Is JP a model opposition?
It is natural for someone that s/he will like and appreciate his/her own creature. So what Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina did on Saturday by lauding the main opposition Jatiya Party's role in parliament is nothing new but a manifestation of this truth.
She has created the main opposition in the Jatiya Party through the January 5 parliamentary election. The Sheikh Hasina-led government in fact had little alternative other than relying on the Jatiya Party to fill the vacuum on the opposition benches in the House. The BNP-led opposition alliance's boycott of the election created this situation.
Jatiya Party leaders agreed to play the role of the main opposition. But they used and abused effectively the situation in their favour. In return, they took some undue advantages from the Hasina-led government. She had to induct three Jatiya Party MPs in her council of ministers to make them happy. And this has set an unprecedented instance in the history of parliamentary democracy.
If Hasina, who is leader of the House, now criticises the performance of the Jatiya Party, it may generate further controversy over the voter less election. It may also earn more criticism for her government. So, the premier in fact has little other alternative, but to appreciate the Jatiya Party's performance in parliament as the handmaiden opposition.
In her budget comments, the premier also lauded Raushan Ershad for what she called her "pragmatic decision" to take part in the January 5 parliamentary election. What Raushan had done really deserved appreciation from the AL high command.
It was Raushan who foiled JP Chairman Ershad's bid to boycott the January 5 polls. She led the JP in the polls even after Ershad had announced that his party would not take part in the one-sided electoral race.
Raushan has her reward too. She was recognised as leader of the opposition in parliament-- the high office in the parliamentary democracy was held either by Hasina or Khaleda Zia since 1991. She is now enjoying status of a minister.
Even Ershad, who had declared his intention to quit the parliamentary polls, was elected MP unopposed and is now enjoying the premier's blessings. Hasina made Ershad her special envoy with the status of a minister. Without any work, Ershad is enjoying all the benefits of a minister.
There are some more reasons for which government policymakers may appreciate the role of the main opposition MPs in parliament.
In the current political culture of intolerance, the treasury bench tolerates little the opposition's criticism in the House regardless of the nature of the criticism. This had made the AL and BNP MPs engage in fierce verbal attacks in previous parliaments. Both sides used vulgar and abusive words to attack each other.
But the situation in the present parliament is different. Most of the JP MPs hardly launch any blistering attack on the government over any of its failures. Most of them try to maintain good relations with the government, instead of holding the government accountable to the House by exposing its weaknesses in governance.
They were not critical of any of the proposals made in the budget for the current fiscal year. On the contrary, they welcomed the budgetary proposals by thumping their desks when the finance minister was placing them in parliament in early June in parliament. So, the way the main opposition MPs have been performing their role has not annoyed the treasury bench.
This might have satisfied the premier and prompted her to make the remarks that "people now understand how a parliament should work. And she further commented that "the people, the youths and future generation are now observing how democracy is being practised."
Through her remarks, the prime minister seems to have tried to portray that the Jatiya Party has been a model in its role as the main opposition in parliament. If the Jatiya Party has really been so, the premier deserves the credit as she created it.
But people think it in different way.
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