The controversial 10th Jatiya Sangsad began its maiden session on Wednesday with the party in the opposition sharing power in the government and major political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies, staying outside the house.
The first session of the 10th parliament, elected through national elections marked by low voter turnout, ballot box stuffing and more than a half of the total seats being elected unopposed amid a boycott by most of the parties, began at 6:08pm with no representation of the BNP for the first time since 1990.
The proceedings, which the ninth parliament deputy speaker Shawkat Ali presided over, began with the election of Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury as the speaker and Fazle Rabbi as the deputy speaker of the 10th parliament. They were elected unopposed.
The BNP at a press conference at the party’s central office at Naya Paltan, meanwhile, said that there was no credit in forming the parliament through ‘farcical elections by killing democracy.’ The party termed the 10th parliament a parliament of ‘jokers.’
The LGRD and cooperatives minister, Syed Ashraful Islam, also the Awami League’s general secretary, proposed Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury’s nomination for the speaker and the commerce minister, Tofail Ahmed, proposed the name of Fazle Rabbi Mia as the deputy speaker. Both the proposals were passed in voice vote.
The session had been adjourned for 20 minutes for the swearing in of the speaker and the deputy speaker. The president, Abdul Hamid, administered the oath in his office in the parliament house.
Taking seat as speaker, Shirin Sharmin dedicated her retaining the position as a victory of all women in Bangladesh. She said that people’s expectations were making parliament functioning and it should act accordingly.
The leader of the opposition in the parliament, Rawshan Ershad, the chief whip, ASM Feroz, the Workers Party of Bangladesh president, Rashed Khan Menon, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal lawmaker Main Uddin Khan Badal, Awami League presidium members Mohammad Nasim and Abdul Latif Siddiqui and the Jatiya Party’s secretary general ABM Ruhul Amin Howleder spoke facilitating the speaker.
The house also nominated a panel of chairs composed of Abdul Kalam Azad, HN Ashikur Rahman, Sahara Khatun, Nurul Islam Sujan and AKM Maidul Islam.
A condolence motion was also adopted paying tribute to 26 former lawmakers and eminent personalities at home and abroad.
The president then delivered a speech for 40 minutes requesting the political parties that had boycotted the national elections to help build a consensus by shunning the path of confrontation and anarchy and to enhance the image of Bangladesh by parting ways with communal and terrorist organisations. After the president’s speech, the house was adjourned till February 4.
The ministers from the Jatiya Party (Ershad), the Jatiya Party (Manju), the Workers Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal sat in benches to the speaker’s left.
The BNP held protests and black flag rallies across the country against Wednesday’s parliament session, resulting in clashes in some places.
In parliamentary democracy, the instance of party in opposition sharing power in government happened in Pakistan.
In 2008, the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League joined hands to counter General Parvez Musharraf, who in 1999 overthrew the Nawaz Sharif government and sent him to exile.
A total of 297 lawmakers have been elected in the national polls, which took place on January 5, amid a boycott by the BNP-led alliance and 153 of them were elected unopposed.
The Awami League has 231 seats while the Jatiya Party has 34. The Workers Party of Bangladesh and the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal won 6 and 5 seats respectively. The Tariqat Federation and the Jatiya Party (Manju) got 2 seats each while the Bangladesh Nationalist Front has 1 seat. There are 16 independent members in the house.
The 10th parliament is the third to have been elected amid election boycott by major political parties. In 1988, three major political alliances led by the Awami League, the BNP and left parties boycotted the parliamentary polls; major political parties but the BNP boycotted the February 15, 1996 polls.
In the first session, Rawshan said that many were asking how the Jatiya Party would act in the opposition despite sharing power in the government. ‘It is a new concept. It comes the way the concept of the caretaker government came into being. We are the opposition and will discharge duties of the opposition and there will be no lack of sincerity,’ she said.
Main Uddin Khan Badal said, ‘We should keep in mind the context in which the elections were held. The armed forces and the administration upheld the flag of democracy.’
Abdul Latif Siddiqui said that peace could not be established without power and Sheikh Hasina had ensured peace by dealing with anarchy with a heavy hand.
He also said that the holding of the polls later showed that the Awami League had friends abroad but the BNP had foreign lords and boycotted the polls at their instruction.
The opposition Jatiya Party has replaced the BNP in the parliament as the main opposition after a flip-flop by the party chief, HM Ershad, in contesting the national polls and it was given six seats on the front row.
