& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

BNP returns to JS soon

Responds to speaker's 'respectable seat order'

Staff Correspondent
The main opposition BNP may return to parliament today ending an absence of 17 consecutive workdays.
The decision to get back in tire House came yesterday at a two-hour meeting of the lawmakers from BNP and allies. It followed assurance from Speaker Abdul Hamid of "respectable seating arrangements in the House ".
BNP Chairperson and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Khaleda Zia presided over tire meeting that began at around 5:00pm at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
"We have decided to return to parliament very shortly as the speaker has assured us of respectable seating arrangements there," Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque told reporters after tire meeting.
Referring to die February 19 talks at
the speaker's office, he said, "The treasury bench chief whip has assured that we will be given chairs of four parliamentary standing committees in line with our recommendations.
"He also said the earlier inclusion of names as chiefs of two standing committeeswill be scrapped."
Farroque however did not specify when they will return to the legislature. "We will join the House proceedings in the current session. It might be as soon as tomorrow," he said.
However, talking to The Daily Star after the meeting, some of the BNP lawmakers said drey would join dre House today to protest the treasury bench's move to ratify ordinances promulgated by die immediate past caretaker government.
The special committee of Jatiya Sangsad has recommended that parliament ratify 54 out of 122 promulgated
during around two-year rule of the interim administration.
The BNP-led opposition lawmakers have submitted dozens of notices of resolutions for disapproval of die ordinances.
But they have already missed the opportunity to move their motions on three bills seeking ratification for as many ordinances as drey were not present yesterday.
If they go to parliament today they will be able to at least register their disapproval of the ordinances on the budgets under Fakhruddin Ahmed-led government as their resolutions concerned are set down in today's Orders of the Day.
The opposition lawmakers, who were present at the inauguration of the ninth parliament on January 25, began boycotting the proceedings on January 28 in protest at the seat plans rearranged by Speaker Hamid.
In the new layout, they including Oli Ahmed, lone MP from the Liberal Democratic Party, were allotted five seats in the front row and four in the second row.
Hamid's predecessor Jamiruddin Sircar, who was elected speaker in the previous parliament from BNP. gave the opposition members 10 seats in the first row and 12 in the next.
His decision annoyed the AL-led ruling alliance as some of their senior lawmakers and even ministers did not get seats in the first two rows oh the left of the speaker's podium.
Hie new speaker tried to resolve the matter through talks between chief whips of the treasury’ and opposition. But as none agreed to budge on their stance, he reorganised the seating arrangements on the basis of proportional representation.
But his seat plans had the BNP-led MPs riled up. They announced they would keep staying off the House unless the speaker reverts to the previous seat chart.
Hamid turned down the demand, and said he would try to give the opposition one or two more front-row seats if possible in the current session or in the next.
Finally, an end to the stalemate appeared to be in sight at the chief whip-level talks mediated by the speaker on February’19.
Though both sides stayed mum about the status of the negotiations, the same day BNP chairperson asked the
party lawmakers to convene yesterday to decide whether to join parliament.
At yesterday's meeting, the opposition MPs condemned the government for “denying the leader of the opposition the status she deserves as per the protocol" during wreathlaying at the Central Shaheed Minar on February 21.
They also expressed concern over “price hike of essentials. electricity crisis, repression on their leaders and activists and violence unleashed by Chhatra League".