The main opposition BNP’s plan to join the upcoming budget session of parliament is likely to be its last spell of attendance as the current parliament will expire on October 25.
If the party agrees to hold a dialogue on poll-time administration in the House, the opposition may continue to attend sittings after the budget session starting June 3, party insiders said.
BNP lawmakers must join the House by mid-June as they can skip at best six more working days of the budget session. Otherwise they will lose their memberships for boycotting parliament sessions for 90 consecutive days.
Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque Wednesday had told the Dhaka Tribune that he would talk to party chief Khaleda Zia in a day or two to decide when they could join parliament.
The main opposition has already decided to join the budget session, party insiders said.
Forty-one opposition MPs – 38 from the BNP, two from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and one from Bangladesh Jatiya Party – have been absent from the House for 83 consecutive days, alleging “hostile” attitude of the treasury bench.
BNP lawmakers Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, who is now in jail facing war crimes charges, and Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad, who is very ill, are out of the obligation to join parliament for now.
A BNP MP said: “We will join parliament only to save our memberships. Otherwise I do not see any possibility of returning to the House after the budget session.”
The party will then prefer the street to parliament unless the government and the opposition come to an agreement on holding the next elections under an interim administration, he said.
Parliament officials said the current parliament is likely to have two more regular sessions.
Records show that Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia has attended only eight of the 370 working days during the 17 sessions of the current parliament. Other BNP MPs attended the House on only 52 days, making a history of parliament boycott.
While in the opposition during the BNP-led fifth parliament, the Awami League skipped 135 of the 400 sittings.
In the seventh parliament, the BNP was absent from Jatiya Sangsad sessions for 163 of 382 working days.
In the eighth parliament, the then main opposition, Awami League, stayed away from the House for 223 out of 373 working days.
The BNP has so far boycotted sittings of the current parliament for 318 working days.
