The strategy of call and reject!

Then came the rejection. The Speaker rejected all of 150 notices given by the opposition proposing discussion on general situations, including law and order, price rise, situation in the monga hit areas, etc. Whatever may have been his reasons the political message of the Speaker's rejection of all opposition notices cannot contribute to narrowing the existing political gap between the treasury and the opposition benches that is crippling the workings of the parliament. It may be mentioned here that it is not for the first time that opposition notices have been rejected.

So the natural question is, does the ruling party really want a rapprochement with the opposition or all this is for public consumption? For the BNP secretary general to call for opposition participation in parliament and for the Speaker to reject all the latter's notices in the House cannot be termed to be actions designed to reinforce one another. Either the BNP has no clear policy to deal with the opposition or the ruling party is putting one face out for the public while having a totally different one in reality.

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We have been critical of the Speaker's attitude towards the opposition in the past. The recent events give no reason to change our views. There is a need for a radical change of attitude and mind-set of both the Treasury and the Opposition benches for our parliament to become effective. So far there is no sign of that.