Bangladeshi Opposition Party Decides to Boycott Parliament SessionWhile women's organizations are demanding more reserved seats for women in parliament, the fate of 30 reserved seats of women in Bangladeshi Parliament is hanging in the balance as the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has decided to boycott parliament session.BNP on Thursday night has decided to continue boycott of parliament session at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the party, the highest policy-making body, protesting lack of "congenial atmosphere" in the House. The meeting was held to review the letter of the parliament speaker to BNP leader Khaleda Zia on Tuesday, which urged the opposition to join the coming session beginning on January 11 to resolve two "vital national issues", including retention of reserved seats for women and voting rights of expatriate Bangladeshis. A bill on retention of the reserved women seats will be placed in the House in the upcoming session. Passage of the bill that proposes amendment to some relevant constitutional provisions needs two-thirds majority, which ruling Awami League lacks. The sanction for 30 women reserved seats in the constitutions are made for ten years and the current term of the women seats will end on April 4. Instead of returning to the parliament, BNP will hold a public meeting in the capital on January 11 to explain its stance and to launch a " massive oust-government movement." Meeting sources said, although there is tremendous pressure from within the party to join parliament session, Khaleda Zia, reportedly in the grip of hard-liners now, is opposed to it. Lawmakers of BNP, Jatiya Party and Jamaat-e-Islami have been abstaining from attending parliament sittings for about two years till now. They have been boycotting parliament sessions, protesting the speaker's "biased role, not allowing opposition members of parliament to speak on important national issues, indecent remarks on the leader of the opposition and non-implementation of two four-point agreements" signed between the treasury bench and the opposition earlier. |
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