Who will be the opposition party?

The Twelfth National Parliament is set to convene on the upcoming January 30th. The government has been formed, and positions such as Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament, Cabinet, and Deputy Speaker have been determined in a similar manner. On January 30th, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be officially elected. However, the Awami League has already endorsed Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury as the current Speaker and Shamsul Haque Tuku as the Deputy Speaker. There is no opposition on this matter, and there is no possibility of any other candidate. However, a decision on who will be the opposition party has not been made yet. The issue has become complicated due to the complexity of the January 7th election in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) did not participate in the election. Instead, Jatiya party has emerged. Their performance did not meet expectations. In a democratic system, the norm is that multiple political parties will participate in the elections.

In the Westminster system, the party that secures the most seats are invited first to form the government. If they, for any reason, are unable to form the government, then one or more parties may come together to form the government, which is referred to as a minority government. Such a form of government has been observed in many countries. And if the largest party is able to form the government with a majority, then the second-largest party is considered as the opposition party.

However, it's important to note that in Bangladesh's democratic system, the presence of an opposition party is essential for the formation of a government; without an opposition party, the government cannot be formed; there is no such constraint according to our constitution. At least, there is no specific directive regarding this matter in our constitution. The mention of opposition party leaders in parliamentary procedural laws is only found in the book. In reality, without an opposition party, the parliament cannot function effectively.

In every democratic country, there is one or more opposition parties. Where there are multiple opposition parties, the leader of the opposition is usually chosen from the elected representatives with the highest number of seats among the opposition parties. Alternatively, multiple parties may come together and collectively represent the opposition. This has also occurred in our country before. An opposition party is crucial for the well-being of the people in our nation.

According to renowned political expert Harold Laski, 'People will live peacefully side by side and engage in peaceful debate.' This place is none other than the parliament. If there is no opposition party, the effectiveness of that parliament also becomes questionable. It is noteworthy that there were no opposition parties in the parliament twice in Bangladesh. In the first election of independent Bangladesh in 1973, out of 300 seats, Awami League won 293 seats. Out of the remaining seven, the National Socialist Party secured one seat, Bangladesh Awami League secured one seat, and the remaining five were independent candidates. As they lacked the capability to form an opposition party, they were not recognized as such. However, a separate chamber in the parliament was allocated for them as per the wish of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. After the election on February 15, 1996, no opposition party entered the parliament formed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for the second time. However, discussions and speculations are ongoing across the country about who will be the opposition party in the Twelfth Parliament.

There are reasons for this as well. The calculation has become extremely complicated. In the election held for 299 seats, Awami League secured 225, independent candidates secured 61, and the National Party secured 11 seats. Therefore, the second-largest group is the independent candidates who did not receive approval from the Awami League.

Some independent candidates have stated that efforts are underway to form an opposition party by creating a forum among ourselves. However, the question arises whether the creation of such a forum by independent candidates could be recognized as an opposition party. Because they do not belong to any political party. Secondly, out of the independent candidates who have been elected, 56 are affiliated with the Awami League. The majority of them hold various positions within the Awami League. Can they create an opposition party by forming a forum? Because, according to Article 70 of the Constitution, they cannot cross the floor. This means that if they vote or express opinions against the party's decision, they will not only lose their party positions but also their parliamentary seats. There are other statements as well.

Experts are saying that since the independent winners did not contest the election with any party symbol, there is no obstacle for them to form an opposition party, and in this case, Article 70 would not be applicable to them. No one has a clear idea on this issue because even though they did not contest the election with a symbol, they did not resign from various committees and organizations within the Awami League. They are just members of the Awami family. Even before the election or after being elected, none of them has resigned from any position within the Awami League. If these members form a forum, they still may not be able to create an image as an opposition party. And due to various political realities, they are powerless against the Awami League, meaning they cannot speak against their own party or play any role against it. Another issue is that for them to form a forum, they would need at least 25 members. If they form a coalition, the Speaker will give a ruling.

However, after the 2014 elections, despite forming an opposition alliance with 34 seats, an alliance was created with 16 independent members at that time. In the current reality, it seems that who will sit on the opposition bench depends on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. However, as citizens of the country, we want a transparent opposition party that can objectively criticize the government, expose its weaknesses to the people, and advocate for the needs of the people.

Author: fiction writer and journalist