Most of the lawmakers are reluctant to take part in discussions tabled at the Parliament, according to a study carried out by Transparency International Bangladesh.
A report unveiled by the transparency watchdog on Wednesday (Aug 28) says that the least number of lawmakers take part in bill-related discussions.
The report titled ‘Parliament Watch’ was prepared based on data collected during the 23 sessions of the 10th Parliament.
The research showed that out of 350 members of the Parliament, only 94 took part in discussions on bills. Amongst them 71 were ruling party lawmakers, 19 from the opposition and the rest were from other parties.
The TIB report said that 12 percent of the total time of the 23 sessions was allocated to bill discussions. Ruling party leaders spent 11 percent, opposition lawmakers spent 67 percent and other lawmakers spent 22 percent of their time in these discussions.
A total of 193 bills were passed during the last Parliament amongst which 51 were amendments and took an average of 31 minutes for a bill to be passed. A total of 71 percent of bills were cleared within 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, the House of Lords spent 48 percent of the total time to pass bills in the year 2017-2018. The 16th Lok Sabha in India around 32 percent time was spent to enact bills.
TIB chief Dr Iftekharuzzaman questioned the swiftness with which the bills were cleared in Bangladesh and said that countries such as India and the United States dedicate a significant amount of time over the matter.
“I don’t find it hopeful,” he said while talking about the operation of the Parliament.
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