Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury Wednesday said she had not made the comment which Awami League MP Golam Maula Rony had attributed to her at a press conference on Tuesday following his meeting with her.
After the meeting with the speaker, Rony had told reporters: “The speaker has told me that the [Jatiya] Sangsad is not embarrassed by my activities.” The statement sparked criticism in the social media and questioned Shirin’s impartial role.
“I did not make any comment like Sangsad was not embarrassed by his activities. The speaker is not supposed to get involved with every issue and this is not a necessity,” Shirin told the Dhaka Tribune.
“He [Rony] had come to me to discuss the ways of his resignation,” she said.
At Tuesday’s press conference,Rony also said the speaker had called in the ruling party whips as he had gone to discuss the resignation procedure.
But the speaker Wednesday said: “Actually, Whip Sagufta Yasmin had been at my office before he came. Whip Mr ASM Feroz joined us later knowing that Mr Rony was here.”
According to the Rules of Procedure, Rony’s legal battle with industrialist Salman F Rahman and the authorities of the Independent TV would be settled through legal ways, she said.
Golam Maula Rony, the Awami League MP from Patuakhali 3 constituency, on Saturday physically assaulted a reporter and a camera person who tried to record a handover of bribe allegedly meant for Rony.
The lawmaker said he had assaulted the journalists as they “encroached” upon his private property and violated his privacy in the name of journalism. He also claimed that he had not kicked the journalists as seen in the TV footage.