The 10th Parliament devoted only around 31 minutes to pass a bill on an average day, with 71 per cent of the bills being enacted within one to 30 minutes, according to a Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) report. The report, titled ‘Parliament Watch’, also mentions that in the House of Lords 48 per cent of the total time was spent to pass bills in the year 2017–2018, while in the 16th Lok Sabha in India around 32 per cent of the time was spent on enacting bills. It  says that though formulation of law is the main purpose of Parliament, the last Parliament devoted only 12 per cent of its total time to the enactment of laws.  

The term of the 10th Parliament started from January 29, 2014. From then until 2018, Parliament passed 193 bills during its 23 sessions, says the report, which was released at a press conference held at the TIB office at MIDAS Centre in Dhanmondi yesterday. According to the report, 9 per cent of the time was spent on enacting bills in the eighth Parliament (2001–2005), whereas the ninth Parliament (2009–2013) spent only eight per cent of its time on bill formulation.

The TIB also revealed that the 10th Parliament generated an estimated financial loss of Tk. 16,35755,363 crore due to quorum crises lasting 194 hours and 30 minutes. The average duration of a quorum crisis was 28 minutes a day. The Constitution states that the presence of at least 60 lawmakers is required to meet the quorum to start the day’s proceedings. Otherwise, the sitting has to be postponed or adjourned until the quorum is fulfilled.

The 10th Parliament could not play its expected role to ensure transparency and accountability of the government due to the absence of an effective opposition, said TIB executive director Dr Iftekharuzzaman.

In fundamental terms, the 10th Parliament cannot be compared with the eighth and ninth Parliaments. The 10th Parliament faced huge shortcomings as there was no real opposition, he said.

The Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) remained outside Parliament as her 20-Party Alliance and a number of opposition parties boycotted the elections held on January 5, 2014. As a result, the Jatiya Party served as the opposition for the first time and shared power with the government.

The TIB chief, however, mentioned that the opposition emerging from a culture of boycotting Parliament came at a huge cost.

The TIB report also reveals that 59 per cent of parliamentarians were from the business community, while 13 per cent were lawyers and only seven per cent were career politicians. The remaining 21 per cent were from other professions.

According to the report, although the presence of female lawmakers in Parliament was higher compared to their male colleagues, their participation in formulating laws was lower.

The TIB prepared the report based on data collected from different sources during the period between January 2014 and October 2018.

Nihar Ranjan Roy and Morsheda Akter, two deputy program managers of TIB, presented the report at the press conference. TIB executive director Dr Iftekharuzzaman, trustee board chairperson Sultana Kamal, director Mohammad Rafiqul Hasan, executive management adviser Dr Sumaya Khair, and programme manager (research and policy) Juliet Rossetete attended the event.

The TIB report put forward 11-point recommendations such as amending Article 70 of the Constitution to allow all lawmakers to vote according to their conscience except against their own party and budget, preparing a code of conduct for the lawmakers, and ensuring effective participation of the opposition in Parliament.

It placed emphasis on the Speaker playing an active role in order to stop and expunge the use of unparliamentary language, place all international agreements except matters of state security before Parliament through the President, and release all bills placed in Parliament to gather public opinion.

The TIB also recommended electing opposition lawmakers to head at least five of the 10 parliamentary standing committees relating to financial affairs, including the standing committee on public accounts. On average, lawmakers registered 63 per cent attendance, with 62 per cent attendance for male lawmakers and 71 per cent for female lawmakers. Prime Minister and Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina had an 82 per cent attendance record while Leader of the Opposition Raushan Ershad had 59 per cent attendance.