Editorial
Critical voice missing in parliament
Opposition should shake off all excuses to join
Plagued by continuous session boycott by the opposition, the 9 th Jatiya Sangsad or parliament has remained largely dysfunctional.
We have always felt and said as much repeatedly that opposition has had a point in complaining over a lack of its legitimate space in parliament. While even this point itself should be fittingly addressed in the House in full public glare, there is a raft of highly pressing issues crowding into the parliament over time. And these more than anything else demand the opposition's presence and participation in parliament without ado.
If they fail to see this point at this hour of national need, they are not only doing injustice to their constituents, but also committing a betrayal of public trust.
Their track record of attendance in parliament already reads very bleak: out of 319 sittings, BNP attended only 53 with its leader only eight. Why add more to the debit side?
The government could not properly handle some crucial issues of national importance like Padma bridge financing, Grameen Bank, Sonali Bank-Hall-Mark scam and conflict between Parliament and the judiciary
These issues hold out a big opportunity for the opposition to take on the government and create public opinion and put pressure on the incumbent to take judicious actions.
Why give a walkover to the government without subjecting it to criticism echoing public grievance and scoring points with the people?
In fact, the gravity of those and other issues currently affecting the common people's lives override all the opposition's logic of staying out of the House anymore.
The constitutional responsibilities apart, the opposition cannot justify its parliament boycott even on simple moral grounds. For despite its long absence, the opposition has never stopped taking the various benefits and privileges members of parliament are entitled to.
The opposition must reconcile to the fact that no reason is enough to justify their continuous boycott of the Jatiya Sangsad at this point of the parliament's tenure. . It is hoped that they would be able to understand the pointlessness of their present stand and embrace the urgency of joining the parliament at once.
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