Khaleda ZiaThree-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
was present at only six out of 254 sittings of the current parliament in the last three years. Lawmakers of the BNP-led opposition seem to have performed much better than their leader by attending 51 sittings in the same period.
It remains uncertain, though, whether the opposition MPs will be regular in joining the House proceedings in the remaining two years or will continue their current strategy about dodging the proceedings.
If the political situation does not improved significantly --- and that is what the signs suggest --- the culture of boycotting parliament may reach a new height, exceeding all previous records.
The BNP-led opposition MPs opted for boycotting the House in phases. In the first phase, they started to stay away from the House in June 2009. The boycott continued till February 2010. Having remained absent for 64 consecutive sittings, on February 11, 2010 they returned to Parliament.
A fresh boycott commenced in June 2010 and did not end till March 16, 2011, by which time the opposition had been away from 74 consecutive sittings. They stormed out of the House on March 24 and have not returned since then. In the current, third phase they have already boycotted over 48 consecutive sittings, that is, till last session prorogued on November 30 last year.
Information available suggests that in opposition, Awami League MPs in the fifth Parliament boycotted 135 out of 400 sittings. In the seventh Parliament, the opposition BNP MPs missed 163 out of total 382 sittings. Again, opposition AL politicians boycotted 223 out of 373 sittings of the eighth parliament's five year tenure.