No work and all pay for Bangladesh opposition MPs |
| By Mizan Rahman Despite skipping sessions of the Bangladesh Parliament, the opposition lawmakers led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are drawing the salary and other allowances, parliament secretariat officials said in Dhaka yesterday when the legislature went into session amid BNP lawmakers' absence. They even drew the allowances for residence on duty and conveyance for the three parliamentary sessions they skipped in a row. According to Members of Parliament (remuneration and allowances) Order 1973, lawmakers are entitled to the allowances when the House is in session. The opposition lawmakers were absent for 158 working days in the five sessions including the second, third and fifth. But they drew the allowances for residence on duty and conveyance for the three parliamentary sessions. In addition to remuneration and other benefits, they get on average 60,000 taka each in various allowances, said officials at the parliament secretariat. Opposition lawmakers had vehemently opposed the passage of the bills regarding perking up the salaries of the president, the prime minister, the speaker, the deputy speaker, ministers, MPs and Supreme Court judges. During the passage of the bills, opposition lawmakers proposed for withdrawal of the bills, even walking out of the house protesting the passage of the bills. Constitution experts, lawyers and representatives of the civil society termed the opposition MPs actions as unethical and want such practices stopped. Senior opposition MPs, however, do not see anything wrong with taking the allowances, as there are no legal restrictions. The ninth parliament formed through the December 29 general elections in 2008 has held five sessions so far. But, the BNP lawmakers attended the sessions for 46 days on an average. Leader of the Opposition and BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia attended the sessions for only five days. In the last (fifth) session which ended on July 22, the BNP lawmakers remained present only for one working day out of 33 days. The fourth session began on January 4 this year and ended on April 5. The opposition lawmakers attended only 22 working days out of 39 days. The opposition lawmakers joined the fourth session on February 11 after skipping 63 working days in a row. They again started boycotting parliament after attending the session till 38th working days. They skipped the whole third session that began on September 7 and ended on November 5 last year and the second session that started on June 4 last year and continued till July 9 in the same year. The maiden session of the 9th parliament began on January 25 in 2009 and continued till April 7. The opposition lawmakers attended the first and second days of the session. However, they skipped the 17 working days of the session in a row from the third day and returned to parliament on the 19th working day. The ruling Awami League lawmakers too, while in opposition, had drawn their salaries and allowances. Meanwhile, the main opposition BNP is yet to take any decision to join the sixth session of parliament. Final decision in this regard will be taken at a meeting of the BNP parliamentary party, opposition Chief Whip Joynal Abdin Farroque said at a press briefing on Friday. |
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