Bangladesh President Dissolves ParliamentThe Seventh Parliament of Bangladesh was dissolved by President Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed on Friday night as it completed its five-year term.This is the first time in Bangladesh's history that parliament completed its full tenure. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her valedictory speech at the last session of the Parliament Friday night urged the people of the country to give her party Awami League (AL) "a fresh mandate in the coming elections to serve the nation." During her one hour 35 minute speech, Sheikh Hasina criticized bitterly the main opposition the Bangladesh Nationalist Party BNP) for boycotting the parliament and for agitation to oust the government. She also criticized the opposition for not cooperating in renewing the 30 reserved seats for women through constitutional amendment. The constitutional amendment requires two-third majority of votes in parliament, which the AL lacked. In its 389 working days, the parliament passed 191 bills for new laws and amending old ones. Prominent among them are the bills that revoked the Indemnity Act that barred trial of the killers of the country's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was killed in a military coup in 1975, and the controversial Father of the Nation Family Members Security Act which provides special security arrangement to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Mujibur Rahman, even after she handed over power to a caretaker government completing her five-year tenure. The outgoing parliament also has created a new record in terms of having the largest ever opposition, with the BNP alone commanding 116 out of 300 elected seats in the last general elections. The House lost luster after the main opposition BNP started boycotting since July 8, 1999 after the parliament started its journey on July 14, 1996. |
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