BNP to join JS if CG bill placed: Farroque

 

BNP Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque

Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque on Sunday said the party would join the New Year session of the Jatiya Sangsad if a bill reinstating the caretaker government system is placed in the Parliament after the president’s speech.
He also demanded withdrawal of ‘fake cases’ filed against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and party Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman before joining the parliament.

“Keeping the party leaders on the dock, BNP would not join the House,” Farroque said.
He was addressing a human chain around 11:00am on the Jatiya Sangsad premises in the capital where around 25 lawmakers of the opposition had taken part.
The 16th session of the ninth parliament will start at 3:30pm on Sunday.
President Zillur Rahman is scheduled to address the opening sitting of the year outlining successes of the Awami League-led government.
The opposition MPs, belonging to BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Jatiya Party, were not present in the House when President Zillur Rahman addressed parliament in the last three New Year sessions.
Despite attending the inaugural sitting of the ninth parliament, the opposition MPs had walked out during its first New Year session on January 25, 2009, before then president Iajuddin Ahmed addressed the House.
Records show the opposition deputies returned to the House during the New Year sessions in the last three years.
On January 7, when President Zillur Rahman convened the New Year session, BNP national standing committee member Moudud Ahmed had told The Daily Star that they were thinking of participating in parliament sessions. "We will soon sit to make a formal decision."
As of yesterday, the main opposition could not come up with any positive decision.
Seeking anonymity, another party lawmaker said they might join the JS any day.
The opposition MPs will need to join the New Year session at least for a day to save their memberships in parliament.
They last attended the House sitting on March 20, 2012 and went for another spell of boycott. Presently, they have been absent from the JS proceedings for the last 50 consecutive sittings.
If the New Year session holds 40 more sittings, which is possible if agreed by the treasury bench, the opposition MPs including their leader in the House Khaleda Zia will lose membership in parliament on the ground of being absent for 90 consecutive sittings.