Why BNP should join Parliament
THE main opposition BNP's joining the winter session of Parliamen, beginning January 4, 2010, is still uncertain. Both the secretary general and the senior joint secretary general of the party said on December 23, that the BNP would join the upcoming session of parliament if the government created a congenial environment. BNP has been refraining from attending parliament sessions after the first session over a row over seating arrangement in the House.
There have been mixed reactions to BNP's absence from Parliament sessions. Many people feel that with every day passing, BNP's preconditions for joining parliament are accreting. Initially, it was the number of seats in the front row. Several more demands, including the demand for withdrawal of all cases filed against the party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, and the senior vice-chairman, Tarique Rahman, have since then been added. Further, BNP, which received more than thirty percent of the votes in the ninth general election, has been abstaining from Parliament sessions, paying no attention to its pledges made to the electorate before the election.
Others see a "go it alone" attitude in the ruling AL for running the Parliament. It has not taken any serious initiative to bring the main opposition BNP back to the Parliament sessions by removing some of its genuine grievances.
BNP may have some genuine grievances, which should be redressed by the ruling AL. In order to raise those grievances as well as to discuss issues of national and public interest, BNP should not have a better choice than to join the forthcoming winter session of Parliament.
The views expressed by a member of the standing committee of BNP, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, and AL presidium member Matia Chowdhury at a BBC dialogue on December 26, that the culture of boycotting parliamentary sessions should come to an end for the sake of democracy have emboldened our hope for BNP's participation in the upcoming winter session.
In pursuance of Article 73(2) of the constitution of Bangladesh, President Zillur Rahman will address the Parliament's first session of 2010. A major portion of the president's speech will cover the success story of the AL government in the past one year. By joining the upcoming winter session, BNP lawmakers may scrutinise the president's speech and give their considered views.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to pay an official visit to India in the second week of January. High level sources in both the countries suggest that sharing of waters of the common rivers, including Teesta, connectivity, increase of trade and commerce, mutual cooperation in power and energy and security related matters would dominate the forthcoming meeting of the prime ministers of the two countries. It is expected that a number of agreements on some of these issues will be signed between the two countries during her visit. BNP should attend the forthcoming Parliament session to tell the house that it would not accept any agreement that goes against national interest.
The 2008 election manifesto of AL identified five priority issues, which include, inter alia, controlling commodity price hike, and taking effective action against corruption.
The AL election manifesto pledged to take measures "to reduce the unbearable burden of price hike and keep it in tune with the purchasing power of the people." Has the ruling AL been able to control prices of essential commodities? The rising prices of food and other essential commodities during the last one month have made the life of the people, particularly of low and middle-income groups, miserable. While attending the winter session, BNP may raise the issue in the house by furnishing a price list that compares the prices of food and other essentials during the rule of the BNP-led alliance and the AL-led alliance.
Bangladesh's position in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) of 2009 released by Transparency International has slightly improved. The credit mainly goes to the immediate past caretaker government. The reconstitution of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) by the post 1/11 caretaker government and amendments made to the ACC Act 2004, provided the ACC some degree of dynamism and vibrancy, and aimed at making corruption a punishable offence and challenging the culture of impunity.
Although the AL election manifesto pledged multi-pronged measures to fight corruption, the AL-led alliance government has not yet taken any effective measure to combat corruption. Rather, the government has initiated a move to clip the wings of the ACC by reducing some of its powers. BNP, which passed the ACC Act and established the ACC during its immediate past rule, may forcefully protest in the House the government move to reduce the powers of the country's only anti-corruption watchdog.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Shafique Ahmed, recently disclosed that the government would appoint an ombudsman by January to establish the rule of law. According to the Ombudsman Act 1980, an ombudsman shall be appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Parliament. Parliament shall recommend for appointment as ombudsman a person of known legal or administrative ability and conspicuous integrity. By attending the winter session, BNP lawmakers can help appoint a person who fulfills the criteria determined by the Act.
To conclude, the BNP leadership should decide that their lawmakers join the upcoming winter session of Parliament to raise their voice on the issues mentioned above as well as to discharge their responsibilities entrusted by the constitution and rules of procedure (ROP) of parliament.
The BNP leadership should remember that the absence of their lawmakers from the Parliament sessions would only benefit the ruling AL. Simultaneously, the ruling AL has to realise that a functional and vibrant parliament is possible only with the participation of treasury and opposition bench members.
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