Dhaka, Feb. 17 -- Bangladesh's newly elected parliament has opened with an unusual split. While BNP lawmakers took the oath as members of parliament, they stopped short of pledging themselves to the proposed Constitutional Reform Council.

In contrast, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP) did not.

The divergence has ignited a fierce legal debate. Senior lawyers are split: some argue that inserting a second oath into the July Charter Implementation Order is "illegal", while others see BNP's refusal to take the additional oath as an "unnecessary caution".

On Tuesday, lawmakers from the BNP -- the party that secured a parliamentary majority -- were sworn in first. Members from Jamaat and the NCP then took their oaths in...