Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) today expressed deep concern over what it described as the ruling party's "unilateral use" of its parliamentary majority to introduce bills as supplementary business in violation of the Rules of Procedure and pass them without meaningful scrutiny or debate.
The anti-corruption watchdog also alleged that the formation of parliamentary standing committees in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad had deviated from established parliamentary practice.
In a statement, TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said that under the Rules of Procedure of parliament, after a bill is introduced, a minister may propose that it be referred to a standing committee, a select committee, or circulated for public opinion before it is considered.
However, he said, established parliamentary practice generally requires bills to be referred to the relevant standing committee.
"None of these procedures was followed in the case of the Invest Bangladesh Act, 2026," he said.
According to the statement, it is customary for MPs to receive copies of a bill at least three days before its introduction.
However, copies of the Invest Bangladesh Bill were distributed only moments before it was tabled, depriving lawmakers of any meaningful opportunity to scrutinise it before it was passed unilaterally in violation of the Rules of Procedure, TIB said.
TIB also alleged that the Bangladesh Medical University (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Public Examinations (Offences) (Amendment) Bill, 2026 were introduced in parliament as supplementary business without prior notice.
It further claimed that several other bills were passed swiftly by virtue of the ruling party's majority, disregarding the views and objections of the opposition.
"The unilateral passage of bills, which violates constitutional principles and parliamentary rules governing the legislative process, raises the question of how the present parliament differs from that of the authoritarian era," Iftekharuzzaman said.
Referring to Rule 188 of the Rules of Procedure governing the formation of parliamentary standing committees, he said State Minister for Rural Development and Cooperatives Shahe Alam, who had already "become controversial" over multiple alleged conflicts of interest, had been included as a member of the Standing Committees on the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
"The extent to which a member of the cabinet would be able to oversee the activities of another ministry and ensure its accountability remains questionable. This has effectively undermined the very purpose of parliamentary standing committees at the outset. No parliament has observed such a practice, particularly in the post-1990 period," he said.
Iftekharuzzaman also referred to the July National Charter, which states that opposition members should chair the Public Accounts Committee, the Committee on Privileges, the Committee on Estimates and the Public Undertakings Committee.
The charter also provides that opposition members should chair ministry-related standing committees in proportion to their representation in parliament. Accordingly, opposition lawmakers should chair approximately 26 percent of the standing committees, he said.
"What has already happened in the formation of these committees not only confines the commitments of the July National Charter to paper but also threatens to render the ruling party's 31-point reform agenda and election manifesto meaningless," he said.
He further said that, under Article 78(5) of the constitution, a new law should now be enacted through consultation with all stakeholders to strengthen the authority and effectiveness of parliamentary committees.
TIB also called for ensuring that each of the four parliamentary committees specified in the July National Charter includes at least one woman member and that all women directly elected to parliament are appointed to at least one parliamentary standing committee.
