Parliamentary Session:
Parliament is summoned, prorogued and dissolved by the President in
accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister tendered to him in
writing. The period beginning with the first sitting of Parliament
and ending with its prorogation is termed a session of
Parliament. The Secretary of Parliament with the approval of the
speaker of the house prepares a list of what the parliament is
going to do that day. This is called the order of the
day.
Government business is transacted
on four days of the week commencing on Sunday. The fifth day in the
week, i.e. Thursday, is called Private Members' Day on which
Private Members Business has preference.
For the purpose of dissolving the
parliament it is not necessary to complete the full five years
session. Prime Minister may any time when ever s/he feels
convenient for an election, ask the president to dissolve the
parliament. Here it may be worth mentioning that except the seventh
parliament (1996-2001) none of the parliaments completed this
term.
| Parliament | Date of First
Sitting | Date of
Dissolution | Actual
Term |
| First
Parliament | April 7,1973 | Nov.6, 1975 | 2 years 6 months |
| Second
Parliament | April 2,1979 | March 24,1982 | 2 years 11 months
|
| Third
Parliament | July 10, 1986 | Dec. 6,1987 | 1 year 5 months |
| Fourth
Parliament | April 15,1988 | Dec. 6,1990 | 2 years 7 months |
| Fifth
Parliament | April 5, 1991 | Nov. 24,1995 | 4 years 8 months |
| Sixth
Parliament | March 19, 1996 | March 30,1996 | 12 days |
| Seventh
Parliament | July 14, 1996 | July 13, 2001 | 5 years |
The current eighth
Parliament had its first sitting on 28 Oct. 2001.
Function and role:
Parliament in a parliamentary form of government is a
multifunctional organ of the state, but its functions are rarely
defined in any Constitution or other document anywhere in the
world. Parliament of Bangladesh is not an exception to this nearly
universal phenomenon. The followings are the main function of the
parliament but there are several others:
Legislative Function-
Primary function of the legislative body is to enact
legislation i.e. Act of Parliament. The draft of legislation
is called a Bill. At the end of the enactment procedure the
MP has to convey his/her agreement or disagreement with the bill
while the bill is passed. The power of enactment is not absolute,
its subject to the rules of the constitution. So any Act which is
contrary to the Constitution is bound to be declared void by the
court of law. Each year a large number of legislation is enacted
and it is not possible for the parliament alone to enact all these
legislations. To reduce its legislative burden the parliament
sometime delegates some of its’ legislative power to the executive
body. The executives then enact law. Those are called Delegated
Legislation.
*** If u want I can add the
enactment procedure but I guess that would be too boring for lay
people.
Scrutinising function - The
second most important function of the parliament is to scrutinise
the executive function to ensure their accountability. The Rules of
Procedure of Parliament have prescribed a number of devices to make
the Government answerable and accountable to Parliament Mechanism
introduced to ensure accountability are exercised both on the floor
of the parliament and off the Parliament.. Scrutiny on the floor
includes the followings:
•
Questions
•
Half-an-hour Discussion
• Call
Attention
•
Resolution
•
Discussion for short duration
• Motion
(General)
•
Adjournment Motion
•
No-confidence Motion
Out side the floor of the
parliament the committees ensure government’s accountability. The
term ‘Committee’ - meaning a parliamentary committee - has
been defined in the Rules of Procedure of Bangladesh Parliament as
a committee ‘set up by or under the authority of Parliament and
includes its sub-committees’. There are mainly three types of
committees:
- Select Committees - A
Select Committee is established to examine a Bill referred to it
and report to Parliament. Its tenure ends at the moments it submits
the report to the parliament.
- Special Committees - A
special committee is also established to deal with special cases
referred to it but its’ power may be widened in the motion of its
appointment. Similar to select committee its term also end at the
moment of submission of the report.
- Standing Committees - The
Standing committee plays the most important role in ensuring
accountability. Standing committees are related to a particular
ministry. A Standing Committee on a Ministry is required to meet at
least once a month and has the following functions to
perform:
• to
examine draft Bills and other legislative
proposals;
• to
review the work relating to the Ministry;
• to
inquire into any activity or irregularity and serious complaint
with respect to the Ministry;
• to
examine any Bill or other matters referred to it by Parliament;
and
• to
examine any other matter within its jurisdiction
The composition of the member of
the committees reflects the proportion of last general election.
Such a committee continues until the parliament dissolves. The
committee previously used to act as a watch dog but now its
function is described to be an oversight or over-seeing function.
The committees can never exercise executive power but still the
power it is vested with under Rules of Procedure 248 is quite wide.
The Rules of Procedure state that:
“248. . . . the
functions of a Committee shall be to examine any bill or other
matter referred to it by Parliament, to review the works relating
to a Ministry which falls within its jurisdiction, to inquire into
any activity or irregularity and serious complaint in respect of
the Ministry and to examine, if it deems fit, any such other matter
as may fall within its jurisdiction and to make
recommendations:”
After finishing the inquiry,
examination and scrutiny the committee may, if it thinks fit,
submit a report to the Parliament. Some of the reports are
discussed there and some of the reports are sent straight to the
ministry for implementation. The parliament is not bound by these
reports neither the committees have any power of implementation of
its own.
Standing Committees
Nominated by the Speaker
| Sl.
No. | Name of
Committees | Number of
Members | Chairman |
| 1. | Business Advisory
Committee | 15 | Speaker
ex-officio |
| 2. | House Committee | 12 | Nominated by
Speaker |
| 3. | Library Committee
| 10 | Deputy Speaker
ex-officio |
| 4. | Committee on
Petitions | 10 | Nominated by
Speaker |
Standing Committees
Appointed by the House
| Sl.
No. | Committee | Number of
Members | Chairman |
| 1. | Privileges | 10 | Appointed by
Parliament |
| 2. | Public Accounts | 15 | Appointed by
Parliament |
| 3. | Public
Undertakings | 10 | Appointed by
Parliament |
| 4. | Estimates | 10 | Appointed by
Parliament |
| 5. | Govt. Assurances | 8 | Appointed by
Parliament |
| 6. | Private Member's Bills and
Resolutions | 10 | Appointed by
Parliament |
| 7. | Rules of
Procedure | 12 | Speaker
ex-officio |
| 8. | Standing Committees on Ministries
(one for each Ministry) | 10 (in each
committee) | Appointed by
Parliament |
Representative function -
Thirdly the parliament is there to represent the general people. So
the MPs are the representative of people therefore it is their
humble duty to represent the constituents who has elected him. But
it is always difficult to find out whether the MP is expressing
his/her personal view or that of the constituent’s, which may not
be always desirable even.
The Executive
The executive body is the one that
implements all the orders, instruction, recommendation or judgment
of the judicial and legislative body. At the end of the executive
pyramid there stands the government employees and at its acme the
President is there. The president is the nominal head of the
executive body, then comes the Prime Minister (PM) which is
followed by ministers and secretaries.
The
President
The President is the head of state
and is elected by members of Parliament. In exercise of all his
functions save only that of appointing the Prime Minister and the
Chief Justice, the President acts in accordance with the advice of
the Prime Minister. Any citizen of Bangladesh of at least 35 years
of age is qualified for election as President.
The Prime
Minister
Prime Minister, constitutionally
executive chief of government under the 12th Amendment of
the constitution. Prior to the amendment, a Presidential system was in
force in the country between 1975 and 1991 and a Parliamentary
system between 1972 and 1975. According to Articles 55 and 56 of
the Constitution, the Cabinet or the Council of Ministers is headed
by the Prime Minister and comprises such other ministers, state and
deputy ministers as the Prime Minister may determine from time to
time. The cabinet is collectively responsible to
the jatiya
sangsad.
The Constitution provides that not
less than nine tenths of the cabinet shall be appointed from among
the members of the Jatiya Sangsad and not more than one tenth from
among persons qualified for election as members of the Sangsad. The
President appoints as Prime Minister the member of the Sangsad who
appears to him to command the support of a majority of members of
the Sangsad.
Article 57 of the Constitution
provides that the office of the Prime Minister shall be vacant if
he/she resigns from office at any time by placing his/her
resignation to the President, or if he/she ceases to be a member of
Sangsad. If the Prime Minister ceases to retain the support of a
majority of the members of Sangsad he/she shall either resign
his/her office or advise the President in writing to dissolve the
Sangsad.
Provision of a
Non-party caretaker
governmentfor
a 3 months period headed by a Chief Adviser for holding
parliamentary elections in the country has been incorporated in the
Constitution through the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act of
1996. The executive power of the state vests with the Chief Adviser
during the tenure of the Caretaker Government.
Basic fact about Prime
Minister
- There shall be Prime Minister,
and such other Ministers, Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers
as may be determined by the Prime Minister.
- The appointments of the Prime
Minister and other Ministers and of the Ministers of State and
Deputy Ministers, shall be made by the President: Provided that not
less than nine-tenths of their number shall be appointed from among
members of Parliament and not more than one-tenth of their number
may be chosen from among persons qualified for election as members
of Parliament.
- The President shall appoint as
Prime Minister the Member of Parliament who appears to him to
command the support of the majority of the members of
Parliament.
- If occasion arises for making any
appointment under clause (2) of clause (3) between a dissolution of
Parliament and the next following general election of members of
Parliament, the persons who were such members immediately before
the dissolution shall be regarded for the purpose of this clause as
counting to be such members.
Tenure of office of Prime
Minister
(1) The office of the Prime Minister
shall be vacant -
(a) if he resigns from office at any time by placing his
resignation in the hands of the President; or
(b) if he ceases to be a member of Parliament.
(2) If the Prime Minister ceases to retain the support of a
majority of the members of Parliament, he shall either resign his
office or advise the President shall, if he is satisfied that no
other member of Parliament commands the support of the majority of
the members of Parliament, dissolve Parliament
accordingly.
(3) Nothing in this article shall disqualify the Prime Minister for
holding office until his successor has entered upon
office.
The Cabinet
(1) There shall be a Cabinet for
Bangladesh having the Prime Minister at its head and comprising
also such other Minister as the Prime Minister may from time to
time designate.
(2) The executive power of the Republic shall, in accordance with
this Constitution, be exercised by or on the authority of the Prime
Minister.
(3) The Cabinet shall be collectively responsible to
Parliament.
(4) All executive actions of the Government shall be expressed to
be taken in the name of the President.
(5) The President shall by rules specify the manner in which orders
and other instruments made in his name shall be attested of
authenticated, and the validity or any order of instrument so
attested or authenticated shall not be questioned in any court on
the ground that it was not duly made or executed.
(6) The President shall make rules for the allocation and
transaction of the business of the Government.
Tenure of office of other
Ministers
(1) The office of a Minister other
than the Prime Minister shall become vacant-
(a) if he resigns from office by placing his resignation in the
hands of the Prime Minister for submission to the
President;
(b) if he ceases to be a member of Parliament, but this shall not
be applicable to a Minister chosen under the proviso to article
56(2);
(c) if the President, pursuant to the provisions of clause (2), so
directs; or
(d) as provided in clause (4).
(2) The Prime Minister may at any time request a Minister to
resign, and if such Minister fails to comply with the request, may
advise the President to terminate the appointment of such
Minister.
(3) Nothing in sub-clauses (a), (b), and (d) of clause (1) shall
disqualify a Minister for holding office during any period in which
Parliament stands dissolved.
(4) If the Prime Minister resigns from or ceases to hold office
each of the other Ministers shall be deemed also to have resigned
from office but shall, subject to the provisions of the Chapter,
continue to hold office until his successor has entered upon
office.
(5) In this article "Minister" includes Minister of State and
Deputy Minister.
