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Awami League to boycott Parliament again

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA July 16. The first time since its election nine months ago, the 8th Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament) of Bangladesh witnessed attendance by all the members in the just-concluded budget session, with the Opposition Awami League ending its boycott of the House.

However, while Parliament was prorogued on Monday, the Awami League announced its decision to refrain from attending future sessions unless the Government guaranteed party members' right to speak in the House. It also demanded that all arrested leaders, including the senior parliamentarian, Sawkat Ali, should be released. Police had on Friday arrested the veteran leader in connection with a murder case, but the Opposition claimed that Col. Ali's arrest was politically motivated and part of the Government's "blueprint to silence Opposition voice''.

"We will not join Parliament as long as our senior parliamentarian Sawkat Ali is not freed'', said the party president and former Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, after presiding over a parliamentary party meeting on Sunday. The Government had earlier rejected Sheikh Hasina's demand to release Col. Ali.

Later, addressing a press conference, Sheikh Hasina said that while her party was willing to attend Parliament sessions, the ruling party had created a situation compelling it to stay away. ``Even the leader of the Opposition was not allow to speak'' in the House, she said.

Countering the charges, the secretary general of the ruling BNP and senior Minister, Abdul Mannan Bhuyan, said the Awami League had decided to boycott Parliament without any valid reason.

He requested it to reconsider the decision.

One of the striking features of the post-election politics is that the Government has made it almost a point not to allow the Awami League or its front organisations to take out processions anywhere in the country. Many senior Opposition leaders and former ministers were subjected to indiscriminate beatings when they tried to take out processions.

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