Jatiya Sangsad speaker retired major Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said on Friday that while opposition lawmakers had the democratic right to stage a walkout, chanting slogans inside the parliamentary chamber was ‘inappropriate’ and not in line with established parliamentary traditions.
Hafiz Uddin made the remarks after paying tribute to the martyrs of the 1971 Liberation War at the National Memorial at Savar, on the outskirts of the Dhaka city, on Friday morning, where he alongside deputy speaker Kayser Kamal talked to reporters.
‘Walkouts are a conventional practice in parliament. We also did it when we were in the opposition,’ Hafiz Uddin said, referring to the practice by opposition parties to leave the chamber in protest. ‘However, shouting slogans inside the chamber is not appropriate. It is outside the customs and traditions of parliament.’
His comments followed disruptions during the maiden sitting of the 13th parliament on Thursday when opposition lawmakers from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and allied parties walked out during the address by president Mohammed Shahabuddin.
Hafiz Uddin said that the opposition had exercised a recognised parliamentary right, but expressed hope that lawmakers would refrain from actions that go beyond established practices in the future.
‘What they have done is within their rights. We hope they will not go beyond that in the future,’ he said.
The speaker noted that many members of the current parliament had been elected for the first time and might need time to internalise parliamentary norms and procedures.
‘Many lawmakers are new. It may take some time for them to fully understand and adapt to the traditions and rules of parliamentary conduct,’ he added.
Commenting on his role in the chamber, Hafiz Uddin likened the speaker and deputy speaker to ‘umpires in a cricket match’, saying that they must remain strictly neutral in conducting parliamentary proceedings.
To ensure impartiality, he said that he had resigned from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, with which he had been associated for more than three decades, so that both the government and the opposition could have confidence in the neutrality of the chair.
Reflecting on the country’s recent political developments, Hafiz Uddin said that Bangladesh had regained its democratic system after years of political struggle.
‘After 17 years of sacrifice, perseverance and struggle, we have succeeded in restoring democracy and bidding farewell to a fascist regime,’ he said, crediting the mass protests in July and August that he said played a decisive role in removing what he described as an ‘autocratic and mafia-led’ government.
He said that the parliament now had the responsibility to work towards building a discrimination-free and prosperous Bangladesh.
‘The main goal of this parliament is to ensure equality, human dignity and social justice and to lead the country towards development while fulfilling the aspirations of the people,’ he said.
Hafiz Uddin called on all democratic forces to remain united to prevent any return of authoritarian rule.
‘We expect that both sides in parliament will work together to lead Bangladesh towards development and fulfil the people’s dreams,’ he said.
The speaker and the deputy speaker arrived at the Savar memorial at about 10:15am, laid wreaths at the altar, observed a minute of silence and later signed the visitors’ book in honour of those who died in Bangladesh’s 1971 War of Independence.
