Putting blame on messenger won't work

What Awami League leader Suranjit Sengupta said about the TIB five years ago and what he is saying about it now are very significant.

Speaking at a discussion on December 27, 2010, he said when in opposition the AL had supported the TIB's report as it spoke about the BNP-led government's corruption.

"But now that we are in power, we are rejecting TIB's report," he said.

Suranjit, also chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the law ministry, might have forgotten what he had said five years ago. Alongside some other AL leaders, he has now launched a blistering attack on the TIB for its latest report on the current parliament's functions.

He has accused the TIB of humiliating the House, the constitution and the state. He has said sedition charges should be brought against the TIB for its "derogatory statements" on the sovereign parliament.

His accusations, however, are not correct on legal grounds because our parliament is not sovereign like the British parliament and criticising our parliament's functions in no way humiliates the constitution and the state. Nor can it, in any way, be a seditious offence.

Suranjit's remarks, both five years ago and now, expose our political culture.

The TIB has been releasing parliamentary watch reports since 2001 and has so far released 12 reports. In the reports official data collected from the parliament secretariat were used. Every report dealt with quorum crisis, MPs' lack of interests in lawmaking and frequent House boycott by the opposition for the weaknesses in parliamentary practices. These reports were never welcomed by the party in power.

When the BNP was in power between 2001 and 2006, its MPs blasted the TIB for each of its six parliamentary watch reports. MPs belonging to the then main opposition AL never joined the BNP deputies to blast the TIB.

Rather, some of the then opposition MPs spoke in favour of the TIB findings to strengthen their claim that the then BNP-led government made the House dysfunctional.

The situation reversed when the AL came in power in 2009. The TIB has since released four reports on the ninth parliament [2009-2014] and two reports on the current parliament.

Every time a report was released on the ninth parliament, AL MPs blasted the TIB while BNP lawmakers opted for remaining either silent or speaking in favour of the TIB findings.

The latest situation is, however, not comparable to what happened during the past two parliaments.  

The treasury and opposition benches have set a unique record on Monday in parliament by jointly bashing the TIB for its latest parliamentary watch report. They demanded the Speaker summon TIB officials immediately to the House to question them for its "derogatory remarks" on parliament.

Such a joint position by the treasury and the opposition benches was never seen in the past. More interesting is the fact that Leader of the Opposition Raushan Ershad herself attacked the TIB. She launched the attack for her personal interests. The TIB in its latest report termed Jatiya Party a so-called opposition and said it failed to play its due role the parliament. There is no real opposition, according to the TIB, in parliament.

TIB's findings and observations on the role of the main opposition reveal nothing new.

The JP is a unique case in the contemporary history of parliamentary democracy in the world. Three of its MPs are ministers in the Sheikh Hasina-led government; its chief HM Ershad is special envoy to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with the status of a minister. The JP has been so rewarded because of its participation in the last parliamentary election which was vital in the face of BNP's boycott.

Because of these advantages, the JP could not play its role in parliament. In the last two years, JP MPs have never voted against any of the government's bills in parliament. Even during passage of the 16th constitutional amendment bill last year, some JP MPs spoke against it. But they have finally voted in favour of it. The JP, being the main opposition, never challenged and opposed the AL on any issue.

Due to its questionable role in parliament, the JP could not garner people's confidence as the main opposition party. While speaking about JP's role in parliament, TIB executive director termed the main opposition's role as "puppet show." We think the above description speaks as to whether it was a puppet show or not.

Those who have blasted the TIB in parliament on Monday did not counter any findings and observations of the TIB. Instead, they picked a comment made by TIB's executive director regarding the role of the main opposition and launched the scathing attack which was out of context.

In its parliamentary watch reports since 2001 till today, the TIB has consistently focused on many issues. It has also made dozens of recommendations about how to overcome the quorum crisis or the practice of House boycott. Like all the previous occasions, this time, too, the response was predictably the same. 

Blasting the TIB indiscriminately will not solve the real problems facing the Jatiya Sangsad. The real gains can be made only if TIB's findings are discussed to improve quality of parliament's functions.