The Parliament on Sunday witnessed a rare voice vote in which a bill was passed by only one vote amid stiff opposition from all opposition lawmakers.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, who was chairing the sitting, however ruled that the ruling party had won.
According to the parliamentary rules, the fate of all proposals (with some exceptions) are decided by voice vote. The chair asks the lawmakers to say “yes” if they support a proposal or say “no” if they want to oppose.
On the basis of the vote the chair rules whether the proposal is adopted or rejected.
The unusual voice vote took place during the passage of the Bank-Company (amendment) Bill-2013.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury proceeded with the bill asking the lawmakers to say “yes” or “no” for or against the bill.
In line with the announcement of the chair, the treasury bench MPs usually would have said “yes” in chorus and the BNP lawmakers “no”.
But only Chief Whip Abdus Shahid said “yes” while the rest of the MPs of his party remained silent, for some unknown reason while about 200 ruling alliance MPs were present in the House at that moment.
Almost all of the 15 opposition MPs present in the House shouted “no” at the top of their voice.
The Speaker then announced with a laugh that the ruling party had won and the bill was adopted.
In the next stage, the speaker gave floor to the opposition MPs to speak on their amendment proposals on the bill.
Jafrul Islam Chowdhury, a BNP lawmaker, took the floor and protested the passage of the bill: “Only one member said “yes” during the voice vote and we all said “no” but you gave your ruling in favour of one; this is not fair.”
The speaker made no further comment on the issue.
Parliamentary rules authorise the speaker to give verdict on the voice votes. The judgments always go in favour of the ruling party, as the number of the treasury bench lawmakers is always higher than the opposition.