The opposition walked out of the parliament Thursday evening, protesting the government’s decision to introduce separate bills without forming a Constitutional Reform Council and after allowing some reform-related ordinances issued during the interim government to lapse.

Before the National Human Rights Commission Bill and the Prevention and Remedy of Enforced Disappearance Bill were introduced, Opposition Leader and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman said they did not want to be part of a “piecemeal” reform process. He said the opposition would maintain its position demanding comprehensive reforms and implementation of the referendum verdict.

Opposition lawmakers walked out of the House at around 8:06pm.

Earlier, speaking in parliament, Shafiqur said they did not view the 13th Jatiya Sangsad as a “conventional” parliament.

“This is a different kind of parliament, a parliament standing on the blood of 2024. We had hoped that from the very beginning, we would be able to make a fresh start for the country and the nation,” he said.

However, that expectation was not fulfilled as the Constitutional Reform Council was not convened even after the parliamentary election and the referendum, he said. Nearly 70 percent of voters had voted “yes” in the referendum, he added.

“But when this was not implemented, fear, uncertainty and doubt emerged among the people,” he said.

Shafiqur alleged that several important reform-related ordinances issued by the interim government were allowed to lapse instead of being enacted as laws by parliament.

“Judicial independence, an independent Anti-Corruption Commission, an independent Human Rights Commission, the Enforced Disappearance Commission, the Police Reform Commission and the Election Commission -- these are the fundamental areas that must be fixed if this country and society are to be freed from fascism. Those were scrapped,” he said.

A special parliamentary committee formed to review the ordinances had recommended that 98 be enacted into law without changes and 15 with amendments. It also recommended that 16 be examined and brought as new bills, while seven be repealed.

By April 10, parliament had passed 91 bills in six days, giving constitutional approval to a total of 120 ordinances. Of these, 20 were on the verge of lapsing, including the ordinances on the National Human Rights Commission and prevention and remedy of enforced disappearances.

On April 9, amid opposition objections, parliament repealed the ordinance relating to the National Human Rights Commission and revived the 2009 law. The government later took an initiative to introduce a new law. Similarly, instead of directly enacting the ordinance on preventing and remedying enforced disappearances, a new bill is now being introduced.

Shafiqur said they had sought a “Reform Council” in line with the referendum verdict, not constitutional “amendments”. The opposition had walked out on July 13 when parliament passed a proposal to form the committee, alleging that the referendum verdict was being “bypassed”.

He also questioned the introduction of government bills on Thursday.

“Today is Thursday. According to our consensus, this is a private members’ day. I do not know whether government bills are introduced on a private members’ day,” he said.

He said the opposition had received no response to its earlier letter seeking a special parliamentary session to discuss the electricity and gas crises, rising prices and the law and order situation.

“On the one hand, people are not getting electricity and are suffering from load shedding; on the other hand, there are ghost bills. There is no satisfactory answer to this. There is also an acute gas crisis,” he said.

Shafiqur alleged that the government was trying to suppress the main demand for reforms by bringing the bills separately.

“We can see that parliament is being pushed in a unilateral and one-sided direction,” he said.