More into self-praise than into lawmaking: TIB
The current parliament spent just 16.7 percent of its workhours on debating and formulating laws, one of its most vital functions, according to a study by Transparency International Bangladesh.
On the other hand, the parliamentary standing committees, which are tasked with holding ministers accountable, did not hold meetings regularly. According to the rules of business, the committees should sit every month, but none of the 50 House committees did so, said the Parliament Watch report unveiled at the TIB office in the capital yesterday.
"There is no scope to say that the 11th parliament has been able to perform its expected role. Due to the absolute majority of the ruling party and the lack of an effective opposition, parliament could not play the expected role," TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said.
Alongside formulating laws, lawmakers should ensure people's representation and hold the government accountable, he said.
TIB prepared the report based on the 11th parliament's first to 22nd sessions between January 2019 and April 2023. During the period, 744.13 hours were spent on parliamentary proceedings.
Of the time, a little more than 124 hours (16.7%) were spent to discuss legislations.
In 2019-20, the UK parliament spent 49.3 percent time on legislative affairs. The previous year, the Indian parliament spent 45 percent of its time on lawmaking, the TIB report mentioned.
The current Bangladesh parliament passed 96 bills -- 68 new bills, 26 amendment bills, and two repeal bills, the report said, adding that it took 1.10 hours on average to pass a bill.
The "Voter List (Amendment) Bill, 2020" was passed in 28 minutes, the quickest, and the "Appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Bill, 2022" took 3.25 hours, the longest.
A total of 186.26 hours were spent on discussion on thanks giving motion on the president's speech. Of the time, 156.28 hours were allocated to the ruling party MPs.
The ruling party MPs spent 19.8 percent time praising the prime minister and their own party, and 19.4 percent time on various achievements of the government. They spent 6.7 percent time discussing Bangabandhu and the Mujib Borsho celebration, and 0.4 percent time (2.97 hours) talking about corruption.
The prime minister's question-answer session lasted over 13 hours. Nearly half of that time was spent to talk about matters outside the question, such as praising the prime minister and blasting opposition parties.
Iftekharuzzaman said although legislative activities are one of the most important roles of lawmakers, in many cases they show little interest, or have the required skills and knowledge, to deliberate laws.
The 10th parliament spent 12 percent of the time on legislative affairs; it was 8 percent in the previous parliament.
Despite an increase in the average time spent on law enactment, there was a lack of spontaneous participation and constructive debates. Majority of the ruling party MPs limited their participation to voting for the bills, said the report.
The three standing committees on Rules of Procedure, Privileges and Petitions did not hold any meeting yet, while some other committees did not sit for months on end.
For example, the Standing Committee on the Ministry of Finance did not hold a single meeting in 18 months since March 2020. The House committee on the Health and Family Welfare did not sit even once for the first nine months of the 11th parliament.
The standing committee on public accounts held 117 meetings, the highest, although it failed to hold the mandatory meeting every month, said TIB officials.
On average, 60 percent of the members were present in the meetings. Analysis of 26 standing committee reports shows 51 percent of its recommendations were implemented.
A total of 54.38 hours, or 14 minutes per working day, were lost due to quorum crisis. In the process, Tk 89.28 crore, or Tk 2.72 lakh per minute, were lost for nothing, the report said.
The average attendance was 55 percent in the 11th parliament, down from 63 percent in the 10th parliament. The opposition leader's attendance was 19 percent, which was 59 percent in the previous parliament.
The House leader's attendance was 94 percent in the current parliament, up from 82 percent in the last parliament.
In its recommendation, TIB said the House should pass a bill on the code of conduct for lawmakers on their behaviour. It also urged the Speaker to take strong measures to stop the use of abusive and unparliamentarily words in the House.
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