Special JS body to be formed today
Parliament will constitute a 19-member all-party committee today for bringing major changes to the constitution.
The committee will have a post vacant for the main opposition BNP, which has yet to nominate an MP for the committee.
Treasury bench Chief Whip Abdus Shahid yesterday evening confirmed that the special JS body would be formed today.
Earlier on Sunday night, he sent a letter to the opposition leader, requesting her to nominate by yesterday a lawmaker for the committee.
In a late development, BNP last night replied to the ruling AL's letter. It however did not give name of its representative in the proposed parliamentary panel.
The decision to send a reply came when BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia met five senior party leaders and constitution experts at her Gulshan office in the evening.
Earlier in the day, Chief Whip Abdus Shahid met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and finalised the names of 17 members of the committee to be formed under section-266 of the rules of procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad.
Lawmakers belonging to AL, Jatiya Party, Workers Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and National Awami Party will be made members of the body.
Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury will be at its helm.
There will be no representatives of Jamaat-e-Islami. A component of BNP-led four-party alliance, Jamaat has been opposing the move to amend the constitution.
Sources said AL lawmakers Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzaq, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Syed Ashraful Islam, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Abdus Shahid, Dipu Moni, Fazle Rabbi Mia, Abdul Matin Khasru, Rahmat Ali, and Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, Jatiya Party's Anisul Islam Mahmud, Workers Party's Rashed Khan Menon, JSD's Hasanul Haq Inu and NAP's Amena Ahmed are likely to be in the parliamentary body.
BNP LETTER
The BNP letter to AL was sent through the opposition leader's assistant personal secretary.
Asked about the content, BNP standing committee member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury said, “We have wanted to know what kind of changes will be made to the constitution and what they will mean to people. We also enquired under what rules of procedure the committee will be formed.”
He was talking to The Daily Star after the meeting at the BNP chief's office.
He said the AL letter mentioned that the constitution would be amended in greater interests of the people. But it did not explain what those interests are.
“It's like the government is asking us to buy ticket of a train whose destination we still don't know.”
Chowdhury, also a lawmaker, said the issue of constitution amendment is highly sensitive and has far-reaching implications. “That is why we have decided to write back, seeking to know more about the issue.”
Party's Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain, noted jurist Khandaker Mahbubuddin Ahmad, former law minister Moudud Ahmed, former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar, MK Anwar and Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury attended the meeting with the chairperson.
Before the parliamentary election in 2008, the AL-led grand alliance pledged to increase reserved seats for women in parliament to 100 from the current 45 and allow MPs to express opinions in the House freely.
It also promised to get back to the 1972's constitution.
In 2005, the High Court passed a verdict declaring illegal the fifth amendment to the constitution. Early this month the Supreme Court upheld the landmark judgment, paving the way for the government to revive some important provisions that were in the original charter.
The fifth amendment ratified all changes made to the constitution between August 15, 1975, and April 9, 1979. All governments during that period were adjudged unlawful by the HC verdict.

Comments