Editorial
Return of the opposition to the House
What we saw was what we did not want to see
The BNP's return to the parliament was a much anticipated event. In fact that was one of the popular demands of the people in general that the BNP ought to attend the parliament, and ventilate their points in the House. It was a welcome event. Regrettably, much of our expectations of a productive and healthy session were dashed to the grounds by what we witnessed transpire on the floor on the very first day of the BNP's joining the parliament.
It seemed to us that after a long absence of one year, and whatever might have been the motivation of the BNP to rerun to the parliament, a healthy debate was perhaps the last thing in their mind. One got the impression from the very first sentence of the very first person of the BNP to take the floor that its MPs were in fact raring for a fight and they had come not to make the parliament effective but more to create commotion in the House.
Given that there are so many important issues of national concern that must be addressed by the House, the level and intensity of personal rancour and bitterness that pervaded the atmosphere of the House, generated through the most insensitive, rude and indecorous utterances by some of the members from either side of the aisle, leaves little hope that anything substantive would ever get done at all.
In this regard we are constrained to comment on the utterances of the leaders of both the AL and the BNP that leaves much to be desired. While it is they that should be setting examples to their party MPs, regrettably, it is their remarks, which in recent times have gone beyond the norms of civility, that have spurred their party MPs to spew venom at their opponents. They are taking the wrong cue.
We would urge upon both the leaders not only to set the tenor of behaviour by personal examples, they must strictly demand the best of behaviour of their parliamentarians and let them know that crossing the line would not be tolerated. They must understand that the people have very little stomach for what they are witnessing in the parliament.
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