Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad has called for an end to the nomination system for reserved women’s seats in parliament, arguing that women should contest direct elections as they are increasingly capable of winning seats on their own.
“I think the time has come in Bangladesh to abolish this nomination system,” he said.
“If necessary, political parties should be made to nominate women for one-third of their candidates. It should be mandatory,” he added.
Hafiz made the remarks at a programme on the formation of a parliamentary caucus for disadvantaged people at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre yesterday.
He said the quality of lawmakers in the current parliament was better than in previous parliaments, noting that several women MPs had demonstrated their capabilities through their speeches and participation in parliamentary proceedings.
“There are six women barristers and seven to eight directly elected women MPs. They speak so well in parliament that I am impressed listening to them,” he said.
He observed that most women MPs still entered parliament through nomination rather than direct elections.
“Instead, the number of reserved seats has continued to increase with successive parliaments, reaching 50 now,” he said.
In his personal opinion, continuing the nomination-based system would prevent women from becoming politically self-reliant.
“There are many capable and qualified women in politics now. They can contest elections themselves and defeat male candidates,” he said, describing this as evidence of social progress.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/news/governance/news/time-has-come-women-contest-parliamentary-seats-directly-speaker-4322616
