Bangladesh News

The ruling BNP and the opposition Awami League (AL) lawmakers were involved in a heated debate in parliament yesterday over the proposed electoral reforms and the open-pit coal mining agreement signed with the Asia Energy.
The opposition members criticised Prime Minister Khaleda Zia for her recent speech where she said the election will be held as per the constitution and without any reforms.

They alleged that she has ruined the possibility of a dialogue to break the current political impasse.

But the ruling party lawmakers said what the prime minister had said in her speech was right and she did not rule out the chance of a dialogue.

They said political background of a caretaker government chief should not be a bar to performance of his duties.

Senior AL leader Abdur Razzak raised the issue as Deputy Speaker Akhter Hamid Siddique took the chair after Maghrib prayer.

Referring to Khaleda’s recent speech, Razzak said people will not accept any election without reforms.

“In her recent speeches, Khaleda Zia has repeatedly rejected the idea of holding talks,” he said adding that the ruling BNP-Jamaat has been out to rig the polls.

Protesting the opposition lawmaker’s comments, Communications Minister Nazmul Huda said the prime minister’s speech was made in reference to the constitutional provisions and in no way did she eliminate the potential for a dialogue.

“Despite their political backgrounds, the chief adviser of the caretaker government and the CEC should not have difficulty discharging their responsibilities properly,” Huda added.

He observed that the argument that a person could be biased for having past involvement in politics cannot be acceptable.

Rejecting the minister’s view, AL lawmaker Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim said, “Justice KM Hasan was an international affairs secretary of

the BNP and the government had extended the age limit for judges just to ensure that he becomes the chief of the next caretaker government.”

He alleged that the CEC has prepared a fake voter list violating the High Court directives and for that, at least Tk 62 crore from the public exchequer has gone down the drain.

Abdul Quader Siddique, president of Krishak Sramik Janata League, blasted the government for the police atrocities on opposition leaders and workers during the recent hartal and siege programmes.

Standing on a point of order, AL lawmaker ASHK Sadeque triggered yet another unscheduled debate. He said the previous BNP government had signed an agreement for open pit coalmining in 1994 and in 1998, they had assigned Phulbari coalmine to the Asia Energy in line with the previous agreement.

He asked the former energy minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain to say sorry for his previous statement in parliament.

In reply, Mosharraf said the BNP government had signed an agreement for a pre-feasibility study while the previous AL government had entered into an agreement with the Asia Energy for exploration.

None of the governments has signed any contract for mining, he noted.