The 14th session of Parliament begins today with the opposition parties continuing their boycott.
The opposition chief whip Zainul Abdin Farroque on Monday confirmed that the opposition parties would continue with their boycott.
Opposition MPs attended Parliament on March 18, after a 77-day boycott of Parliament.
The leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia attended Parliament on March 20 and delivered a 117-minute speech —the longest by a Member of Parliament in its history.
The opposition’s decision would keep Mahmudul Hasan, the newly elected BNP MP, from Tangail-5 constituency out of the House. He took oath on August 8.
The session would witness the introduction of a new gallery for children to give them the opportunity to witness the proceedings of Parliament.
School students, aged six and older, would be able to witness the proceedings of the House sitting in the glass-protected gallery.
But they will miss the opposition which could make parliamentary debates meaningful.
‘This is session would be somewhat different with the gallery for the children as we need to start the culture of democracy from childhood,’ said the speaker.
Even amid continued boycott of the House by the opposition MPs, the session is expected to witness a heated debate over a High Court verdict according to which the speaker’s ruling on a judge ‘have got no legal effect and they are non est [baseless] in the eyes of the law.’
Members of Parliament, belonging to the Awami League-led ruling coalition said that they would on the very first day raise the issue as it involved parliament’s sovereignty enshrined in the Constitution.
Mujibul Haque, MP, of Jatiya Party a partner of the ruling coalition already submitted a notice seeking a discussion on the high court verdict on the speaker’s ruling.
Speaker Abdul Hamid said that the session would be short as it was convened ‘mainly to meet a constitutional obligation.’
The Constitution does not allow a gap of more than 60 days between two sessions of Parliament. And the previous session ended on July 8.
The Business Advisory Committee, headed by the speaker, would determine how long Parliament would remain in session.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is a member of the Business Advisory Committee.
Though the Members of Parliament are demanding a discussion on the court verdict, it is not clear whether the speaker would allow it after the government appealed against the verdict on Monday.
Several senior MPs met the speaker on Sunday and Monday with the request to allow the discussion.
The Rules of Procedure discourages discussion on matters pending before a court.
The session is set to begin at 5.15 PM everyday, except on the weekend and public holidays.
The Business Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet at 4 PM today decide how long the session would continue.
The session is likely to continue for two weeks.
Courtesy of New Age
