Quorum crisis in the ninth parliament caused the country a waste of more than Tk104 crore, according to Transparency International Bangladesh – over 222 hours were wasted. In the eighth parliament during 2001-2006, when the BNP-led four-party alliance was in power, 227 hours were wasted. TIB, in its observation, said as there was no opposition party in a “real sense” in the 10th Jatiya Sangsad, there was no opportunity for holding the government accountable.
According to TIB, people’s participation in the lawmaking process in the ninth parliament was not ensured. The number of businessmen-turned-MPs was increasing. In the ninth parliament, it was 57%, compared to the 17.5% of the first parliament. On the other hand, the number of lawyer-turned-MPs is decreasing. It was 14% during the last parliament. Although the budget session is the best opportunity for lawmakers to speak in the House, many MPs did not take part in the budget discussion during the last parliament.
On a positive note, TIB said the attendance of lawmakers in the ninth parliament rose to 63% from 55% in the previous one. The formation of all parliamentary committees in the first session is another positive side of the ninth Sangsad. But the culture of parliament boycotts and poor participation of female MPs in the lawmaking process are among its other negatives.
They suggested that the parliament could pass a law banning the boycott of the House. It also said the House can make rules against an MP being absent from more than 30 consecutive sittings. It also demanded that the Sangsad sit at least 130 days in a year. The figure was 84 days on average in the ninth parliament. Additionally, it recommended that every sitting continue for at least six hours, which was around three hours in the last parliament, including the 32 minutes wasted due to the quorum crisis.
This is a unique report to which the government can pay attention to. This time the TIB report has revealed that, among other things, performance of the 9th Parliament, in terms of participation of the opposition, lack of quorum, and time spent on the discussion and passage of a bill, putting them into monetary terms. The report has been critical of the performance of the opposition and the ruling party, simultaneously.
We are astonished that the MPs and even the law minister started shooting down TIB for giving data which is open, and the source of which is the parliament secretariat itself. TIB simply made it public knowledge.
The ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance alleged that TIB and Shushashoner Janney Nagorik (Shujan) were trying to make the country unstable. Casting doubts on the motives of the two organisations, the government observed that they are echoing what Khaleda Zia and her party had said.
In his reaction, Law Minister Anisul Huq told reporters that the TIB report was “biased and unexpected,” whereas the reports are based on facts and the data collected from the parliament secretariat.
Health Minister Mohammad Nasim said TIB and Shujan had been showing signs of their “existence,” and were trying to incite an unstable situation in the country. “TIB and Shujan want to bring unconstitutional forces to state power; which is why they are demanding a mid-term election.” Nasim demanded that the government trace the sources of income and power for these organisations. Meanwhile, TIB claimed that it never received any funds or spent them without approval from the government.
Some senior lawmakers in the parliament also blasted TIB for its recent study. Taking part in an unscheduled discussion in the House, they also questioned whether TIB had any right to talk about parliament and the constitution.
Such condemnatory reaction from some of the members of the parliament on the recently published report does not surprise us at all. In fact, it has been the lot of the corruption watchdogs during every regime to abrade by the ruling party for publishing reports that did not meet their approval. The BNP did the same while it was in power and it is now the AL’s turn.
We wonder what rationale the AL has to have caused the quorum crisis in spite of having more than a two-thirds majority.
Stating that the parliament is presently bereft of an opposition in the real sense, TIB has only stated the obvious and has indeed reflected the mind of the vast majority of the people of the country. It would be wise for the ruling echelon to absorb the underlying message of the report, instead of bashing the messenger.