JS session prorogued
AL MPs not on committees
Staff Correspondent
The budget session of the Jatiya Sangsad was prorogued yesterday without including lawmakers of the main opposition Awami League (AL) in 45 parliamentary standing committees formed a year ago.The AL lawmakers have to wait for the next session for incorporation into the vital bodies, as the House ended its 12th session of 25 workdays that passed nine bills, including the national budget for the FY2004-05. Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina alleged the government did not want to see the opposition lawmakers on the committees, as she said it has always shied away from discussion on corruption. On the allegation, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia told the House that the opposition was late in submitting the list. The opposition on Monday submitted names of its lawmakers to the Office of the Chief Whip for berths in the committees formed during last year's budget session keeping slots for the AL. The AL joined the session on June 15 and demanded discussion on different issues, including law and order downslide, distortion of Liberation War history, foreign policy, price hike of essentials, but none of them was discussed, as the treasury bench did not agree. Speaker Jamir Uddin Sircar in his valedictory speech protested his neutrality in conducting the House by providing proportionate time for lawmakers of both benches during the session that began on June 9.
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