Opposition in parliament: Independent MPs wait for PM’s decision

Many independent MPs are waiting for a decision from prime minister Sheikh Hasina as it is not yet clear whether they will form an alliance to play the role of the opposition in the parliament.

Prothom Alo has spoken to 19 independent MPs of the 12th national parliament over the last three days.

Most of them said they want to join the parliament under Awami League. However, a few of them said they will form an alliance to be the opposition in parliament if the prime minister wants.

The newly elected MPs of the 12th national parliament were sworn in last Wednesday. However, which party will be the main opposition and who will be the opposition leader in the parliament have not yet been determined. The independent candidates bagged the most of the seats after the Awami League in the 12th parliamentary elections.

The independent MPs occupy 62 seats in the parliament and 58 of them are directly involved in the politics of the Awami League. If these independent MPs form an alliance, then it will act as the key opposition in the parliament and one of them will be the opposition leader.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, independent MP from the Faridpur-3 constituency AK Azad said there have been talks among the independent MPs regarding taking the role of the opposition in the parliament.

However, nothing has been finalised as yet. It depends on the parliament leader and the speaker. They will come to a decision very soon.

Prothom Alo spoke to more four independent MPs. They said nobody discussed the matter with them.

Independent MP from the Dhaka-18 Md Khosru Chowdhury told Prothom Alo last night that he hadn’t discussed anything regarding forming the opposition party in the parliament with any other independent candidates.

He said, “I belong to Awami League. I have no intention to join the opposition. I will join them (opposition alliance) only if the party leader (prime minister Sheikh Hasina) tells me.”

Another independent MP Tahmina Begum from the Madaripur-3 constituency reiterated Khosru Chowdhury.

There is no provision in the laws of the country or in the rules of procedures of the parliament regarding how many seats are required to be the opposition in the parliament. However, there are specific procedures to choose the opposition leader.

According to the rule of procedures of the national parliament, “Leader of the Opposition means the leader of the party or association, as the case may be, comprising the highest number of Members of Parliament opposed to the Government Party in Parliament, at the discretion of the Speaker.”

Independent MP from the Faridpur-4 constituency Mojibur Rahman Chowdhury alias Nixon Chowdhury told the newspersons before taking oath that they (independent MPs) will discuss forming an opposition party. He also said that they would form an alliance.

The Jatiya Party has got only 11 seats in the 12th national election, which is much lower than the number of independent MPs in the parliament. The party has the chance to be the opposition with the support of the independent MPs. The Jatiya Party will be the opposition in the parliament if the independent candidates don’t form a separate alliance.

Syed Ekramuzzan won the polls as an independent candidate from the Brahmanbaria-1 constituency after leaving BNP. He said he hadn’t spoken to anybody regarding forming the opposition party. He said time would determine the role of independent MPs in the parliament.

Expelled JaPa leader Siddiqul Alam won the polls from the Nilphamari-4 constituency independently. Speaking to Prothom Alo on Friday, he said he wanted to be with the government. He hasn’t spoken to anybody regarding forming an alliance or the opposition party in the parliament either.