National Parliament Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad made a candid remark from the chair on Monday, saying that despite four decades in parliament — including long years in the opposition — he never received so much as a penny for his constituents.
The Speaker’s comment came after LGRD Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced, in a statement under Rule 300, an allocation of nearly Tk20 crore for the constituencies of opposition members.
“I too have spent 40 years in this parliament. I was also a member of the opposition. I never received a single penny,” the speaker said. “I was arrested five times and went to jail. That is all I received. There was no other gain.”
The Speaker went on to commend the opposition leader for his contribution to the budget discussion, saying he had spoken for an hour on various national problems and shed light on budgetary matters.
“I extend my sincere thanks to the honourable opposition leader,” he said.
Speaker Hafiz Uddin also noted that the opposition leader had raised the problems of Bhola in his address — issues the Speaker himself is unable to voice from the chair, as parliamentary convention bars the presiding officer from advocating for their own constituency.
“Because I am sitting in this chair, I cannot raise the problems of Bhola — my birthplace, my constituency. He has kindly raised those in his address to the nation,” he said.
The Speaker expressed hope that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury would “do justice” to the concerns raised by the opposition leader.
