Dhaka, Feb 15 (bdnews24.com)—In a departure from recent events, an opposition MP on Monday praised speaker Abdul Hamid for trying to make parliament more lively by accommodating the opposition.
The comment of Z I M Mostofa Ali runs counter to the stance of his party, the main opposition BNP, which just a day before had questioned the neutrality of speaker.
The opposition staged two walkouts in the first and last hours of Monday's parliamentary proceedings, objecting to not being given the floor to speak on the government's move to change the name of Zia International Airport and against derogatory remarks by a ruling party MP against Gen Ziaur Rahman.
INSULTS, WALKOUTS
It was the third consecutive sitting, since BNP's return to parliament last week, in which MPs walked out on proceedings.
The opposition had returned to parliament on Feb 11 ending a 64-day boycott, but walked out towards the end of the session, protesting remarks by home minister Sahara Khatun against BNP founder and late president Gen Zia.
BNP walked out on Sunday too, just 30 minutes into proceedings, again protesting derogatory remarks by a ruling party MP about Gen Zia. The party at a press conference the same day raised question about the impartiality of Hamid for allowing "un-parliamentary remarks".
Opposition chief whip Zainul Abdin Farroque has said the fact that the speaker did not expunge such statements against the founder of the opposition party, delivered in two consecutive sittings of parliament, cast doubts on his partiality.
Another BNP MP Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anny in an unscheduled discussion also raised questions about the speaker's bias.
SPEAKER INSISTS HE'S NEUTRAL
But speaker Abdul Hamid on Monday insisted that he was 'neutral'.
He told reporters: "I try to conduct my job in parliament impartially in accordance with the rules of business. Even though I was elected MP as a party member, I have never attended any party programmes since I became speaker … I even quit my Kishoreganj district Awami League posts.
Urging both the ruling and opposition parties to be more tolerant, Hamid said, "Aggressive attitudes should be avoided."
PRAISE
Meanwhile Mostafa Ali, at the beginning of his speech on the president's parliamentary address, told the house Monday: "Honourable speaker, today, I think, you are trying to make parliament functional accommodating the opposition and the ruling party."
"(Ruling party MP) Jacob tried to hamper your effort of running parliament impartially by his attacking comments, but he failed to sour the environment," he said.
The speaker allowed Ali, an MP from Joypurhar, the floor after Abdullah Al Islam Jacob, who had expressed some strong sentiments against BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Jacob's words angered the BNP MPs who started shouting for the speaker to expunge the "objectionable" words.
The opposition MPs eventually calmed down as speaker Abdul Hamid said, "The unparliamentary words will automatically be expunged from the proceedings of the House".
Jacob started protesting Ali's comment and sought the floor for personal clarification, but Hamid denied him the mike. "I will give you floor later, not now", said Hamid.
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