Ten more parliamentary standing committees of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad were formed yesterday, with opposition MPs again excluded from chairing the bodies despite their demand for 26 percent of the chairmanships.
The ruling party has set a condition for allowing opposition lawmakers to head parliamentary standing committees: they must first agree to participate in the special parliamentary committee on constitutional amendment.
Under the Rules of Procedure, all parliamentary standing committees must be formed by the third session of a parliament. There are 50 standing committees in total, including 39 related to different ministries, while the remaining ones are parliament-related.
With the formation of 10 committees yesterday, a total of 36 standing committees have now been formed in the 13th parliament, including 30 ministry-related committees. So far, only one opposition lawmaker has been made chairman of a standing committee -- the Committee on Public Accounts.
No opposition MP has been appointed chairman of any ministry-related standing committee.
On July 13, parliament formed a 12-member special committee on constitutional amendment, chaired by Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed. The opposition was asked to nominate five members but it rejected the committee outright.
Yesterday, Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni separately proposed the formation and reconstitution of several parliamentary committees. The proposals were later passed by voice vote.
Of the 10 committees formed yesterday, Abdus Salam Pintu was made chairman of the Standing Committee on Food Ministry; Abul Khair Bhuiyan of the Committee on Youth and Sports; Munshi Rafiqul Alam of the Committee on Disaster Management and Relief; AKM Selim Reza Habib of the Committee on Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives; Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas of the Committee on Labour and Employment; Zainul Abdin Farooq of the Committee on Shipping; Khairul Kabir Khokon of the Committee on Fisheries and Livestock; Mahmuda Habiba of the Committee on Primary and Mass Education; Barkat Ullah Bulu of the Committee on Cultural Affairs; and Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan of the Committee on Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs.
Meanwhile, BNP lawmaker Shahadat Hossain of Lakshmipur-1 was appointed chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Agriculture, replacing Gayeshwar Chandra Roy.
