How far could the parliament make the govt accountable?

MPs of the treasury bench and from the opposition took part in discussion in the special session called marking the golden jubilee of the Jatiya Sangsad. Prime minister proposed the discussion

Jatiya SangsadFile photo

Several MPs of the opposition in the Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) urged for an evaluation how far the Jatiya Sangsad could make the government accountable. Several other members said the parliament should truly be the centre of all the activities. The MPs from the allies of ruling Awami League also talked about the quality of the Jatiya Sangsad.

Workers’ Party leader and a senior MP, Rashed Khan Menon, in his discussion, said the quality of parliament has been gradually deteriorating and the character of the House is changing.

These observations were made on Saturday in the discussion in a special session called marking the golden jubilee of the Jatiya Sangsad.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina proposed the discussion to mark 50 years of the Jatiya Sangsad. The MPs have been taking part in the discussion.

“Father of the nation Bangabandhu said, we would make such a parliament that could be a learning for others. But unfortunately we have been experiencing in the last few years that the quality of our parliament is gradually declining,” said Rashed Khan Menon.

Quoting from a study on the 5th parliament, Rashed Khan Menon also said that the research revealed that people’s issues are discussed only for three minutes in speeches in parliament for an hour. The remaining time spent in talking about themselves, the party and the party leader. The president also in his speech said the necessity of inviting experts from abroad could arise in the future for monitoring, evaluation and analysis of laws.

The character of our parliament has been changing gradually. The Jatiya Sangsad has taken on a new look due to commercialisation of politics and business over polls
Rashed Khan Menon

Rashed Khan Menon remarked, “The character of our parliament has been changing gradually. The Jatiya Sangsad has taken on a new look due to commercialisation of politics and business over polls.”

He also mentioned that currently the number of businesspersons in parliament is excessive. It is not that one cannot do business if one is involved with politics. But the issue of interest comes to the fore if the number of businesspersons is excessivebecomes too many. He also remarked that it was necessary to evaluate the constitution and bring reforms to the parliament.

Demand to review Section 70

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) president Hasanul Huq Inu demanded abolishing issues that are in contradiction with the four fundamental principles of the constitution, dispelling confusion regarding the ethnic minorities and forming a parliamentary standing committee to analyse the constitution to empower the MPs by reforming Section 70.

At the same time he highly lauded Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and slammed de facto opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

In his speech, Inu said BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, who practiced negative politics, have threatened to bring fundamental changes in the constitution through their 27-point and 10-point demands. “They have been talking about rejecting the constitution,” he said.

Regarding Section 70 of the constitution, Jatiya Party MP Shameem Haider Patwary said, “We think there is freedom of speech in the country but for this (Section 70) we sometimes think the MPs do not have the freedom of speech in parliament. Section 70 should be made completely open in all the cases except a few important amendments in the constitution and some important sections in budget.”

Questions about government’s accountability

Shameem Haider Patwary also said, “Hundreds of laws have been passed in the last 50 years. Many of them were great while some were black laws like indemnity bill. It is necessary to evaluate how far the parliament could hold the government responsible. How much could we force the government to take right decision, shunning its wrong decisions?”

He said the concept of the parliament is that the opposition party will highlight the mistakes of those who would run the country and compel them to reconsider decisions.

Recalling his past experience, JaPa MP, Shameem Haider Patwary said structurally this parliament cannot compel the government to reconsider its decisions. The reason is the rule of absolute majority. Besides, the question and answer session has turned into a mere formality and the parliamentary standing committees have not been holding meetings regularly. A “Caesar to Caesar appeal” is made now as presidents of most of the committees are from the ruling party. Both the minister and the president are from one party. The parliamentary committees are not being able to work like those of India and the US.

Another Jatiya Party MP, Anisul Islam Mahmud said people’s sorrows and sufferings have to be discussed in parliament to make it the centre of all the activities truly. If this discussion is not held, mere speaking will not make the parliament the centre of all the activities. Otherwise, the discussion outside will be the centre, reports of newspapers will get priority.

Several MPs of ruling Awami League also took part in the discussion. Some of them mainly slammed the de facto opposition BNP, which has no representation in the Jatiya Sangsad as seven of its MPs resigned from parliament in December last year.

Criticising BNP, Awami League MP, ASM Firoz said he hopes BNP wouldn't be there. The country is developing as the BNP is not in power. Another AL lawmaker Abul Kalam Azad said the next parliamentary election is very important. Conspiracies are going on within the country and abroad over the polls.

Among the other ruling party MPs, Rajiuddin, Emad Uddin Pramanik, Muslem Uddin, Abdus Shahid, education minister Dipu Moni, state minister for power, energy, and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid, Sayeda Zakia Noor, Simeen Hussain, Nahim Razzaq and other also took part in the discussion.