Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today said the process to form the new government is likely to be completed by January 10.

Obaidul Quader came up with the information while talking to reporters after placing wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu in front of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi in the city, marking Awami League's landslide victory in the 11th national elections.

He also said the gazette notification will be published within one to two days and then the newly elected members of parliament will be sworn in.

"After the oath taking, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will meet the President. Then, the President will request the Prime Minister to form the government," he added.

"It is the concern of the Election Commission. Everything will be done according to the constitution. If any candidate fails to take oath, the election commission will arrange necessary steps according to the constitution. A new schedule will be announced for a by-election to the constituency," he said while answering a question about Oikyafront's decision not to take the oath.

Quader said, "I still believe they (Oikyafront) will not disobey the verdict of the country's people. Earlier, they made a mistake by boycotting the 2014 election. Whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied, it's their party matter. But those who have been elected this time will not show disrespect to the people's verdict by not taking oath."

"Many democratic countries have started congratulating Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. If they do not participate in the democratic process, democracy will not be halted for them," he added.

Meanwhile, the senior Awami League urged the party's leaders, activists and supporters not to be revengeful to the opposition and behave carefully.

In the first parliament 45 years ago, none of the parties was recognised as official opposition due to their poor strength in the House.

The resounding victory of ruling Awami League-led alliance in Sunday's polls has diminished the scope for emergence of an official opposition in the new parliament.

The AL-led alliance together grabbed 288 seats out of 298 with the ruling party alone bagging 259 seats. The BNP-led alliance managed to secure only seven seats. [Election to Gaibandha-3 was rescheduled to January 27 following the death of a candidate and re-polling will take place in three centres in Brahmanbaria-2 on January 9.]

Against this backdrop, Jatiya Party may sit on the opposition bench in the new parliament to be formed with MPs-elect swearing in tomorrow.

The JP, a key component of the AL-led grand electoral alliance, emerged as the second largest party by obtaining 20 seats.

It needs at least five more to get official recognition as the opposition, according to the verbal directive given by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during a debate in the first parliament on April 12, 1973.

In the first parliamentary election held in 1973, the AL won 293 seats. The opposition parties -- Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bangladesh Jatiya League, National Awami Party and others obtained only seven seats.

They extended their support to Jatiya League leader Ataur Rahman Khan and demanded that he be recognised as the leader of the   opposition.   

During the debate over recognition as opposition, Bangabandhu said a party could not be recognised as opposition if it did not have at least 25 MPs.

If any group has less than 25 MPs and at least 10 MPs, it can be termed a parliamentary group, not a parliamentary party, said Bangabandhu.

"The speech delivered by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the only directive," wrote Khandaker Abdul Haq in his book "Parliamentary Practice and Procedure" published by the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat in 2001.

"His directive has been derived from experiences of the Pakistan National Assembly and East Pakistan Provincial Assembly and it is consistent with the parliamentary culture of India and this sub-continent," wrote Haq, who was a senior official at the Parliament Secretariat.

If Bangabandhu's directive is taken into consideration, JP would need five more seats to qualify to become the opposition party in the new parliament. If JP is not the official opposition, none of its MPs could be the leader of the opposition.

The JP became the main opposition in the current parliament formed through the 2014 election, which the BNP-led alliance boycotted. It won 34 seats and its senior leader Raushan Ershad was recognised as the leader of the opposition with a status of a minister. Three JP MPs were also made ministers.

Their dual role has been criticised. The party could not play its due role as the main opposition in parliament in the last five years.

JP Secretary General Mashiur Rahman Ranga yesterday said his party would hold a joint meeting of the party's presidium members and MPs-elect today to decide whether it would join the government or sit on the opposition bench.

"We will also discuss it with the grand alliance," he said at a discussion at the party's Banani office.

The US Senate has confirmed the nomination of Earl Robert Miller as the new US ambassador to Bangladesh.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the nomination on October 11. US President Donald Trump announced Miller's nomination on July 17.

Miller will succeed incumbent Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, who became the US ambassador to Bangladesh on February 4, 2015.

Earl Miller, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, served as the US ambassador to Botswana prior to his nomination to Bangladesh. He is expected to arrive in Dhaka next month to take up his new diplomatic assignment.

On arrival in Dhaka, the ambassador-designate will present his credentials to President Abdul Hamid, according to a Facebook statement of the US embassy yesterday.