The Chief Whip of the main opposition Awami League (AL) told The Daily Star on June 1 that the AL would not join the budget session of parliament scheduled to begin on June 7. The explanation furnished by the Chief Whip of the AL is that they don't want "to give legitimacy to the budget" by joining the budget session. The AL General Secretary has, however, told the journalists that a final decision on the issue would be taken at a meeting of the party's parliamentary wing prior to the session. We hope against hope that deliberations in the meeting of the party's parliamentary wing will be in favour of its joining the budget session.

It is a fact that the AL has a poor record of participation in the sessions and sittings of the current parliament. But what led to such a situation? Is the AL alone responsible for this? Boycotting the parliament sessions and sittings has been a perennial problem since the reintroduction of parliamentary system of government in the country through the Constitution (Twelfth Amendment) Act, 1991.

The BNP government came to power on the results of the election held on February 27, 1991 under the caretaker government of President Shahabuddin Ahmed, a nominee of the combined opposition formed to topple the government of President Ershad. But the BNP government showed reluctance to the demand of the three major opposition parties -- the AL, the Jatiya Party, and Jamaat-e-Islami -- to formally introduce caretaker system of government in the constitution. So, the opposition resorted to hartals and sustained boycott of parliament. To press the ruling BNP, the MPs of the opposition parties went to the extent of submitting their resignation on December 28, 1994.

When the AL formed the government on the basis of results of parliamentary election of June 12, 1996, the main opposition BNP frequently boycotted parliament sessions and sittings on a number of allegations such as absence of neutrality of the Speaker, allowing insufficient time to opposition lawmakers to speak on national issues, corruption, misuse of powers by the government, etc. The sole objective of boycotting parliament by the opposition parties, in particular by the main opposition party in parliament from time to time, has been to make parliament dysfunctional and thereby force the party or alliance in power to step down.

Now the question is why should the main opposition AL join the forthcoming budget session? First, the budget is "the annual financial statement or the statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of Bangladesh in respect of each financial year." Rules of procedure of parliament (ROP) contain the details on the presentation, discussion, voting, and passage of the budget. The pertinent point here is that the House is at liberty to discuss the budget as a whole or any question of principle involved in it. There are already criticisms that "politics of vote" has influenced the formulation of the revised Annual Development Programme (ADP) of the current financial year as well as the ADP of the next financial year. Why should not the AL attend parliament to pinpoint that allocation in the vital sectors of the economy such as agriculture, education, health has been slashed down in the revised ADP to feed the rural infrastructure projects for earning votes? The main opposition AL should also point out in the House that the next financial year's ADP amounting to TK. 24,000 crore is "ambitious" and "unrealistic." The voters will be wooed with the promises of development.

Second, the AL must delineate how the increases in the prices of kerosene and diesel have adversely affected the common people of the country. The people are gasping under an increasing inflation rate. Inflation rate has been increasing steadily and stood at the highest point in the last five years at 6.72 percent in March on a point-to-point basis. The moving average of inflation is also at its highest level at 6.18 percent. The spending of about 50 percent unspent money of the revised ADP between April and June and the disbursement of the increased salaries of the public servants in June will lead to further increase in the rate of inflation. The AL lawmakers should not forget that they have to speak in the House for the removal of the grievances and sufferings of their voters.

Commenting on the AL Chief Whip's disclosure of the AL decision not to join the forthcoming budget session, The Daily Star in its editorial of June 3 writes: "We urge the AL leadership to join the parliament session without much ado. They have to realise that the JS is the house of the people, not of the government. People have elected their representatives to speak in parliament not to be absent from it. So, the AL's apparent failure to distinguish between the parliament and the government has only lowered the party's standing in the public eye. The AL MPs represent the people of their constituencies in the very least; and perhaps, more to the point, the country as a whole as the elected opposition."

Third, the AL claims that it is a pro-people party and it has its roots among the common people. So, quoting from the Poverty Monitoring Survey Report 2004 of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the AL lawmakers may point out in the House how, in contravention of the professed state policy of reducing income disparity gap between the poor and the rich, the income disparity gap between the poor and the rich actually widened in six years until 2004. Household income comparison in particular shows that the rich saw a household income level rise of 13.36 percent while the poor found it decreasing by 3.56 percent.

Fourth, the AL lawmakers should tell the nation through the House how corruption has been eating into the vitals of the national economy. The AL lawmakers may tell the people through the House how the country occupied the number one position in the corruption perception index of the Transparency International during all the past three years of the BNP-led alliance government.

Fifth, the main opposition AL and other opposition parties have demanded reforms in the caretaker government system and in the Election Commission. The AL in consultation with other opposition parties is expected to present before the nation the detailed proposals on these two issues shortly. It may be mentioned that according to Article 65 of the constitution, parliament is also known as the "House of the Nation." So, by participating in the budget session, the AL can also place those two proposals in the "House of the Nation." This will be their good strategy to fight for the reforms both inside and outside the parliament.

Sixth, Amnesty International and the US State Department have expressed concern over the poor human rights in Bangladesh. Serious concern has been expressed over the extra-judicial killings following the deployment of rapid action battalion (RAB). The AL lawmakers can take up the human rights abuse issues for discussion in the House.

Seventh, many political analysts are of the opinion that the BNP-led alliance government feels comfortable with the absence of the AL lawmakers in the House. The presence of many veteran parliamentarians of the AL in the House and their articulation of issues sometimes creates serious problems for the ruling alliance. That is why neither the ruling alliance nor the guardian of the House, i.e. the Speaker, takes serious initiative to bring the AL lawmakers back to the House.

To conclude, the AL lawmakers should join the forthcoming budget session to discharge the responsibilities entrusted by the constitution and the ROP and to speak for their electorates. The AL leadership should remember that the absence of their lawmakers from the House would only benefit the government.

M. Abdul Latif Mondal is a former Secretary to the government.