Practice of Parliamentary Democracy in Bangladesh: Lessons from the Ninth Parliament

Abstract

The aim of this study is to find out the brief historical background of practicing parliamentary democracy and what is the success of ninth parliament in enacting laws for the society. In what extent the nature of parliamentary practices in resolving different nation issue? How different parliamentary committees succeed under ninth parliament and what is the level interaction of ruling and opposition lawmakers in functioning the parliament? This study seeks to investigate these questions through a systematic analysis of the performance of the parliament and parliamentarians in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a democratic country and the people of Bangladesh have equal rights to vote to select a candidate through parliamentary election. There are multiple activities of our parliament by which the ministers of different ministries can fulfill the people’s demand in their particular area. Ninth parliamentary election has tremendous significances to ensure the people’s right to vote in free fare election. This study focused on the different area of ninth parliamentary democracy to explore the laws, practices of these laws and the interaction of the opposite party to ensure the democracy. It is very important to mention that this study is a secondary research by which the readers and the researchers can be informed about the agendas, activities, practices of democracy in the ninth parliament of Bangladesh. The significant of this study is to find out the democratic practices, enactment of laws for the society, nature of parliamentary practices, and interaction of ruling and opposition lawmakers in functioning the parliament. Researchers and the policy makers would be able to realize the activities and functions of the national parliament as well as the failures of the parliament members. Bangladesh has a parliamentary system of government. The constitution bestows the parliament with almost unrestricted powers over the executive branch. The government is dependent on a parliamentary majority. The President is the ceremonial head of the state and is elected by the parliament. The parliament of Bangladesh is named as the Jatiya Sangsad (JS), the House of the 1 Nation . There is, however, a gap between the promise and the actual performance of parliaments in many countries including Bangladesh. The weakness of the parliament in Bangladesh is manifested not so much in the absence of its initiatives in formulating laws and budgets, but in the absence of real discussion, debate and scrutiny of the proposals put forward by the executive branch of the government. Several structural factors constrain the effective functioning of the parliament. However, it is the political practices, most notably the practice of boycotting the parliamentary meetings by the opposition which have created major impediments inhibiting the performance of the parliament. In a Westminster‐style parliamentary system, the main responsibility for ensuring the government’s accountability falls on the shoulders of the opposition in parliament, as the ruling party parliamentarians are expected to support the government. But in Bangladesh since the mid‐1990s, the opposition has adopted the tactics of boycotting parliamentary meetings rather than to voice their concerns through discussion and debate in the parliament. Nearly half of the parliamentary working days have been boycotted by the opposition even when both major political parties have rotated in power and also in the opposition. The opposition’s practice of boycott of the parliament is unique to Bangladesh. This pattern of boycott by the opposition (no matter the political party) shows that parliamentary work is not prioritized. This has earned the parliament a negative image. However, successive elections of the parliament since 1991 have generated high popular participation and keen contest amongst the political parties, which means that notwithstanding the shortfalls in the performance of the parliament, both the electorate and the political parties find the parliamentary elections, and thereby presumably the parliament, to be politically relevant. The practice of parliamentary democracy is very important for the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Without democracy and people’s participation in the parliamentary systems, development is impossible. In the context of developing countries, Bangladesh is very significant for the rapid economic growth and development in multi-disciplinary sectors. The statement of this study is whether the practice of parliamentary democracy exists in Bangladesh or not on the basis of the people’s freedom of expression and whether the interaction of the opposition party is visible or not in the national parliament. Sometimes the practice of parliamentary democracy is absence in Bangladesh and the parliament members are not success to enact the new laws and policies in resolving different national and international issues. This study focused to these issues especially in ninth parliamentary election so that the researchers and the policy makers get the scenario of the democratic practice of the national parliament in Bangladesh.