From Marginal to Secondary Actor

1. From Marginal to Secondary Actor The Parliament of Bangladesh (1991-2011) Nizam Ahmed University of Chittagong

2. Introduction to Parliament of Bangladesh • Structure of Parliament– Unicameral • Tenure of Parliament– Five years • Number of Members– 350 – 300 elected directly, 50 women elected indirectly • Scope of parliamentary power- Parliament is formally very important – legislative supremacy – Collective Cabinet responsibility to parliament –Ministerial responsibility – Parliament frames its own rules of procedure – validity of proceedings cannot be questioned in any court • Limits • Constitutional: Provision for judicial review – Restriction on independent voting • Procedural: Rules of procedure ensure government domination – Not much scope for backbench MP activism • Political: Extreme party control – Over-centralization of power in each major party – Lack of internal party democracy – Enemy discourse in inter-party relations

3. Development of Parliament • Characteristics of Parliaments elected since 1991 • More representative • More legitimate • More active

4. Reforms Introduced • Substantive Reforms • Restoration of parliamentary system • Establishment of an independent parliament secretariat • Introduction of non-party caretaker system to ensure orderly succession of government (now abolished) • Procedural Reforms • Introduction of new techniques (e.g., PMQT, Rule 71A) to make government more accountable • Democratisation of standing committees on ministries • Regular referral of bills to standing committees • Empowering committees to be more proactive • Live telecast of parliamentary proceedings.

5. MP-Constituency Relations • Better facilities and privileges for MPs • Office in Parliament precincts (and old Parliament hostels) • Availability of staff support • Provision for constituency (and office) allowances • Access to IT facilities • Power to recommend rural infrastructure development projects amounting TK. 30 million every year • Advisor to Upazila Parishad

6. Significance of Reforms • Reforms introduced in recent years have the potential to help Parliament upgrade its status from a marginal to a secondary actor • Improvement in quality of legislation • More amendments per bill • Cross-party consensus on amendments • Government willingness to accept amendments

7. Committee Scrutiny of Government Bills Parlia- Bills Bills % of bills Amendments Amendments mentintd. passed ref. to comm. moved (per bill) passed ________________________________________________________ • 161 154 2.0 0.7 0.7 • 182 173 4.0 4.0 1.1 • 195 191 90.8 2.2 2.2** • 188 185 62.7 5.9 5.9** 9* 146 144 87.6 5.6 5.6** ________________________________________________________ * Until July 2011 ** Approximate

8. Significance of Reforms • Improvement in oversight • Better use of oversight techniques (e.g. questions, call-attention motions) • Greater committee activism • More Meetings • More Reports • More inquiries • Scope for Backbench MPs to develop expertise

9. Improvement in Oversight Parliament Average (Per Sitting day) __________________________________________________ Oral Questions CAM SD AM HHD Answered Moved Held Moved Held ________________________________________________________ First 41.8 0.2 0.03 - - Fifth 22.0 0.8 0.1 0.01 0.004 Seventh 21.5 1.1 0.02 0.0 0.0 Eighth 30.1 1.1 0.01 0.0 0.0 Ninth* 56.8 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 ________________________________________________________ * Until July 2011

10. Committee Oversight of Government Nature of Activism Parliament ____________________________________ Fifth Seventh Eighth Ninth* ________________________________________________________ Meetings held (per year) 7.8 8.6 8.2 12 Bills scrutinized (per committee) - 3.3 2.7 2.5 Inquiries made/underway (per committee) 1.1 3.0 2.7 0.5 Total number of reports Submitted (except reports on bills)13 11 33 27 ________________________________________________________ * Until July 2011

11. Limits of Reforms • Bills scrutinised in haste • Lack of willingness to diversify sources of support and advice (no public hearing or use of outside expertise) • Partisan issues selected for deliberation • Uncritical approval of government policies • Partisanship in questions, especially PMQT • Committee recommendations do not receive adequate attention Notwithstanding limits, the reforms have important implications for parliamentary institutionalisation

12. Reforms and Institutionalization of Parliament Attributes of Institutionalization • Longevity – With longer experience legislatures generate precedents, customs and folkways of their own • Autonomy – Parliament is relatively independent of other structures or organizations – not dominated by external organizations • Formality – Well-established leadership roles – elaborate and written rules of procedure • Complexity – Development of substructures to distribute work • Uniformity – Similarities with other parliaments

13. Implications of Reforms for Institutionalization Most of the attributes of institutionalization can now be found in Bangladesh • Recent parliaments survived longer – almost all have completed their five-year tenure • Restoration of the parliamentary system of government – No disagreement on the system of government – Anti-system opposition is virtually non-existent • Introduction of the non-party caretaker system – agreement on regime change – recent abolition of the system is likely to cause serious instability • Elaborate rules of procedure already exist (Formality) • Establishment of an independent Parliament Secretariat – It is likely to help Parliament gain autonomy and uniformity • Creation of many subcommittees is likely to help achieve complexity

14. Decline of Parliament Despite potential for institutionalization, the Bangladesh Parliament has declined • Lack of parliamentary oversight of secondary legislation • Short duration of parliament sessions and sittings • Boycott of parliament including PMQT by opposition • Lack of scope for accommodation • Domination of Parliament by part-timers • Dominance of the ruling party • Party political role of Speaker • Negative effects of live telecast of proceedings

15. Decline of Parliament (Contd..) Variables Parliament _____________________________________ Fifth Seventh Eighth Ninth ________________________________________________________ Duration of Parliament (months) 56 60 60 Current Total sitting days 400 382 373 174 Average sitting days (per year) 85 76 75 87 Average sitting hours (per day) 4.58 4.25 3.32 3.24 Time for govt. business (hours) 459 406 309 141 Time for private members (hours) 1375 1218 930 424 Average time for a private Member (per year) (in minutes) 65 52 39 42

16. Strengthening the Parliament • Immediate Measures • Increase in number of sitting days and sitting hours • Development of professional parliament service • Better scope for opposition participation in parliamentary business • Change in rules and procedures to allow greater backbench participation

17. Strengthening the Parliament • Long Term Measures • Democracy within parties • Reform of the bureaucracy • Adoption of an integrated/balanced approach to democratic development, focusing on parliament, parties and bureaucracy • Change in constitution • Change in political culture

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