Code of conduct
ON January 14, ruling Awami League lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhury moved a private members' bill styled "The Members of Parliament Conduct Bill 2010" in the House to enact a code of conduct for lawmakers to ensure high moral standards.
Newspaper reports suggest that the bill proposes formation of a nine-member ethics committee headed by the speaker. The committee, having representatives from lawmakers of all political parties, will take cognisance of any reported incident, investigate it, recommend punishments for the lawmakers violating the law and oversee its implementation.
The bill proposes that lawmakers will not resort to any illegal way of securing their own or others' interests, and that they should maintain their lifestyles to avoid conflicts of interests. Lawmakers will not recommend any type of recruitment, promotion, transfer or seniority for anyone. They will not stand in the way of guaranteeing impartiality in the law enforcing agencies, judiciary and other bodies, and will refrain from influencing government decision on public procurement. If they receive gifts worth more than Tk. 5,000, they will deposit those to the government. They must not accept any gifts that can influence their decisions as lawmakers.
On the matter of "freedom of speech" in Parliament, the bill says that lawmakers' speeches must follow the norms of democracy and tolerance. They must not be involved in character assassination, personal attacks, or unwarranted criticism or praise. They should consciously avoid causing harm to any individual who does not enjoy the same privileges. They should not knowingly mislead the Parliament or the public through their statements, and will correct Parliamentary records as soon as possible when incorrect statements are made unintentionally.
The bill proposes that the ethics committee present a report on its activities every year, which will be made public.
In his statement supporting the bill, lawmaker Chowdhury said that he had initiated the bill as often there were reports in the newspapers that lawmakers were involved in influencing government or private decisions to secure their personal or political interests. The bill, if passed into law, would make lawmakers accountable to their conscience and impose an obligation on them to avoid conflict of interests.
The bill was sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Private Members' Bills and Resolutions for further scrutiny.
The parliaments of a number of countries, including the EU Parliament and the House of Commons in the United Kingdom, have codes of conduct that lay down obligations and behaviourial standards for their members. Studies have shown that the effect of a code of conduct is generally felt in four different areas: (a) in a benefit to society in general, by enhancing the rule of law; (b) in the relationship between members and their electorate; (c) in the relationship of members with their peers; and (d) as a yardstick for members themselves.
In Bangladesh, civil society members, the media and the anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), have been pleading for more than a decade for a code of conduct for lawmakers, mainly to stop the culture of parliament boycott by the opposition, prevent misuse of their privileges by the lawmakers, and make them accountable to their conscience.
The placement of the aforesaid code of conduct bill in the House has been welcomed by the people, the media and the TIB. An online poll by The Daily Star shows that 93.7% have opined that enactment of a code of conduct for lawmakers is necessary to ensure their high moral standards.
While welcoming the placement of the bill, The Daily Star's editorial of January 16 said that even though there was hardly any precedent of enacting a private member's bill, this one merited special consideration in view of the pressing nature of the need for a code of conduct which would be designed to ensure high standards of morality and ethics within and outside the Parliament in the discharge of the lawmakers' duties.
While hailing the bill, the TIB in a statement on January 16 said that the transformation of the bill into a law would not only fulfill a key electoral pledge of the ruling AL, but also would go a long way in institutionalising democracy, promoting democratic practices and meeting public expectation. The TIB urged all concerned especially, the lawmakers, to take immediate steps to enact the bill as a law and meet public expectation.
According to the rules of procedure of the Parliament, "private member" means a member other than a minister, either from the treasury bench or the opposition bench. Saber Hossain Chowdhury is the first private member to place three bills in the current Parliament. He moved two other bills styled "Oppression and Custodial Deaths (Prevention) Bill 2009," and "Eviction of Slum Dwellers from Government Land (Prevention) Bill 2009" in the House on November 10, 2009. Those two bills were sent by the speaker to the relevant Parliamentary Standing Committee for further scrutiny, and their fate is still unknown.
It may be mentioned that the Bangladesh Parliament has a poor record of passage of private members' bills. Available records show that out of over 300 bills submitted by private members, only 6 (all from treasury bench lawmakers) have been passed since independence.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury has earned the people's appreciation by placing "The Members of Parliament Conduct Bill 2010" in the House in his capacity as a private member. He has acted as the conscience of the Parliament. Will the government and the Parliament, which is heavily dominated by the AL members, take the bill in good grace? The people will, therefore, be watching the fate of the bill with great interest.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments