Opposition angered by denial of chair, walks out of parliament

Ten more parliamentary standing committees of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) have been formed. However, no committee chairmanship has been given to the opposition party.

These committees were formed on Wednesday night. A debate broke out between the treasury and opposition benches at that time. The debate was over the distribution of committee chairmanships in light of the July National Charter proposals.

The opposition alleged that the ruling party is becoming reckless due to its two-thirds majority. They claimed the ruling party is simply enforcing its own decisions. At one stage, almost all opposition members walked out of the parliament chamber. However, they did not formally declare a walkout.

Earlier last Sunday, a similar debate had occurred between the government and opposition parties over the distribution of chairperson posts.

There are 50 parliamentary committees in Parliament. Among them, 39 are ministry-related and 11 are parliament-related. So far, 25 committees have been formed, including 19 ministry-related committees.

According to the July Charter proposal, the opposition should get chairmanships of 14 out of the 50 committees. This includes 10 posts based on their proportion of seats in parliament. However, they have only received the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee so far.

The formation of parliamentary committees was the last agenda of the day. Chief Whip Nurul Islam placed proposals for the 10 standing committees one by one. Parliament passed those proposals. However, none of the chairperson positions was allocated to the opposition.

After the formation of the 10 committees, Deputy Opposition Leader Syed Abdullah Mohammed Taher stood on a point of order. He said that the behaviour of the ruling party is diminishing the opposition's interest in remaining in parliament.

Syed Abdullah Mohammed Taher stated that they had held a meeting with the ruling party. According to the proportion of seats, the opposition should receive a 26 per cent share. The ruling party agreed on this and is maintaining it regarding committee memberships. Therefore, the opposition expects to get 26 per cent of the chairperson posts as well.

The Deputy Opposition Leader said, "There is no rule in the Rules of Procedure regarding how many chairpersons will come from which party. It is decided through mutual understanding. At one point, the government said they would give us 10 chairperson posts. They even took a list from us."

He added, "It seems to me that the ruling party is becoming reckless due to its two-thirds majority. They are enforcing whatever they decide by themselves."

The treasury bench took a stance that the opposition would get 26 per cent of committee chairmanships if they sent representatives to the Constitution Amendment Committee. Criticising this position, the Deputy Opposition Leader said, "It is very indecent when the ruling party says, 'Join this committee and we will give you that.' We are not children to be lured with lollipops, only to be treated differently elsewhere."

Abdullah Mohammed Taher said the government cannot decide to take 100 per cent of the chairperson posts. This is not written in the constitution. If the will of the majority party becomes the decision of the parliament, that is authoritarianism.

He said, "Authoritarianism means whatever I want is the law and that will be my behaviour. We do not want to see this parliament function in this manner."

Urging not to create discrimination inside and outside parliament, the Deputy Opposition Leader also said, "We do not want another anti-discrimination movement."

Condemning the decision to deny any chairmanship to the opposition, the Deputy Opposition Leader warned that they might not remain in parliament if this trend continues in future committee formations.

After the Deputy Opposition Leader finished his speech, opposition members were seen leaving their seats and walking out of the chamber. However, a few members, including the Hasnat Abdullah of the National Citizen Party (NCP), did not leave the room.

At this stage, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmad took the floor. He noted that the Deputy Opposition Leader delivered his speech but did not want to hear the reply. He added that the exit was probably not a formal walkout, but it amounted to one.

Responding to Taher's remarks, the home minister said there is no rule stating that chairperson posts cannot be given proportionally to the opposition. However, there is no obligation to do so either.

He added that there is no such precedent in history. He also stated that no formal discussion had taken place regarding giving 10 chairperson posts to the opposition.

In response to the opposition's remarks on authoritarianism, the home minister recalled that Begum Khaleda Zia held a two-thirds majority in the 2001 parliament.

He noted that the BNP did not abolish the caretaker government system back then. When BNP forms a government with a two-thirds majority, it strengthens the democratic process, he added.

Salahuddin Ahmad stated that the July National Charter was signed as a document of political consensus. He also said that BNP is committed to giving ministry-related committee chairmanships to the opposition proportionally under that charter.

BNP remains committed to this promise, he said. However, once the July Charter is implemented and the constitution is amended, the committees will be reorganised. The opposition will then receive chairperson posts proportionally.

Alluding to the opposition's failure to provide names for the Constitution Amendment Committee, the home minister alleged that the opposition is not cooperating to implement the July National Charter. He termed this behavior contradictory.

Addressing the opposition, the home minister said, "Come to parliament instead of doing politics outside. Let us talk here. If you prefer using the word 'reform' instead of 'amendment' for the constitution, you can say so. But in parliamentary language, it must be adopted as an amendment."

Under the existing system, there is no obligation to give parliamentary committee chairmanships to the opposition. However, the July Charter, signed as a "document of political consensus," suggested that opposition members would chair the committees on public accounts, privileges, estimates and public undertakings.

It also stated that chairpersons for various ministry-related standing committees would be elected from the opposition in proportion to their seats. This provision would be incorporated into the constitution. Thirty parties and alliances, including BNP, agreed to this proposal in the July Charter.

Observers note that amending the constitution is not mandatory to implement this proposal of the charter. The government can implement it right now if it wishes. This is because neither the constitution nor the Rules of Procedure of parliament specifies which party a committee chairperson must belong to.

On the other hand, the parliament formed a 12-member special committee on 13 July, headed by Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmad, to amend the constitution. The opposition was requested to provide five names for the committee. However, the opposition did not send any names.

They rejected the committee, stating they support constitution reform in accordance with the July Charter. There is a conceptual difference of opinion from the opposition regarding the formation of the constitution amendment committee.

BNP's Gayeshwar Chandra Roy has been made the chairperson of the standing committee on the Ministry of Agriculture; Selim Bhuiyan is the chairperson of the committee on the Ministry of Education; Selima Rahman is the chairperson of the committee on the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs; and Whip Rokibul Islam is the chairperson of the committee on the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges.

Abul Kalam Azad Siddique is the chairperson of the committee on the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism; and Kalim Uddin Ahmed is the chairperson of the committee on the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology.

Amanullah Aman is the chairperson of the committee on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; and Whip GK Gouse is the chairperson of the committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Nasser Rahman has been made the chairperson of the committee on the Ministry of Land; and Rafiqul Islam Jamal is the chairperson of the committee on the Ministry of Religious Affairs.