Nearly no time for law making

Although making laws is the main function of parliament, lawmakers spent just 1.8 percent of the total time for the purpose in the first session of the current House, a TIB study has found.
In the House dominated by businessmen-turned-lawmakers, only eight of the 350 legislators took about two hours of nearly 114 hours that parliament was in session to discuss two laws. Each of the law was eventually passed in about six minutes, with no participation by any opposition MPs, the study shows.    
The study, titled "Parliament Watch", was released at a press conference at Brac Centre Inn in the capital yesterday.
It shows both the ruling and opposition MPs used much of the time praising their respective parties 856 times and lambasting the BNP 531 times, although the BNP has no representation in parliament.    
The maiden session of the tenth parliament had 36 sittings, where 191 MPs did not participate in any of the House proceedings “to ensure accountability” of the government. Also, none of the 69 women MPs (19 general seats, 50 reserved seats) took part in the law-making process.
And although the ruling Awami League has 276 MPs, the session witnessed 28 minutes of a quorum crisis in every sitting on average. This means the House had to delay its proceedings by 28 minutes because enough lawmakers were not present, causing a loss of around Tk 8 crore in public funds.  
At least 60 MPs must be present for the House to begin its proceedings.
On an average, the ninth parliament saw a quorum crisis of 32 minutes and the eighth parliament of 37 minutes.
The TIB estimated that when the House is in session, it costs about Tk 78,000 per minute. The cost includes the salaries and benefits of parliament officials and charges of maintenance of the parliament building and utility service.

Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina was present in 32 sittings out of 36 and opposition leader Raushan Ershad in 14 sittings, which lasted between January 29 and April 10.  
Overall, 64 percent MPs were present in all sittings while 51 percent ministers took part in 51-75 percent sittings.  
On the law-making process, TIB said in India 8 percent of the total time was spent in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the first session of the immediate past 15th parliament.
Highlighting the dominance of businesspersons in parliament, the study says the participation of businessmen has risen to 59 percent in the 10th parliament, up form 18 percent in the first parliament of 1973-75.
According to TIB, 26 percent of businessmen became MPs in the second parliament, 38 percent in the fifth, 43 percent in the seventh, 58 percent in the eighth and 57 percent in the ninth parliament.     
The third, fourth and sixth parliaments were very short-lived and statistics on them were not immediately available.   
“Percentage of businesspersons-turned-MPs increased a lot compared to other professions, which is alarming for the interest of parliament,” said TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman while presenting the findings.
He added it was only natural that a businessperson would speak in favour of his business in the House.
TIB said making former ministers chiefs of different parliamentary standing committees has created the scope for them to influence the House watchdog, in case it moves to investigate any corruption by the ministries during the previous AL government.   
On a positive note, the study found that the main opposition Jatiya Party did not boycott parliament proceedings as in the past. It staged a walkout for a few minutes protesting the hike in power price.  
“But it does not mean that the main opposition [Jatiya Party] is playing its due role to make parliament effective. The opposition does not have the moral courage to play its role in parliament,” Iftekharuzzaman said.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The study put forward a set of recommendations for an effective parliament and strong democracy.
The suggestions include recognising the top 10 MPs who have the highest participation in the House sittings, publishing names of 10 MPs with lowest attendance and making a law to stop parliament boycott.
The graft watchdog also reiterated its call to elect the Deputy Speaker from the opposition.