BNP to abstain from parliamentary probe against ex-Speaker
Monday, 23 March 2009
BNP will abstain from meeting of the all-party parliamentary committee constituted to probe allegation of irregularities and corruption against former Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar as the party presumes the investigation won't be fair and proper, reports UNB.
At a press briefing Sunday at BNP chairperson's Gulshan office, opposition chief whip in Parliament Zainul Abedin Farroque said they have decided after consulting party chief and leader of the opposition in parliament Khaleda Zia to abstain from the meeting of the probe body.
He questioned how the investigation by the committee would be fair when many members of the committee, including the president of the committee, have raised the allegation and spoken against the ex-Speaker in the House.
The former ruling party further pointed out that Fazle Rabbi Mia, the chief of the probe body, was not a member of the eighth parliament while other members-Shajahan Khan and Mainuddin Khan Badal-spoke in the House against Sircar, the speaker of the past parliament.
Farroque said out of the 11 members of the parliamentary committee only one was taken from the opposition while the rest are from the ruling party and its grand alliance. The opposition chief whip, Farroque, was made lone member of the committee from the opposition side.
The all-party parliamentary committee was formed on March 19, in the wake of wild allegations of corruption during the ex-speaker's times.
He said they had demanded investigation of the affairs of all of the Speakers since 1972.
"The incumbent Speaker has said that his three-month and 18-day tenure as Speaker in the seventh parliament would also be brought under the purview of investigation, but, finally, those periods were not included," he told the journalists.
He alleged that the probe committee was formed to put influence on the upcoming by-election and belittle Jamiruddin Sircar, a candidate for by-election, before the people.
Sircar is contesting the April 2 by-elections from Bogra-6, the parliament seat vacated by Khaleda Zia who had won maximum three.
"If there was an iota of honesty about the move, the parliamentary probe committee could be made after the by-elections," the opposition chief whip said to further justify the opposition boycott of the probe.
Earlier, BNP condemned the arrest of former deputy speaker Akhter Hamid Siddiqui and demanded immediate withdrawal of the detention order on him under the Special Powers Act.
BNP joint secretary general Nazrul Islam Khan made the protest and demand at a press briefing at Khaleda Zia's Gulshan office Sunday.
Wife of Akhter Hamid Siddiqui, Nasrin Siddiqui, and his daughter and daughter's husband were also present at the briefing.
Mr Nazrul said: "If the allegation against former Deputy Speaker was true, it should be tried in normal course of law and we would face it legally."
He criticised the government for arresting Siddiqui, who had held office as elected deputy speaker for last seven years and is a senior politician, four-time elected lawmaker and a respectable person, without any investigation or proof but on just a simple report of a police officer.
He blasted the government, which he said claimed itself as democratic for giving importance and credence to the statement of a police officer rather than the statement of a former deputy speaker.
He said the ex-deputy speaker had told journalists that he had not made those statements.
At a press briefing Sunday at BNP chairperson's Gulshan office, opposition chief whip in Parliament Zainul Abedin Farroque said they have decided after consulting party chief and leader of the opposition in parliament Khaleda Zia to abstain from the meeting of the probe body.
He questioned how the investigation by the committee would be fair when many members of the committee, including the president of the committee, have raised the allegation and spoken against the ex-Speaker in the House.
The former ruling party further pointed out that Fazle Rabbi Mia, the chief of the probe body, was not a member of the eighth parliament while other members-Shajahan Khan and Mainuddin Khan Badal-spoke in the House against Sircar, the speaker of the past parliament.
Farroque said out of the 11 members of the parliamentary committee only one was taken from the opposition while the rest are from the ruling party and its grand alliance. The opposition chief whip, Farroque, was made lone member of the committee from the opposition side.
The all-party parliamentary committee was formed on March 19, in the wake of wild allegations of corruption during the ex-speaker's times.
He said they had demanded investigation of the affairs of all of the Speakers since 1972.
"The incumbent Speaker has said that his three-month and 18-day tenure as Speaker in the seventh parliament would also be brought under the purview of investigation, but, finally, those periods were not included," he told the journalists.
He alleged that the probe committee was formed to put influence on the upcoming by-election and belittle Jamiruddin Sircar, a candidate for by-election, before the people.
Sircar is contesting the April 2 by-elections from Bogra-6, the parliament seat vacated by Khaleda Zia who had won maximum three.
"If there was an iota of honesty about the move, the parliamentary probe committee could be made after the by-elections," the opposition chief whip said to further justify the opposition boycott of the probe.
Earlier, BNP condemned the arrest of former deputy speaker Akhter Hamid Siddiqui and demanded immediate withdrawal of the detention order on him under the Special Powers Act.
BNP joint secretary general Nazrul Islam Khan made the protest and demand at a press briefing at Khaleda Zia's Gulshan office Sunday.
Wife of Akhter Hamid Siddiqui, Nasrin Siddiqui, and his daughter and daughter's husband were also present at the briefing.
Mr Nazrul said: "If the allegation against former Deputy Speaker was true, it should be tried in normal course of law and we would face it legally."
He criticised the government for arresting Siddiqui, who had held office as elected deputy speaker for last seven years and is a senior politician, four-time elected lawmaker and a respectable person, without any investigation or proof but on just a simple report of a police officer.
He blasted the government, which he said claimed itself as democratic for giving importance and credence to the statement of a police officer rather than the statement of a former deputy speaker.
He said the ex-deputy speaker had told journalists that he had not made those statements.