Staff Reporter
Speaker Abdul Hamid has decided to make a new sitting arrangement for the Members in the House after his futile effort to resolve the row over the seating plan made by former speaker Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar.
The Speaker held a meeting with treasury and opposition benches over the rearrangement of the House’s seating order yesterday afternoon that ended inconclusively.
Representatives from both ruling and opposition parties, including ruling party Chief Whip Abdus Shahid and opposition Chief Whip Joynal Abedin Faruk, attended the meeting.
“Both the treasury and opposition benches were holding firm to their opposing stances on front-bench seats for the opposition,” the Speaker told the press following the meeting.
“So, I have to make an arrangement in the middle. The MPs will sit as per the new seating arrangement tomorrow (Wednesday),” he added.
Meanwhile, the BNP Parliamentary Party (BNPPP) has turned down the seating plan proposed by Speaker Hamid.
Joynal Abedin Faruk left the meeting on the matter on note of dissent as the Speaker, as per demand of the ruling party, offered them three seats in the front row and four in the second.
Former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar allocated 10 seats in the front row for the opposition rejecting the ruling party chief whip’s decision at the first session of the 9th parliament.
Sircar had also given 12 seats of the second row to the opposition.
After the meeting Chief Whip Abdus Shahid, “We have told the speaker that the BNP should get three out of the total 29 seats on the front bench.”
“They have only a tenth, or 30 out of the total 300, seats in the House.”
“In line with previous parliamentary practice, they should get just one-tenth of the seats in the front row to the left of the speaker,” argued Shahid.
Opposition chief whip Faruk said, “I could not agree with Abdus Shahid in the meeting.”
“I urged them not to change the seating arrangement with a view to making parliament effective as they wanted.”
“They (Awami League) want to put more ministers and senior ruling party MPs on the left side, replacing the opposition,” said Faruk.
“The rearrangement proposal is not a sign of making parliament effective,” he added.
Faruk referred to Rule 7 of the Rules of Procedure, saying the speaker was the proper authority to plan the seating order.
He also said there was no instance in the world that ruling party MPs take seats to the left of the speaker.
“I will talk to party high-ups and let the speaker know our decision,” said the chief whip of the main opposition party BNP.
Two-time speaker Abdul Hamid criticised outgoing speaker Sircar for his unilateral decision on seating arrangements.
“I made the seating plan for the previous parliament by holding talks with members of the ruling and the treasury bench.
“But Jamiruddin Sircar did not do the same,” said Hamid.
Courtesy: nation.ittefaq.com
