Hasina's steps to good governance
I applaud Sheikh Hasina on the make-up of the new cabinet. What I applaud the most is the appointment of Motia Chowdhury, Sahara Khatun and Dipu Moni, plus young and enthusiastic politicians -- none tainted by mischief mongering.
Hasina's recent positive statements are also refreshing and reassuring.
Within hours after taking oath as the majority leader, Sheikh Hasina (now prime minister), at her first parliamentary party meeting, told the lawmakers to work sincerely to make the parliament effective and to implement AL's electoral manifesto.
The AL chief told her party's lawmakers that she did not want to hear any complaint against any of them, and that stern measures would be taken if allegations surfaced against any AL MP.
Those sworn in as lawmakers promised to discharge their duties faithfully and have faith in and allegiance to Bangladesh. They also pledged not to allow personal interests to affect their duties. The parliament secretariat handed them copies of the constitution, and rules of procedure of the parliament.
The AL chief has said that the new government would continue the ongoing anti-graft drive to build a country free of corruption. She pledged to uphold human rights more effectively.
In one of her press conferences, Hasina said that her party wouldn't treat the opposition by the size of their representation; instead she would make the parliament effective, ensuring the opposition's active participation.
After its loss in the election, it is natural that BNP would feel subdued, and Hasina, without being condescending, graciously and respectfully extended the olive branch to the vanquished.
If BNP lawmakers accept Hasina's gestures and act as an effective opposition in their legitimate lawmaking role, they should never feel intimidated by the size of the majority -- because not only the 32% of people who voted for BNP are behind them, the entire country and the news media will also applaud their role.
I believe Hasina is now convinced that there is no way to achieve good governance without the active and effective role of the opposition and the scrutiny by the media. So, the opposition now constitutes the 27 BNP MPs plus the nonpartisan news media, intellectuals, political commentators and newspaper columnists.
It is now well established that MPs as elected representatives have a critical role to play in establishing good governance. They're are the "trustees" of public mandate, and the legitimate expectation is that they will promote and uphold the national and public interests over other narrow and parochial interests -- whether they sit on the government bench or the opposition bench.
In all advanced democracies, parliamentary committees play a major role in state's budgetary process, and a majority of committee recommendations are accepted for implementations. In India, for example, an estimate shows that usually three-fourths of the recommendations are honoured, while in Canada and Australia the acceptance is around four-fifths.
Bangladesh's parliament committee performance is dismal, and that may be one of the primary reasons for our MPs getting disillusioned about participating in the parliament proceedings and debates. The parliament is thus rendered ineffective.
Another major factor that makes the parliament ineffective in Bangladesh is Article 70 of the constitution, which prevents MPs from voting against party lines. That forbids them from openly voicing their disagreements on their party's proposed bills.
My question is, what good would it do to read books and receive training, as Hasina wishes, if the MPs aren't free to participate in parliamentary debates to speak their minds without fear of reprisals from party bosses. When watching broadcasts of debates in the US Senate and the House of Representatives it is often difficult to identify who are exercising the stronger voices -- the opposition or the government party lawmakers.
We hope that the promises for an effective parliament will be kept by empowering the parliament committees and implementing their recommendations.
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