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Inefficient committees, quorum crisis cripple JS

Reports TIB on last year's parliament

SHAKHAWAT LITON
Quorum crisis and poor performance of parliamentary standing committees are the two major factors that hamstrung the Jatiya Sangsad last year, observed a Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) report.
According to it, "Of a total expenditure of Tk 22.11 crore to run the
four sessions of the House last year, more than Tk 5 crore has been wasted due to frequent quorum crises alone."
On performance of the JS bodies the report titled ParliamentWatch said, "Most of the parliamentary standing committees could not play an effective role in investigating corruption and irregularities at different organisations under the
ministries concerned."
Inadequate participation of the main opposition lawmakers and the government's reluctance to accept opposition lawmakers' amendment proposals to bills also contributed a lot to the inefficacy of the House, added the report analysing the four sessions of the eighth parliament last year.
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It also pointed out that the ruling coalition has failed to nominate a deputy leader of the House since its inauguration in October 2001.
The ParliamentWatch prepared on the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th
sessions of parliament held in last year is likely to be released on March 1, a TIB source said.
QUORUM CRISIS
The four sessions of parliament last year witnessed severe quorum (presence of at least 60 lawmakers in the House) crisis almost every day. Of the total 43 working days of the House in 2004, only three began on time.
The report said, in the 11th session, which had 43 working days, a total of 30 hours and 51 minutes or Tk 2.77 crore was wasted due to quorum crises, as Tk 15,000 is spent a minute to run the House.
Tk 1.73 crore or 19 hours and 15 minutes was squandered on quorum crisis in the 12th session comprising 25 working days.
The crisis ate away Tk 13.95 lakh or 1 hour and 33 minutes in the 13th session having only four working days and Tk 36.30 lakh or 4 hours and 2 minutes in the
14th session that had 11 working days.
The TIB recommended initiating certain steps to end quorum crisis including forming a parliamentary body to monitor attendance of lawmakers, regular presence of the prime minister and introducing award for the highest attendance in the House.
INEFFECTIVE JS BODIES
Quoting the rules of procedure of the JS, the TIB report said, despite an
obligation to sit at least once in a month, most of the parliamentary standing committees did not sit regularly from January to August 2004.
During that period, only the standing committee on law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministry held 10 meetings. Eight standing committees did not hold a single meeting, while six others sat only once.
Analysing the activities of the committees, the TIB said, "Most of the committees could not play an effective role in detecting corruption and irregularities in the organisations under the ministries concerned."
To strengthen the committee system, the TIB recommended appointing heads of the parliamentary bodies from among the opposition lawmakers. It also suggested amending the rules to ensure that the parliamentary bodies sit twice a month.
ABSENCE OF OPPOSITIONS
Out of the total 83 working days last year, lawmakers of the main opposition Awami League were absent on 47 days, while Jatiya Party (JP-Ershad) deputies boycotted six working days.
The House last year witnessed a total of 21 walkouts by opposition parties. Of those, AL walked out 13 times and JP, the second largest opposition, staged two walkouts.
Besides, the lone lawmaker of Krishak Sramik Janata League, Abdul Kader Siddiqui, Bikalpa Dhara lawmaker Mahi B Chowdhury and independent lawmaker MM Shahin staged walkouts several times.
INDIFFERENCE TO OPPOSITION The House did not hold any discussion on several hundreds of adjournment motions made by the opposition members.
The opposition deputies submitted 77 adjournment motions in the 11th session, 131 in the 12th, 167 in the 13th and 121 in the 14th session demanding discussions on a range of issues. The issues include the August 21 grenade attack on an AL rally, law and order downslide, 'crossfire' deaths and price hike of essentials.
But the speaker did not accept a single adjournment motion.
The House passed at least 30 bills last year, with the government accepting not a single amendment proposal from the opposition bench. All such proposals were rejected by voice vote, the TIB report said.