Sharp differences have emerged between the government and opposition over President Mohammed Shahabuddin’s address and the election of the deputy speaker ahead of the first sitting of the 13th parliament.
The government says the president will deliver the customary speech in line with the constitution, while the opposition has indicated it may stage a walkout during the address.
The dispute surfaced on Wednesday when the parliamentary parties of the ruling BNP and the opposition held separate meetings at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, a day before the new parliament’s first session.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the government believes in running parliament according to constitutional provisions and confirmed that the president will address the opening session.
He also said that, under the July Charter, the proposal to form a Constitutional Reform Council must first be incorporated into the constitution.
Only after that step, he said, would members of parliament be sworn in as members of the reform council.
Salahuddin Ahmed also questioned the constitutional validity of administering an oath to lawmakers as members of the reform council before incorporating the provision into the constitution.
Opposition leaders, however, rejected the plan.
Speaking to reporters after their parliamentary party meeting, opposition deputy leader and Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Amir Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said the president, whom they described as “a beneficiary of authoritarian rule”, has no moral authority to address parliament.
He said opposition members would oppose the president’s speech during the opening session.
After the meetings, the two sides also held separate briefings for journalists.
Ruling party Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni and opposition leader Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman addressed reporters on behalf of their respective parties.
Nurul Islam Moni said the ruling party meeting did not discuss any specific names for the posts of speaker or deputy speaker.
He said ruling party lawmakers had authorised Leader of the House and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to decide on the nominations for the two positions.
The chief whip added that the opposition had been invited to propose a name for the deputy speaker’s post, but no response had yet been received.
He also said that 133 ordinances issued during the tenure of the interim government would be placed before parliament on the first day of the session on Thursday.
Opposition leader Shafiqur Rahman, however, said the opposition would not accept the deputy speaker’s post until the July Charter is fully implemented.
Accepting the position before implementing the charter, he said, would amount to accepting the ruling party’s “favour”.
“The opposition will not accept any favour from the government,” he said.
When asked directly about the president’s address, Shafiqur Rahman did not give a clear answer.
He said the opposition’s position would become clear if the president delivers his speech during the parliamentary session.
Election of the speaker
The election of the speaker and deputy speaker will be the first item on the agenda when the new parliament holds its opening sitting.
However, the ruling BNP did not finalise any names for the two posts during its parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting, chaired by leader of the House and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, was attended by senior lawmakers including Khondker Mosharraf Hossain, Abdul Moyeen Khan and Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, who delivered remarks during the session.
Participants said Tarique Rahman listened attentively to the remarks of Altaf Hossain Chowdhury during the meeting.
Ruling party lawmakers later authorised the prime minister to decide on the nominations for both the speaker and deputy speaker posts.
First session schedule
According to the Parliament Secretariat, the first day’s sitting will be followed by a two-day adjournment on Friday and Saturday.
Parliament will reconvene for a single day on Sunday before being adjourned again until 29 March.
From that date, lawmakers are expected to hold several days of discussions on the motion of thanks on the president’s address, alongside other parliamentary business.
