitutional talks include a role for the Speaker or an upper chamber. No proposal has been finalised.

ScrollBeat DeskPublished: 24 Oct 2026, 22:04Updated: 24 Oct 2026, 22:05

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed speaking into a microphone at a parliament briefing, 24 October 2026 — Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed speaking at the parliament briefing on 24 October 2026. Frame from the BNP official channel video, used for attributed news reporting. Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP / YouTube; editorial video frame

A proposal to put a Speaker chosen with government and opposition agreement at the head of a caretaker government has been discussed by Bangladesh’s constitutional amendment special committee, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said on Saturday, 24 October.

Ahmed, who chairs the committee, spoke to journalists at parliament after a meeting with legal and constitutional experts. The discussion concerned possible arrangements for forming a caretaker administration. It did not announce the appointment of a caretaker chief or a final constitutional provision.

According to Jugantor, Ahmed said participants had proposed keeping the judiciary outside the process and discussing a Speaker-led arrangement with the opposition. His remarks placed the idea among suggestions submitted to the committee, rather than a decision already taken.

Bangla Tribune reported that the ninth meeting took place in parliament’s cabinet room. Lawyers, law professors and educators were invited to offer views on constitutional changes. Around 60 people received invitations, Ahmed said. Some participants submitted written opinions, while others were expected to do so within a week to 10 days.

The alternatives described by Ahmed included using a possible upper chamber to help form a caretaker government if that chamber did not dissolve at the same time as the lower house. Participants also raised a role for an upper-house vice president or a Speaker selected through agreement between the government and opposition, Bangla Tribune reported.

Suggestions extended to choosing advisers by agreement from people other than the Speaker. Ahmed said the committee would examine the proposals and seek written views before setting out the issues in its report. None of these arrangements had been finalised, according to the report.

The distinction matters for readers following the constitutional talks: a suggestion about who could lead an election-time administration does not establish who will hold that role. The committee’s review and the submission of further opinions remain ahead.

Ahmed again called on the opposition to take part in the amendment process. Jugantor reported his position that any request for BNP to relax its notes of dissent should be raised in the committee. Bangla Tribune reported that no decision had been taken on withdrawing or relaxing those reservations.

The consultations also covered MPs’ voting freedom under Article 70, fundamental rights, judicial independence, the balance of presidential and prime ministerial powers, and appointments to constitutional bodies. Those subjects formed part of the wider discussion on constitutional reform and implementation of the July Charter.

For now, the immediate next step described by Ahmed is further written input and committee consideration. The reports do not establish a final selection method, an appointed caretaker head or a date when a new arrangement would take effect.

Sources & further reading

Jugantor: caretaker leadership proposals Bangla Tribune: caretaker alternatives remain proposals

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NEXT STORY Bangladesh

Canada charges five over alleged visa fraud involving 209 Bangladeshis

Prothom Alo reports 243 visitor-visa applications were submitted for 209 Bangladeshis using allegedly false documents and invitation details. The allegations have not been proved in court.

ScrollBeat Desk24 Oct 2026, 19:06Open this article

Illustration of an unmarked green passport booklet representing visa applications; no actual person's document. Illustration: ScrollBeat / OpenAI

Five people have been charged in Canada over an alleged visitor-visa fraud operation involving applications for 209 Bangladeshi citizens, according to a Prothom Alo report citing the Canada Border Services Agency. A bdnews24.com archive entry dated Saturday also reports that five Bangladeshis were charged over Canada visa fraud.

Prothom Alo’s Nagorik section, reporting from Canada on 24 October, attributed the case details to a CBSA news release issued on 22 October. It said investigators identified 243 temporary resident visa applications submitted in the names of 209 Bangladeshis. Those figures refer to applications and applicants, not a count of people convicted or a confirmed total who entered Canada.

The applications allegedly used false documents and incorrect information about Canadian hosts or people providing invitation letters, the report said. The accusation concerns the preparation and submission of visitor-visa applications. Charges are allegations, and the reports cited here do not establish guilt or announce convictions in this case.

The investigation followed a joint inspection of a residential building in Mercier, Quebec, on 3 July 2024. According to the account attributed to CBSA, border officers worked with local police and fire officials. Signs of possible immigration violations found during that operation led to a formal investigation beginning in August that year.

Investigators later searched four locations in Quebec and Ontario on 3 June 2025, Prothom Alo reported. Computers, digital devices and documents were seized. The report says officers concentrated on 79 visa applications when gathering evidence for the case, within the larger group of 243 applications identified.

The reported charges fall under several provisions of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Prothom Alo described allegations relating to arranging unlawful entry, helping prepare false information or conceal facts in immigration applications, and assisting or encouraging violations of immigration law.

An arrest warrant has been issued for one accused man believed to be in Bangladesh, according to Prothom Alo. The report also identifies connections to Montreal and Toronto. It does not give a complete account of every accused person’s alleged role or response.

The numbers should also be kept distinct: 209 refers to Bangladeshi citizens named in the applications, 243 to applications submitted, and 79 to applications investigators reportedly examined closely for the case. None of those figures means that all applicants have been charged. The reported charges concern five alleged participants in the operation.

Further court proceedings would determine the allegations against the accused. The source accounts available to ScrollBeat do not establish the outcome of each visa application or provide a final court judgment. The illustration accompanying this report represents passports and Canada; it is not evidence of the alleged scheme.

NEXT STORY Bangladesh

Gazipur warehouse fire brought under control by nine fire units

The Supreme Garments warehouse blaze in Kashimpur was contained at 1:50pm, fire officials say. No casualties have been reported.

ScrollBeat Desk24 Oct 2026, 16:23Open this article

Location graphic: Kashimpur, Gazipur — Supreme Garments warehouse fire, 24 October 2026. Not a photograph. — ScrollBeat location graphic identifying Kashimpur, Gazipur, where the Supreme Garments warehouse fire occurred on 24 October 2026. This is a typographic graphic, not a photograph of the fire. Graphic: ScrollBeat

Nine firefighting units brought a warehouse fire at Supreme Garments in Gazipur’s Kashimpur area under control at 1:50pm on Saturday, according to Fire Service officials quoted by Dhaka Post. No casualties had been reported.

The blaze affected cartons and yarn stored at the factory in Shaildubi. Kashimpur Fire Service official Ariful Islam told Dhaka Post that both materials had burned. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage were still unknown.

Fire Service and local sources cited by bdnews24.com said combustible materials and raw stock inside the warehouse helped the flames spread rapidly. The report described dark smoke rising around the factory and alarm among people nearby. Officials did not identify the material that first caught fire or establish an ignition source.

Gazipur Fire Service deputy assistant director Md Saiful Alam Chowdhury told bdnews24.com that the blaze began at about 10:15am. He said local crews started work after receiving the alert and units from surrounding stations were called in because of the intensity of the fire.

Fire Service media-cell official Talha Bin Jashim told Dhaka Post that the fire broke out at around 10:30am. Two units from the Kashimpur mini fire station responded first. Crews from Sarabo, DBL and Modern fire stations subsequently joined, taking the operation to nine units.

An earlier Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha dispatch, citing the Fire Service, recorded the alert at 10:14am and the first unit’s arrival at 10:25am. It placed the warehouse in West Shaildubi and said five units were working while four more were on their way.

The reports give slightly different morning times, but describe the same warehouse and an expanding response. Dhaka Post’s afternoon update put containment at 1:50pm, after roughly three and a half hours of work.

Ariful Islam said an assessment of the losses would be available after the fire was fully extinguished. Officials had not provided a financial estimate or a confirmed explanation for how it started.

The afternoon accounts agree on the nine-unit response and the 1:50pm containment announcement. BSS’s earlier five-unit figure was a snapshot taken while reinforcements were travelling to the site. Its report and the later updates described different stages of the same operation, rather than a final count made at the same time.

BSS published its initial dispatch at 12:49pm. The bdnews24.com report was updated at 2:31pm, while Dhaka Post’s containment account appeared at 2:40pm. The afternoon reports provide the more recent status of the firefighting operation.

Sources & further reading

Dhaka Post BSS bdnews24.com