'No' to hartal and boycott of parliament

No doubt both the issues should attract attention of the opposition since these relate to them. Similar views were expressed in the media on several occasions. This, however, does not exonerate the ruling coalition of their share of responsibilities. It has often been seen that parliament sessions were marred by lack of quorum due to absence of many ministers and lawmakers belonging to the ruling coalition as well as the opposition. This is a reflection of the casual attitude of the ruling party towards the importance and sanctity of the parliament in a democratic system.

Then, if one turns to the parliamentary standing committees, most of them, do not hold the mandatory monthly meeting; the ministers, government functionaries and influential lawmakers do not attend committee meetings on a regular basis and substantive issues are mostly skipped.

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The cumulative effect of all these is that the elected lawmakers whether belonging to the opposition or the ruling coalition are being deprived of their legitimate rights of raising or discussing the problems and issues of their respective constituencies.

We, therefore, strongly believe that a major shift in attitudes by both the two main political parties must take place now in deference to public opinion and for the sake of upholding democratic traditions.