Form JS upper house based on proportional representation

Sixty eminent citizens yesterday urged political parties to reach a consensus on forming the proposed upper house of the Jatiya Sangsad through a proportional representation (PR) system.

In a statement sent to the media, they said if the upper house is constituted based on party seats in the lower house, it will not bring any qualitive changes in the state operations.

On the other hand, if upper house members are elected proportionately based on the total votes received by political parties in the lower house election, then the new upper house will be able to play a vital role in ensuring "checks and balances" and government accountability, it added.

The signatories include economists, teachers, lawyers, rights activists, engineers, physicians, entrepreneurs, organisers, researchers, and authors.

In the statement, they said the country's political parties have already reached a consensus on forming a 100-seat upper house in parliament.

However, there are still differences among the parties over how the upper house will be constituted, they said.

The vote-wise PR method would also give smaller political parties, which may not win a seat in the lower house despite receiving sizeable votes across the country, an opportunity to have representation in the upper house, they added.

This way, the opposition bench can play an effective role against any anti-people or undemocratic moves by the treasury bench in parliament, the statement said.

At the same time, the eminent citizens stated that the powers of the upper house should be limited to avoid hampering the day-to-day activities of the executive branch.

Specifically, the PR upper house should not have veto power over any bill except those related to constitutional amendments and declarations of war. They said the PR upper house can be given authority to review various bills placed in the lower house and government decisions, and to serve an audit and watchdog role.

The eminent citizens strongly urged political parties to unanimously accept the idea of a PR upper house and include it in the proposed July Charter.

They noted that democracy in the country has repeatedly suffered due to a political culture of "winner-takes-all", in which the ruling party rarely considers opposition views, while the opposition often responds with destructive protests that jeopardise national security.

The signatories include Irene Khan, Shahidul Alam, Asif Mohammad Shahan, Manzur Al Matin, Fahim Mashroor, Jyoti Rahman, Zia Hasan, Farah Kabir, Rushad Faridi, Umama Fatema, Ashraf Kaiser, Atonu Rabbani, Mahrukh Mohiuddin, Imran Matin, Mirza Hasan, Ananya Raihan, Zafar Sobhan, Shafiqur Rahman, Rezaul Karim Rony, and Rumi Ahmed.