Parliament on Monday witnessed an unscheduled debate over the role of Ershad-led Jatiya Party as the opposition party.
Independent MP from Pirojpur-3 Rustum Ali Farazi initiated the debate standing on point of order.
Later Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury and State Minister for Labour and Employment Md Mojibul Haque Chunnu took part in the debate.
Farazi questioned the role of the current opposition party Jatiya Party and wondered how effective it will be in this role.
“Is the present government Awami League government or the government of consensus or the alliance government?,” he asked.
He said that if this is the government of consensus then what will be the position of the MPs who are elected as independents.
He also said that there is no instance to remain in the opposition when some members of the Parliament are in the cabinet.
“If the ministers from the opposition party move a bill, what will happen, if their MPs cast their votes against the bill? Then the membership of the ministers will not be valid,” he said.
Responding to his criticism, State Minister for Labour and Employment and Jatiya Party Presidium member Md Mojibul Haque Chunnu said that the instance of remaining in the cabinet and also in the opposition is currently there in the cabinets of Israel, Germany and Pakistan.
He said that the defense minister of the Democrat Obama administration was from the Republican Party.
He also mentioned that there is nothing in the Constitution that bars an MP from joining in the cabinet and play the role of opposition simultaneously.
Regarding the role of Jatiya Party in the current Parliament, Chunnu said that if the government takes any anti-people steps then his party will oppose.
“We will resign as ministers if necessary, but will not boycott the Parliament for an indefinite period,” he added.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury praised the Jatiya Party for their participation in the last election.
As per a report opposition leader Raushan Ershad, who was the Health Minister during the all party polls time government, took part in the election on humanitarian ground when the BNP led alliance was engaged in killing and destruction.
She said that protesting everything without having any solid ground is not the role of opposition party in the Parliament.
Source: UNB Connect
