The
Cabinet meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, approved the
draft for placing it in Parliament for its passage as a law.
Cabinet
Secretary Mohammed Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan briefed journalists about the
Cabinet decision.
Ordinances issued during the state of emergency slapped
by military rulers after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family
members were assassinated in 1975, and those promulgated by HM Ershad were
rendered ineffective by the High Court orders that repealed the Fifth and
Seventh constitutional amendments.
President Zillur Rahman issued two
ordinances for making the ordinances, promulgated in two phases from Aug 20,
1975 to Apr 9, 1977 and from Mar 24, 1982 to Nov 10, 1986, effective.
The
proposed legislations are titled: "The Special Law-2013 for effectiveness of
some ordinances promulgated during Aug 20, 1975 and Apr 9, 1979", and “The
Special Law for effectiveness of some ordinances promulgated during Mar 24, 1982
to Nov 10, 1986".
Of the ordinances, 91 ordinances were promulgated
during period from Aug 20, 1975 to Apr 9, 1979 and 81 ordinances from Mar 24,
1982 to Nov 10, 1986 under martial law.
The Constitution entitles an
ordinance to be passed into a law at the immediate parliament
session.
Law Minister Shafique Ahmed tabled the two ordinances as the
parliament session began on Jan 27.
There are 172 ordinances, and if the
ordinances that have been amended are to be counted, the number would be more
than 550.
As the task of examining such a large number of ordinances in
30 days is time-consuming, the government decided to produce the President’s
ordinances as a bill in the Parliament.
Secretary Bhuiyan said the
meeting discussed 133 ordinances during the meeting.
“The President’s
ordinances had been issued for maintaining continuity of state activities from
government to government.”
“Following Cabinet’s approval, now the
ordinances will be produced as bill in Parliament. Once passed as law, it will
ensure continuity of governmental activities.”
According to Bhuiyan, the
High Court, while declaring those amendments illegal, asked the government to
decide by June 30 this year whether those needed to remain in effect to ensure
legal support.
The bill will be discussed in Parliament by Feb
26.
“It will act as an umbrella law. The Cabinet approved it on principle
after those were scrutinised.”
Ministries will screen relevant ordinances
to select which ones are required to be passed into law.
The Cabinet in
its meeting also approved ‘Voter list (Amendment) Act-2013’.
The
amendment has been proposed for defining the names of voters according to their
birth certificates or academic certificates.
