Parliament can do nothing but legalise formulation of laws: GM Quader

Jatiya Party (JaPa) chairman GM Quader on Monday said under the existing system the national parliament is not able to do anything other than legalising the formulation of laws.

He holds Article 70 of the constitution responsible for this situation, demanding its amendment.

GM Quader, also the deputy leader of the opposition in parliament, came up with this remark on Monday while addressing a discussion at the national parliament to mark its golden jubilee.

He said the government acts an initiator in formulating laws. However, it is not possible to formulate any law without the approval of the parliament. Due to article 70, the ruling party, who holds the majority seats in the parliament, can pass any government proposed laws.

Everything, accepting and refusing any amendments, depends on the government. The parliament is not able to do anything but legalise the formulation of the government laws.

The deputy leader said it is mandatory to amend the article. The parliamentarians should be allowed to raise their voices independently in all proposals except three. Those three are: formation of the government, no confidence motion against the government and the passage of budget.

He said development doesn’t mean infrastructural development, which is only a development assistance. The actual development is to improve the life standard of the people.  

Asking the government to make the parliamentary body more effective, the JaPa chairman said the main task of the parliamentary body is to ensure the accountability of the government and its ministries. But the committee has failed to do so.

The body is empowered with providing recommendations [on any burning issues], but many times the ministries cannot pay any heed to those. They don't even consider their recommendations let alone follow those, he added.