Opposition walks out of parliament at last minute

The opposition has walked out of the National Parliament, alleging that it was not given the opportunity to speak on points of order, was not given a copy of the bill in advance, and was allocated less time than the government party. The incident occurred towards the end of the budget session on Sunday (June 28).

Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir delivered the last speech in the general discussion on the budget as per the agenda of the day. In his speech, he called on Jamaat-e-Islami to clarify its position on its role during the 1971 Liberation War.

Then, the Bangladesh Medical University (Amendment) Act and the Public Examinations (Offense) (Amendment) Bill were raised in the supplementary agenda. Earlier, the opposition objected to the raising of the bills without notice. However, Deputy Speaker Barrister Kaiser Kamal excused the time and accepted the two bills and sent them to the parliamentary committee for examination and report.

After the bill was introduced, Jamaat-e-Islami MP Shahjahan Chowdhury asked for a point of order. However, the Deputy Speaker said that it was not possible to take a point of order at that moment. There is a statement from the Local Government Minister in Rule 300, which will be presented first.

At that time, the Local Government Minister told the MPs, "I have good news for you." However, when the opposition members tried to speak while standing, the Deputy Speaker said, "Let the statement be made later. You are so impatient!"

After that, the opposition members were seen leaving the parliament saying, "We are walking out."

Later, the Local Government Minister said that he would present his statement on Monday. Then the Deputy Speaker announced the adjournment of the meeting.

Speaking to reporters after the walkout, Jamaat-e-Islami MP Najibur Rahman said that they walked out of the parliament in protest against the opposition being given less time, not being provided with a copy of the bill in advance, and not being given a chance to speak on the point of order.