Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has recently expressed annoyance at the poor attendance of the lawmakers and ministers in parliament.
She has also asked the whips to prepare a list of the lawmakers who are absent from the assembly and hand it over to her.
Unhappy with the MPs’ performance in the maiden session of the 10th legislature that started on January 29, the prime minister on March 20 summoned Atiur Rahman Atik and Shahiduzzaman Sarker and questioned why the MPs skipped the assembly.
In reply the whips told the Leader of the House that many MPs were in their constituencies due to the ongoing upazila polls. The duo assured Sheikh Hasina that they would go tough after the upazila elections on March 31.
“Give me a list of the MPs who skip the sittings. They must attend the parliament regularly,” Shahiduzzaman Sarker quoted Sheikh Hasina as saying.
He said they informed the prime minister that many of the MPs were busy campaigning in the upazila elections. “We have told the prime minister that we should be tougher after the upazila polls,” he said.
Atiur Rahman also admitted that the prime minister was angry with the absence of the MPs.
On March 20, at least four MPs skipped the House after submitting questions to the ministers. Again, Home Minister Mohammad Nasim did not attend the assembly, although he was supposed to answer to a private-member resolution on the health ministry.
There are cases that ministers scheduled to answer to the questions of the MPs skipped the sittings. Even the substitute ministers also remained absent from the proceedings.
The situation did not improve much even after 48 MPs elected from reserved seats for women joined the assembly on Sunday.
On March 25, the attendance of the MPs came down to less than 60 around 8:30 pm, prompting a parliament secretariat official to bring the matter to the notice of whip Shahiduzzaman Sarker.
Awami League lawmaker Abu Reza Muhammad Nezamuddin was about to leave the House, but Shahiduzzaman requested him to sit on the chair. At that time, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury and Textiles Minister Emaj Uddin Pramanik were on the front bench.
ASM Feroz and Shahiduzzaman then went to the lobbies and brought back the MPs gossiping at the Chamber and fulfilled the necessary quorum, 60 MPs.
The whips also asked the lawmakers not to leave the House further.
According to parliamentary practices, the whips who enjoy the status of state minister are in charge of ensuring attendance of the MPs and the ministers.
On March 24, 133 out of the total 345 MPs, including 40 female lawmakers, turned up at the House at 5:10 pm, but the attendance reduced to only 62 at 9:00 pm.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury and Telecommunications Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui were seen on the front bench until the end of the sitting at 9:30 pm.
In the last 26 days of the current session, many MPs, including front bench lawmakers, attended the House at the beginning, but left after signing the attendance sheet.
On March 2, Social Welfare Minister Mohsin Ali and Promod Mankin remained absent, although parliament was scheduled to see question-answer hour on the social welfare ministry. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed responded to the questions on the ministry.
Disaster Management Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya and Food Minister Quamrul Islam on March 11 skipped the House, although they were scheduled to answer to the questions of the MPs during the question-answer hour.
Tofail Ahmed answered to the questions on their behalf, saying that he could not answer to the questions of the MPs properly on the disaster management ministry.
