No ‘friendly game’ happening in Parliament, says Chief Whip

Chief Whip Md. Nurul Islam Moni is reluctant to accept the mutual 'cooperation' between the government and the opposition in the budget session of the 13th National Parliament as an alliance. He claimed that no 'friendly game' is going on in Parliament.

He made this comment during the question and answer session of the press conference organized on the budget session at the LD Hall of the National Parliament on Thursday.

A journalist raised a question at the press conference - the previous day, the opposition leader had spoken about the government and the opposition moving forward together; on the other hand, during the budget discussion, a government MP cited the example of the 'friendly game' between Messi and Ronaldo and said that if such a game continues in Parliament, the field will eventually become empty. In response to the question whether there is really a 'friendly game' going on in Parliament or not - the Chief Whip said, 'Ronaldo and Messi are in football, they are in the World Cup. There are no games or sports in the parliament of Bangladesh.’

Nurul Islam Moni also said that if someone made such a comment, it was his personal opinion. He said, ‘The government expects an opposition party that will stand by it on reasonable issues and, if necessary, criticize the government.’

‘Whatever is genuine, it will stand by me. Whatever is not genuine, it should be against me, it should criticize me. So that I can correct it,’ he added.

Commenting that the opposition party’s job in a democratic system is not always to oppose the government, the Chief Whip said, ‘The opposition party can also go to government one day. We want a smooth democracy. That is why it will cooperate with whatever needs to be cooperated with; it will criticize whatever needs to be criticized.’

The opposition party has got ‘extra time’
The Chief Whip positively highlighted the cooperation between the government and the opposition party in the budget session throughout a large part of the press conference. Later, during the question and answer session, he faced questions from journalists on various topics including the functioning of the parliament, delay in passing bills in lawmaking, implementation of the July Charter, child deaths in the country, 'push-in', the July Museum and the formation of parliamentary committees.

The Chief Whip claimed that the opposition party got the opportunity to speak for more than the allotted time in this year's budget session. Although 26 percent of the total time was allotted to the opposition party, they spoke for about 31 percent of the time. He said, 'I have heard all the leaders. I have heard them the way they wanted to speak. The opposition party leaders spoke for 30 to 35 minutes.'

Nurul Islam Moni said that usually, when the specified time has passed in the budget session, the government party comes up with a guillotine proposal to pass the demand for approval. But this time, the opposition leader himself requested to go to the guillotine after the discussion. He claimed that this is the first time in the history of the parliament of Bangladesh that such a request has been made to the speaker by an opposition leader.

The Chief Whip claimed that the government had 'listened to the opposition's statement with importance, saying, 'After the opposition leader raised a problem in his area in parliament, the Prime Minister sent the State Minister for Local Government there that evening. The Prime Minister has also taken into consideration the proposal of tax exemption on a product given by the opposition leader.' He said, 'The government and the opposition want to make the country stand together.' He also commented that the two parties want to work together to protect independence, sovereignty and democracy.

'Life-friendly' budget, stopping smuggling is the hope
At the beginning of the press conference, the Chief Whip said, 'This is the first budget session of the Tarique Rahman government. There have been discussions for and against the budget of Tk 938,000 crore. Although there have been processions and rallies against the budget at various times in the past, such a situation has not arisen this time. Prices did not increase in the market before the budget was announced or after its passage.'

He said that taxes on 63 essential products, including food items, have not been increased, but rather taxes have been reduced in some cases. He commented that the prices of the products on which taxes have been reduced should also be reduced. Quoting the Prime Minister's statement, the Chief Whip said that the budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year has been 'life-friendly'.

Nurul Islam Moni said that he had asked the Prime Minister how the government would function if taxes were reduced on everything. 'In response, the Prime Minister said that if the 16 billion dollars that are laundered every year can be stopped, there will be no financial problem.'

Commenting that the government has taken responsibility for an 'extremely broken' economy, he said that the banking sector has become 'pocalyptic', the value of the dollar has increased in a day, and even if you give a check to some banks, the money does not come. Yet, there has been no 'cry' in the country in the last four months. The fact that there is no cry is due to the hard work of Tarique Rahman.

Alleging that there was 'mega corruption in the mega projects' of the previous government, the Chief Whip said that the current government's projects will be Padma Barrage, Teesta Barrage, planting 250 million trees, digging 20,000 kilometers of canals, and social security-focused programs like agriculture and family cards.

Dinner cost from 900 to 150 taka
Regarding the dinner arrangement around the budget session, Nurul Islam Moni said that although there was initially talk of not having a dinner, it was later decided to organize it as a 'tradition'. However, when the Prime Minister ordered expenditure reduction, the cost of the 900 taka meal was reduced to 150 taka. He claimed that this decision was made out of the attitude of not wasting the state's money considering the country's economic situation and the issue of child deaths due to measles. He commented that the Prime Minister is discharging his duties with the understanding that 'not a single taka can be wasted'.

July Charter and Constitutional Amendment
A journalist said during the question and answer session that the government says the July Charter will be implemented as signed; on the other hand, the opposition party demands that it be implemented in the light of the referendum. It was also asked whether the government will form the committee without them if the opposition party does not name its name in the constitutional amendment committee.

In response, the Chief Whip said, "There are 115 articles in the constitution, and there are about 30 issues in the July Charter. Where they will find a place in the constitution is a matter of consideration. Reform and constitutional amendment are not the same thing. But whatever is done in the end, the constitution must be amended."

He said, "There can be discussions between the government, the opposition and other parties on the issue of reform outside the parliament; and the work of amending the constitution will continue inside the parliament." Referring to the Prime Minister's recent statement, he said that the government and the opposition are not "very far apart" on this issue.

Government takes child deaths 'seriously'
In response to a question about child deaths, the Chief Whip said that the government is looking into the matter seriously. He claimed that the interim government has not brought measles vaccine in two years; the previous government also did not bring vaccine. The 'terrible situation' has now arisen due to the non-vaccination.

Noting that the Health Minister has already made a statement in Parliament on measles, Nurul Islam Moni said that there is now a surplus vaccine in the country and vaccination is underway. However, the situation is gradually becoming clear for those who have already been infected. He also said that the government has taken the issue of child deaths 'seriously'.

'Push-in' a national problem
Rejecting a question whether the opposition party had requested to withdraw the proposal for discussion on 'push-in' from neighboring countries, the Chief Whip said, 'No withdrawal was requested.'

He said, 'push-in' is a national problem; no one wants people from other countries to come to Bangladesh. Bangladesh wants to live together with its neighboring countries on the basis of dignity and understanding. Bangladesh's soil will not be used against the people of any other country. Similarly, if someone from a neighboring country speaks strongly, Bangladesh listens to it.

Referring to the youth of the July Movement, he said that the young generation of Bangladesh is 'brave, militant and patriotic'.

Admits allegations of late submission of bills
The Chief Whip also faced questions about the allegations of late submission of bills in lawmaking. A journalist said that the opposition party has repeatedly complained that the bills are being submitted late; journalists also often get only one or two copies of the bills in the lounge.

In response, the Chief Whip said that the new government received 133 ordinances in the beginning; it was difficult to handle so many issues in the beginning. We could not. And now we can, and we are doing that.

He also admitted that three or four laws brought in the current session could not be submitted on time. However, he claimed that time has been set aside to give members an opportunity to read, discuss and analyze them; when the parliament sits on July 7, there will be an opportunity to read more about the bills. He also said that everyone will get the laws that will be brought in the future on time.

When asked whether a ruling party MP from Cumilla was absent for two weeks due to allegations of being 'insulted', the Chief Whip said that he had no information on this matter; he did not know who was insulted. 'If information is provided, the matter will be investigated. No matter who is from the opposition party or the government party, efforts will be made to ensure that no one feels insulted.'

Museum, Residence and Parliamentary Committee
When asked when the July Memorial Museum will open, the Chief Whip said that work on the museum is underway. 'A museum is not something that will be completed in a day. A museum is born, not died.' He said that whatever is needed to preserve the July Memorial will be gradually added to the museum. In his words, 'Museums are part of history. People will go there to learn, to know.'

Regarding the Prime Minister's residence, he said that Bangladesh is the only country in the world that does not have a residence for the Prime Minister. However, he said that there was no real discussion about the July Museum and the Prime Minister's residence, and he raised the issue through journalists.

Meanwhile, the Chief Whip also spoke about the media at the press conference. He alleged that negative news is given more importance than good work in the country; much of the information on YouTube and Facebook is 'fake'. 'Nine out of 10 news stories in newspapers are negative.' He urged the mainstream media to also present good work to the people. Citing the example of the health program during the time of former President HM Ershad, he said that even good initiatives can fail due to negative publicity.

Responding to a question about the delay in forming parliamentary committees, the Chief Whip said that there is an obligation to form parliamentary committees within the third session and that time has not ended yet. 'One session has ended, another is underway. There is another session ahead. In the meantime, all parliamentary committees will be formed.'