The lawmakers of 10th parliament have started lobbying with Chief Whip ASM Feroz as the House is set to form at least two parliamentary bodies tomorrow.
One of those is a 12-member House Committee, headed by the chief whip, which would allocate accommodation facilities to the newly-elected MPs, Feroz told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
“The MPs ask for the apartments they like. We very often face problems in allocating the flats as the sizes vary,” said Feroz.
The Parliament Secretariat-owned apartments are of 1,200 sq-ft and 1,800 sq-ft. “The flat sizes should be standardised,” he observed.
On Sunday, former environment minister Hasan Mahmud contacted the chief whip for an apartment which is in good condition.
Officials say formation of the 12-member House Committee is an urgent need as the Parliament Secretariat cannot take decision on vacating the apartments used by the ninth parliament MPs.
At least 120 MPs of the previous parliament are yet to leave the fully-furnished apartments situated on the Manik Mia Avenue and Nakhalpara.
Quickest activities
The House on its second working day tomorrow would also form the 15-member Business Advisory Committee that determines tenures of the parliament sessions, Feroz said.
The speaker is ex officio chief of the Business Advisory Committee, considered as the strongest among all the bodies in parliament, as it comprises the prime minister, the opposition leader, the deputy speaker, the chief whip and senior members from both the treasury and the opposition parties.
The committee can take any decision on functioning of the Assembly.
Standing committees on each of the ministries that work as watchdogs are likely to be constituted next week to speed up work, Feroz said. “Hopefully, the rest of the committees will be formed gradually by next week.”
If formed, the 10th parliament would be the quickest in constituting the parliamentary committees.
The previous ninth parliament went into session on January 25, 2009 while the parliamentary committees were formed on February 17.
In the BNP-led eighth parliament, the watchdogs were formed on May 12, 2003 – around 18 months after the House went into session.
The 10th parliament had its inaugural session on January 29. The session will resume at 4:30pm tomorrow.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
