Bangladesh News

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) yesterday came up with a set of recommendations including the ones for formulating a code of conduct for lawmakers and measures to strengthen committee system to make parliament effective.

A number of lawmakers and legal experts agreed with the TIB recommendations, saying there is no alternative to empowering the committees to ensure parliamentary supervision on the executive and make the Jatiya Sangsad functional.

In the report titled ‘Parliament Watch 2009,’ the TIB made recommendations for introducing mid-term polls and re-call system, appointment of ombudsman and amendment of article 70 of the constitution for allowing lawmakers to play their due role.

The TIB has been working as a catalyst for social movement against corruption for over a decade in Bangladesh.

It also pressed for amending the constitution to re-fix the maximum duration of absence from 90 consecutive days to 30 days for cancellation of membership in parliament, saying the opposition parties must join the House shunning the culture of boycotting parliament.

Participating in a discussion on the report at Brac Centre Inn, Awami League lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhury, however, suggested abolishing the provision of vacating the seat for being absent in the House.

The TIB said regular presence of the leader of the House and opposition leader in parliament must be ensured with introduction of a provision for not giving a lawmaker remuneration if he or she remains absent entirely from a parliament session.

It also asked for making public wealth statements of ministers and lawmakers after scrutiny to ensure transparency of the government.

It suggested arranging offices for MPs in their constituencies and a question-answer session for them with people’s participation after a certain period.

Like the previous eighth parliament, the ninth parliament also faces quorum crisis on almost every working day. In its report, the TIB calculated that about Tk 5.41 crore got wasted due to the quorum crisis in the inaugural session of the new parliament. It said every sitting of the first session was delayed by 40 minutes on an average.

“About 25 hours and 48 minutes had been wasted because of quorum crisis while around Tk 35,000 was spent for every minute,” the TIB findings said. The House cannot begin its proceedings without a quorum of 60 lawmakers.

Terming quorum crisis unwarranted, Deputy Speaker Shawkat Ali said, “Quorum crisis occurred as the lawmakers were not present in the House in time. We hope to overcome it.”

On the time of sittings, the TIB said the House should sit in the morning and extend both the duration and number of sittings in a year with a calendar for parliament.

Commenting on the recommendation, the deputy speaker said he completely agrees with the TIB suggestions.

The TIB revealed a few drawbacks of the inaugural session like the lawmakers’ tendency to praise party’s top leader, lack of tolerance for political opponents, discussion on irrelevant issues, absence of opposition lawmakers and limited flow of information on parliamentary proceedings.

Formation of all parliamentary committees in the first session, making opposition lawmakers chiefs of some committees, neutral role of the speaker in giving floor to lawmakers are among the positive sides of the inaugural session, the TIB report said.

It suggested increasing female lawmakers’ participation in the committees and the number of reserved seats for women elected directly.

CODE OF CONDUCT

The TIB report said although the country does not have any code of conduct for lawmakers, no initiative was taken in the ninth parliament to formulate it.

Even, there is no parliamentary ethics committee to monitor conduct of the MPs whereas many countries have both code of conduct for lawmakers and ethics committee, it said.

Taking part in the discussion titled ‘Things to do to increase effectiveness of the Jatiya Sangsad’, lawmakers said code of conduct for lawmakers is a must to improve the culture of the House in Bangladesh.

“The House must take a tough stance on misconduct of a lawmaker,” said Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) lawmaker Moinuddin Khan Badal, also a member of the all-party parliamentary probe body investigating corruption allegations against former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar and others.

AL lawmaker and former deputy speaker Prof Ali Ashraf said the lawmakers must know parliamentary norms and procedure.

STRENGTHENING OF COMMITTEE SYSTEM

The TIB proposed making opposition lawmakers chiefs of some important parliamentary bodies for strengthening the committee system.

It said each ministry must inform in writing about the status of implementation of the committees’ recommendations every three months.

The TIB opposed appointing ministers as committee members saying section 188(2) of the rules of procedure prohibits them from becoming members of the committees on ministries.

On the recommendation, the deputy speaker said the section bars lawmakers from becoming a member of a committee if they have personal interests there.

“But the ministers do not have such personal interests, rather they care about the interests of their ministries,” Shawkat Ali said.

Former chief election commissioner Justice Abdur Rouf said the committee system will not be able to play its due role if new measures are not taken.

“If we want to make parliament effective, the committee system must be strengthened,” he said, adding that committees do 96 percent parliamentary tasks in the UK.

The lawmakers however opposed giving executive authority to parliamentary bodies.

“The committees should not be given executive authority. They will make recommendations. The ministries concerned will implement those and inform the committees,” said AL lawmaker Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, also chief of the parliamentary standing committee on public undertakings.

TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman moderated the discussion. TIB Trustee Prof Muzaffer Ahmad and Secretary General Prof Abdullah Abu Sayeed were present.