Law Affairs Adviser Asif Nazrul emphasized the importance of free, fair and inclusive elections to bring genuine representatives to the national parliament.
He made the comment at a workshop titled "e-Parliament Feasibility Study" on Thursday.
The workshop was jointly organized by the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat (BPS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at a hotel in Dhaka, with support from the Embassy of Switzerland.
While delivering the speech as the chief guest, Adviser Asif Nazrul said the following: “For a parliament to truly represent the people, it must be transparent, participatory and accountable. The e-parliament initiative offers a historic opportunity to rebuild public trust and restore parliamentary oversight—values that have long been missing from our political culture. But for this to succeed, we must also ensure free, fair and inclusive elections that bring genuine representatives to the house.”
The workshop emphasized the need for digital transformation to ensure a more inclusive, transparent and citizen-responsive parliament in Bangladesh.
As part of UNDP’s Strengthening Institutions, Policies and Services (SIPS) project, the initiative aligns with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, and SDG 5: Gender Equality.
Stefan Liller, UNDP resident representative in Bangladesh, highlighted the initiative’s purpose: “Technology can expand access, reduce time and cost, and enable real-time policy analysis. But the ultimate goal is a more accountable, participatory and responsive institution.”
“UNDP is proud to continue its work with the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat as a partner, a knowledge broker and a long-term ally in strengthening democratic governance,” he added.
Corinne H Pignani, Chargée d’affaires a.i , Embassy of Switzerland, also joined as a special guest and said: “The best way to serve citizens is to enable citizen-centric management of parliamentary affairs.”
Md Mizanur Rahman, secretary of the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat, gave the welcome remarks.
Other notable speakers included AKM Benjamin Riazi, additional secretary at the BPS, and Anowarul Haq, assistant resident representative of UNDP Bangladesh.
Virtual presentations were delivered by Agata Walczak, democratic institutions and processes specialist at the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP, and Avinash Bikha, parliamentary digital transformation specialist at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), who shared global best practices from countries such as Armenia, Bhutan and Serbia—highlighting the impact of digital tools on parliamentary transparency and public engagement.
The event brought together over 80 participants, including officials from all wings of the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat, representatives from relevant government departments, development partners and UNDP experts. Through collaborative group work and stakeholder dialogue, the workshop focused on identifying the specific e-service needs of members of parliament and secretariat staff, evaluating existing ICT infrastructure and capacity, and outlining a roadmap towards establishing a comprehensive e-parliament system.
