‘BNP’ mentioned 7,000 times in Parliament even as it sits out of it

The BNP has been mentioned in the 10th Parliament for 7,000 times, though it has no place for the party in it after its boycott of the last general election.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 25 Oct 2015, 03:14 PM
Updated : 27 Oct 2015, 03:02 PM

It was mentioned only in criticisms, according to Transparency International, Bangladesh’s (TIB’s)

Parliament Watch report on the second to sixth sessions of the current Parliament.

In the report released on Sunday, TIB said the BNP was criticised 7,268 times in Parliament in past one year.

TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman told a media call on the release of the report that the current Parliament “has become a world of the ruling party’s exclusive domination”.

“It has become an institutional forum to defeat the political opponent outside Parliament,” he said.

“On the other hand, the so-called opposition’s culture of kowtowing to government has become acute,” he added.

Besides criticising BNP, the MPs have lauded their own parties and the government 7,500 times, the TIB report says.

The TIB found the then opposition Awami League had been criticised 491 times during BNP’s tenure in the 8th Parliament.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on her last day in Parliament on June 29, 2013.

The 9th Parliament, with BNP as the opposition, heard the party’s criticism by the then ruling Awami League for 804 times.

In the second to sixth session of the 9th Parliament, the government had been praised 599 times, and 626 times in the previous Parliament.

The 10th Parliament was formed after the Jan 5, 2014 election boycotted by the BNP. The TIB is among the critics of that election.

Jatiya Party is the main opposition in Parliament now.

TIB’s Iftekharuzzaman said the 10th Parliament spent 6 percent of its total work days to make laws. 

Only 28 of the 350 lawmakers took part in discussions to make the laws.

According to the TIB’s Parliament Watch report, 48 hours and 41 minutes were wasted in the current Parliament with an average of 26 minutes daily, leading to an estimated loss of over Tk 324 million.

TIB graph on comparison of activities of three parliaments.

TIB Research and Policy Department Programme Manager Juliet Rossette, and deputy programme managers Fatema Afroze and Morsheda Akter presented the summary of the report at the media call.

As per the report, the Leader of Parliament, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, attended 83 percent of the working days.

Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Raushon Ershad, was present in 57 percent working days.

Hasina also attended more proceedings in Parliament than her opponents did in the previous parliaments.

TIB said the 10th Parliament, however, saw a positive trend in overcoming quorum crisis, but it still lacked expected activities.

“The expected role of the main opposition to ensure government’s accountability is missing,” the report observed.

It said the speaker’s strong role in stopping non-parliamentary behaviour and language was missing.

It made 12 recommendations for a more effective Parliament.