Editorial
Good thinking by Sheikh Hasina
Comprehensive initiative needed to make parliament effective
WE note with a degree of appreciation Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina's idea that the post of deputy speaker should go to the opposition. Such thinking on her part ought to be reciprocated by BNP leader Begum Zia. Having said that, and reading it as a flicker of rethinking on the entire issue of making the parliament effective, we are constrained to say that giving the deputy speaker's slot to the opposition is only a symbolic, even a measly step. This falls far short of what is required to make the parliament functional, let alone effective.
A whole range of measures will have to be put in place if we are to make a paradigm qualitative change from the dysfunctional parliaments of yesteryears the electorate had to put up with. To AL's credit, during its rule, the practice of ministers becoming chairmen of parliamentary standing committees was discontinued. This was a step in the right direction. But the real issue of opposition members heading some of the crucial standing committees having to do with accountability and answerability of the government invariably got pushed on to the backburner. As a matter of fact, the concept of effective bipartisan committees as the cornerstone of a strong committee system has always received lip service.
The role of the business advisory committee headed by the Speaker should have been to synthesize the demands for slots of the ruling party and the opposition thereby reflecting a consensus on the business to be transacted in the House on a given day. This mechanism never worked.
The Speaker's role is central to the issue of making parliament effective. We recall here the common stance reached between AL and BNP in their talks with former US president Jimmy Carter centring around making the Speaker's office fully neutral and the parliament vibrant, which should now be looked into again. A suggestion that had made the rounds then related to both the AL and BNP chiefs offering assured reelection to an incumbent Speaker as MP the next time around.
All things considered, rather than any piecemeal gesture, the AL chief should come out with a comprehensive plan covering all parameters involved in making the parliament fully functional and effective drawing upon the previous experience with failed parliaments. We, in the media, can then lend our support to the reform package, bring it to the centre stage of public discourse, and convince others to adopt it.
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