The Constitutional Reform Commission has recommended the formation of a new type of parliament, comprising both an upper and a lower house. In light of this recommendation, plans for possible structural changes within the parliament secretariat have already been initiated.
The preliminary plan is to convert the Cabinet room in the Parliament building into the upper house. Alternatively, the Prime Minister's office or the oath room may also be repurposed for the upper house. Meanwhile, the existing session room will remain as the lower house.
According to the recommendation, the lower house will consist of 400 members. Currently, there are 354 seats in that room. In this case, two lounges designated for diplomats and foreign guests will be included in the lower house.
If this plan is implemented, it will bring about a fundamental change to the internal infrastructure of the Parliament building, according to officials from the Parliament Secretariat.
However, everything will depend on the final decision regarding the type of parliament to be formed. This matter has already been communicated to the higher levels of government.
The full report of the Constitutional Reform Commission advocates for the creation of a new parliamentary system. It proposes a parliament of 505 members, with a four-year term, consisting of both an upper and a lower house. The lower house will have 400 seats, with 300 members elected directly from single-member regional constituencies. An additional 100 female members will be directly elected from 100 designated constituencies across the country, with only female candidates competing. The upper house (Senate) will consist of 105 members, with political parties nominating 100 candidates for election based on proportional representation system.
The remaining 5 seats will be filled by the President, who will nominate citizens (who are not members of any house). Just like the lower house, the upper house will also have a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker.
A senior official from the Parliament Secretariat told Bangladesh Pratidin that the Constitutional Reform and Election Reform Commissions have recommended changes for the future parliament. It has been suggested to include both an upper and a lower house. Several major political parties, including BNP, and other organizations have also recommended a similar structure for the parliament. Therefore, this issue has been given priority. In light of this, the Parliament Secretariat has made initial plans regarding the new structural setup of the parliament.
On February 8, the full reports from the Constitutional Reform Commission and six other reform commissions were published on the Cabinet Division’s website. The commission was headed by Dr. Ali Riaz, a professor from the Department of Government and Politics at Illinois State University. Earlier, the commission had released a summary of its recommendations.
Regarding the formation of a new type of parliament, the Reform Commission stated that since independence, Bangladesh has had a unicameral legislature. However, its effectiveness in fulfilling constitutional duties has increasingly been questioned. Due to the inefficiency in overseeing the executive, weak representation, and various structural and institutional limitations, the legislature has not been able to play an effective role. The dominance of the executive has significantly limited meaningful parliamentary debates and scrutiny. Additionally, the persistent culture of parliamentary boycotts by opposition parties has significantly reduced the space for accountability.
(Translated by Afia Nanjiba Ibnat)
Bd-pratidin English
