Dhaka, Feb. 24 -- When Bangladesh's 13th Parliament convenes on Mar 12, the chamber will gather with a striking absence at its centre. The seats of speaker and deputy speaker remain empty, leaving the legislature without its traditional arbiters at the very moment it prepares to begin work.

Before the speeches, the votes and the rituals that mark the birth of a new parliament, a quieter but crucial question must be answered: who will preside over the first sitting?

In the corridors of power, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) -- which holds a commanding majority in the new parliament -- is weighing four veteran lawmakers to temporarily take the chair until a speaker is elected.

Legal experts say such a solution is neither unprecede...