Plundering of the public exchequer
The High Court issued the verdict on a public interest litigation writ petition filed by the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (Blast) seeking the court's directive for realisation of arrear telephone bills from the MPs. The court's ruling also said that, if the defaulting MPs fail to pay the arrear bills, the BTTB would take appropriate action against them.
Total outstanding telephone bill of 619 MPs of all the eight parliaments is over Tk 83,700,000 while Tk 4,777,000 is outstanding for 110 MPs of the current parliament. Most of the MPs do not pay telephone bills despite they receive a ceiling of Tk 6,000 per month for payment of their telephone bills. This is no doubt a classic case of corruption. A common citizen having a telephone usually could not get away with non-payment of telephone bills for more than three months, as the BTTB disconnects the line. But the MPs did not face any such action by the BTTB, though the quantum of their default is much higher.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. "The law is not a respecter of the people and it does not discriminate between the ordinary citizens and the functionaries of state. However high and mighty they may be, no one is above the law of the land," the High Court said in its verdict. When the poor farmers defaulting a small amount of loan, are made to repay by selling their livestock, then the MPs must not be spared for deliberate defaulting on their gargantuan telephone bills.
At least 30 members of the Indian parliament, including some senior leaders, were forced to go without power and water for non-payment of utility bills. It should be an instance in the case of our defaulting MPs.
Quorum crisis is another crucial factor in our parliament. Most of the MPs are businessmen by profession and like to stay away from the House on various excuses. The MPs of the opposition parties have made it their business for continuous boycotting of parliament. A particular point of agony for the country has been that in a very large number of instances the Speaker could not start sessions in time due to quorum failure.
The reality, as reported in the survey report of TIB, that keeps tabs on the working of parliaments in emerging democracies, is however sadly different. The report on functioning of our parliament revealed that a total amount of Taka 23,500,000 was wasted in three (4th, 5th and 6th) sessions of the current 8th parliament due to quorum crisis. The time lost in quorum failure amounted to 26.15 hours of the total session time of 127.50 hours. Only 22 hours were spent on legislative business. Interestingly, the MPs uttered the names of their party leaders at least 493 times during their deliberations.
The perks and privileges of the MPs have been increased several times. All possible assistance including office and two assistants have also been provided to them, so that they can contribute to the law making process and enrich the proceedings of the House. Naturally the people of the country expected better performance of their representatives in the parliament. But most of the MPs have failed to fulfill the aspiration and huge public money spent for their capacity building was a sheer wastage.
Duty-free car privilege is another way of plundering the public exchequer. The MPs of the current parliament brought in 275 luxury cars from abroad, costing the NBR over Tk 2,800,000,000 in tax. They pocketed at least Tk 500,000,000 through selling these luxury cars to businessmen at a profit of Tk 1,000,000 to 2,500,000 for each car.
"Giving the lawmakers the benefit to import duty-free cars is against the natural justice and discriminatory. It's illegal and it should be scrapped. And then it's a corruption when the lawmakers sell those cars," M Hafizuddin Khan, former advisor of the caretaker government told The Daily Star on April 6.
In a latest development of the predicament, eleven ruling BNP MPs, of them ten female, are soon getting the privilege of importing duty-free cars on special consideration, evading the criteria that a lawmaker qualifies for this privilege only after completion of two years as MP. The rest of the female MPs, elected to the current parliament in the women's reserved seats last year, are also lobbying for the privilege.
This discriminatory privilege was provided during the despotic rule of Ershad only to gain the favour of the MPs, and it has added another point in the criminal records of many of the MPs, which are often already quite long. Perhaps the legislators nowhere in the world enjoy such an unjust privilege as in Bangladesh.
A powerful member of the Indian parliament had to recently face dismissal for holding other profitable public position. Even the Indian ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi resigned from the parliament amid charges of holding two salaried position. Blast should also bring the issue of misuse of MPs duty-free car privilege to the notice of the High Court.
The VIP cafeteria of the JS is nothing but a "cash cow" where all the whips spent around Tk 2,700,000 under the entertainment head in the last fiscal year. According to a media report, the chief whip has already drawn more than Tk 800,000 as entertainment in the current fiscal year in addition to his pay package of Tk 50,000 a month.
Who knows how much money is being spent by the MPs each year from the public exchequer for their entertainment in the VIP cafeteria of JS? The AG officials deputed there for audit have to pretend not to notice the irregularities for fear of consequences.
The MPs of both the ruling and opposition parties agreed to increase their privileges through enacting a law. They observed that, though they are provided with facilities like accommodation, car, and telephone at the expense of the public coffer, there is no legal protection for them in the existing provisions of the law.
One can truly raise here the issue that the MPs in the treasury bench and in opposition agree on their own interest only, but never in the public interest. Both the ruling and opposition party MPs earlier united for increasing their monthly allowances and for duty-free cars, but never on any national issue, however crucial it may be.
The demand for clean candidates for next parliamentary election is growing forceful with the people having serious doubt about the cleanliness of many of the MPs. What leaves us all with a very disturbing feeling is that no public interest is being served by those who have been placed in public position by the nation.
On the contrary, they have been plundering the public exchequer through non-payment of bills, misuse of duty-free car privilege, and grabbing premium plots of land at throwaway prices. Sadly, these are the legislators into whose hands the fate of the nation is leased out. The citizens' group should give shape to its "Vision for Bangladesh" to salvage the nation from the abyss of despair.