The president's address to Parliament
IN pursuance of Article73 (2) of the constitution of Bangladesh, President Zillur Rahman addressed the ninth Parliament's first session of 2010 on January 4. This is also the fourth session of the ninth Parliament. Pursuant to Article 73 (3) of the constitution, the Parliament will have lengthy discussion on the president's address.
The BNP, which started boycotting parliament sessions from the second session over a row over seating arrangement, and later on came up with a 10-point charter of demands, including scrapping the decision to cancel lease of the party chairperson Khaleda Zia's cantonment residence, strengthening her security, withdrawing "politically motivated cases" against Khaleda Zia, Tarique Rahman, and other leaders, giving BNP lawmakers chairmanship of two more standing committees, was not present in the house.
In his speech, the president called for a halt to the politics of confrontation and expressed hope that the opposition would join the Parliament to fulfill the aspirations of the people and help advance parliamentary democracy in the country.
The president's speech highlighted the achievements and successes of the AL-led alliance government during the last one year in different sectors, including macro-economic management, increase in agricultural output, improvement in food security, keeping the prices of essential commodities within the purchasing power of the common people, improvement of the primary education, increasing social safety networks, improvement of law and order situation, and enhancement of the country's image internationally.
The president said that, excepting the two unexpected challenges, the BDR carnage and cyclone Aila, the last one year ended with positive happenings. In the year, the country was freed from a 34-year old stigma through the verdict on the Bangubandhu murder case. The president referred to the initiatives taken by the present government to bring the war criminals and the perpetrators of all political murders, including those of the four national leaders, and the August 21 grenade attack, under trial.
Although the president made a clarion call to the opposition to return to the house for the sake of democracy, his speech made no reference to the measures taken by the AL-led government to redress the genuine grievances of the opposition to bring them back to the house. The sky would not have fallen if one or two more front-bench seats in the house were given to the BNP lawmakers. The AL could have easily left the fate of Khaleda Zia's Dhaka cantonment residence to the court's decision.
The government has withdrawn scores of cases filed against the ruling party political leaders during the time of the last caretaker government through administrative orders. Contrarily, out of twenty or so cases filed against Khaleda Zia and her family members during the tenure of the last caretaker government, the ruling AL-led alliance government moved to withdraw only one extortion case against Khaleda Zia's elder son Tarique Rahman on the ground that it was "politically motivated" and meant for "harassment."
In its editorial of December 31, The Daily Star wrote: "The government, by withdrawing the cases against the ruling party political leaders through an administrative edict, has apparently given the opposition a handle to make a demand of their own that cases against its leader and her son be withdrawn. Actually, the whole thing should have been left to the court to settle if the government's intention was to uphold fair play untinged by any perceived political bias. We, therefore, believe that just as the government had no moral grounds to drop the cases against ruling party leaders without subjecting these to a legal process so is the opposition's demand for withdrawal of cases against its leaders morally indefensible."
The president's speech affirmed that the present government had been able to keep the prices of essentials within the purchasing power of the common people. Does the ground reality say so? It is a fact that the prices of food and other essentials came down significantly in the first seven to eight months of the AL-led government compared to 2008, but the rising prices for more than a month have made the life of the people, particularly of low and middle-income groups, miserable.
Even the AL high-ups have expressed concern at the price hike of food and other essentials. The newspapers of January 5 reported that, at a meeting of the AL Central Working Committee held on January 4 under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, leaders expressed disappointment over high prices of essentials and asked the commerce minister to take immediate measures.
The narration of the success story of the political alliance in power by the president, who by his deeds and independence of mind must prove that he is non-partisan, does not appear to be consistent with the essence of parliamentary system of government that we have.
Some may argue that the president of India in his/her address to the joint session of Parliament, comprising the council of states and the house of the people, at the commencement of the first session of each year makes references, among others, to the policies, programs and development activities of the government.
But it has to be remembered that the president of Bangladesh, unlike his counterpart in India, is not the chief executive of the republic. Unlike the Indian president or the British monarch, he is not a part of the parliament. Unlike the president of India, the president of Bangladesh cannot use the term "my government."
The president's address to parliament should (a) act as guidance for resolving the contentious issues between the government and the opposition; (b) ask the political parties, particularly the ruling party, to do everything possible towards developing a political culture that would contribute to the successful functioning of democracy; (c) ask the government to ensure that the people enjoy the fundamental rights granted to them by the constitution; (d) encourage the lawmakers of the treasury and opposition benches to place the national interests above narrow party interests in the discharge of their responsibilities; and (e) inspire the nation to face the challenges ahead with courage and fortitude.
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