Ninth session of parliament

And that is where the rules of parliamentary democracy are going to be tested. A closer look into what the AL could have achieved by attending parliament will make the picture clearer. First, it could have exposed to the public, the mistakes of the government a crucially important exercise in a democracy. Second, it could help improve the quality of governance through constructive criticism. Third, the opposition could always expose violation of law in any form to the public eye and share their evaluation of the government's performance.

But the main opposition party, by boycotting parliament, has pushed itself towards only one course of action-- a direct movement against the government. Obviously, parliament is the most powerful forum for the opposition to give vent to its grievances and to raise all other relevant issues. The extent of the opposition's reach via parliament will always be much, much bigger, in spite of the denial of space and time that the AL has been complaining about. This is not making a short shrift of their need for space. The complaints could be based on a sense of deprivation, but the truth remains that the opposition can achieve a lot more from within rather than outside parliament.

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If that sounds like an exaggeration, the AL should go for an assessment of what it has gained or lost by attending or boycotting parliament.

So, we urge the AL lawmakers to return to parliament, the place that they belong to.

We are also concerned at the growing inclination to call hartal. We have always opposed it as a counter-productive and highly negative phenomenon, which has a crippling effect on the economy.

Finally, the ruling alliance should give the opposition the room that it needs to play a role in parliamentary proceedings. The impression that the government has created of suppressing opposition protests must be removed to create a situation for the two sides to interact smoothly.