Duty-free cars for MPs and relevant issues
Monday, 25 January 2010
Shamsul Huq Zahid
The government, seemingly, has come out of the dilemma over the issue of car facilities for the members of parliament (MPs). It has, according to media reports, decided in favour of allowing the MPs to import their own cars duty-free.
However, the MPs would not enjoy the total freedom to import of automobiles of any capacity. An MP will be allowed to import a car of maximum 1800 cc or a microbus of 2000 cc or a jeep of 3000 cc. The import of luxury and expensive brand vehicles, including BMW, Mercedes, Hummer and Porsche, will be not be allowed under the duty-free facility. Besides, sale and transfer of such cars would not be allowed before the expiry of a minimum of eight years.
The latest decision reverses the earlier government move to provide the MPs with government vehicles. The office of the Prime Minister mooted the proposal to this effect and the government's transport pool initiated a move to import 345 automobiles at an estimated cost of Tk 1.5 billion.
The PMO move apparently came in the backdrop of widespread allegation of irregularities in the import and sale of duty-free vehicles by a section of lawmakers of past parliaments.
However, behind-the- scene pressure from the MPs prompted Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Abdul Hamid to advise the government to stick to the provisions of the law that allows import of duty-free cars by MPs. The MPs are willing to bear the cost of import themselves since it ensures their ownership right over the vehicles.
The MPs of the current parliament are luckier than their predecessors for they will be getting a vehicle maintenance allowance of Tk 40,000 per month, which is, actually, more than the monthly remuneration they receive now from the government exchequer. An MP now gets Tk.34,200 as remuneration per month. In that case, the government would have to spend more than Tk 152 million a year on that account.
A move is, reportedly, also underway to raise the remuneration and other benefits for the MP to more than Tk. 100,000 per month. A bill is likely to be placed in the House in this connection soon.
The military-backed caretaker government had scrapped the law relevant to the duty-free car facilities for the lawmakers through an ordinance. But the incumbent government, deliberately or otherwise, did not place the ordinance in the first session of the present parliament for adoption. This had signaled the government intention that the duty-free car facility would continue for the MPs.
Many former MPs, allegedly, had sold their import permits to other individuals or car dealers in exchange for fat amounts. The law enforcers seized a good number of these vehicles during the two-year rule of the caretaker government.
The majority of the lawmakers of the current parliament are new and, obviously, they did not want to be deprived of the facility that their predecessors had enjoyed. Moreover, despite all their differences, both inside and the outside the House, the treasury bench and opposition members do demonstrate a rock-solid unity when it comes to issues concerning their own perks and privileges. This is, however, nothing unique. It is part of human nature. There is no reason to expect anything different from the lawmakers.
There is no denying that lawmakers being elected representatives are important people and they do deserve a respectable level of perks and privileges. They should get more than what is given to the high government officials. Nobody would mind if they are given government transport facilities, particularly when the bureaucrats having the rank and status of joint secretary and above have been enjoying the same.
But it is necessary for both the government and the lawmakers while making the decisions relevant to duty-free vehicles to take into cognizance the possible reactions of the people. It is unlikely that the men in power and the MPs are unaware of the people's attitude towards making available such facilities at the cost of the public exchequer. However, if the lawmakers can deliver goods much up to the expectation of the people, nobody should mind the loss of revenue in the form of unpaid duty on the vehicles imported for them.
It was autocrat Ershad who introduced the duty-free car import facility for the MPs in 1988. Despite widespread criticism, no democratic government since 1991 has scrapped the facility.
When the last caretaker government scrapped the facility because of its widespread abuse, the people had welcomed it. Besides the abuse, most people find no reason behind offering such an expensive facility to the lawmakers who never have performed up to their (people's) expectation.
One cannot blame the electorates for behaving miserly when it comes to better perks and privileges to their own representatives in national parliament. For every time they feel cheated by men whom they elect so enthusiastically. The problems that they face in everyday life instead of being solved have rather become more complicated over the years.
Soon after the incumbent government coming to power, it was also in the news that the government would make available car loan facility and monthly maintenance allowance to senior level bureaucrats, involving a large sum of money. However, someone in the government might have exercised wisdom and dropped the idea.
The government, seemingly, has come out of the dilemma over the issue of car facilities for the members of parliament (MPs). It has, according to media reports, decided in favour of allowing the MPs to import their own cars duty-free.
However, the MPs would not enjoy the total freedom to import of automobiles of any capacity. An MP will be allowed to import a car of maximum 1800 cc or a microbus of 2000 cc or a jeep of 3000 cc. The import of luxury and expensive brand vehicles, including BMW, Mercedes, Hummer and Porsche, will be not be allowed under the duty-free facility. Besides, sale and transfer of such cars would not be allowed before the expiry of a minimum of eight years.
The latest decision reverses the earlier government move to provide the MPs with government vehicles. The office of the Prime Minister mooted the proposal to this effect and the government's transport pool initiated a move to import 345 automobiles at an estimated cost of Tk 1.5 billion.
The PMO move apparently came in the backdrop of widespread allegation of irregularities in the import and sale of duty-free vehicles by a section of lawmakers of past parliaments.
However, behind-the- scene pressure from the MPs prompted Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Abdul Hamid to advise the government to stick to the provisions of the law that allows import of duty-free cars by MPs. The MPs are willing to bear the cost of import themselves since it ensures their ownership right over the vehicles.
The MPs of the current parliament are luckier than their predecessors for they will be getting a vehicle maintenance allowance of Tk 40,000 per month, which is, actually, more than the monthly remuneration they receive now from the government exchequer. An MP now gets Tk.34,200 as remuneration per month. In that case, the government would have to spend more than Tk 152 million a year on that account.
A move is, reportedly, also underway to raise the remuneration and other benefits for the MP to more than Tk. 100,000 per month. A bill is likely to be placed in the House in this connection soon.
The military-backed caretaker government had scrapped the law relevant to the duty-free car facilities for the lawmakers through an ordinance. But the incumbent government, deliberately or otherwise, did not place the ordinance in the first session of the present parliament for adoption. This had signaled the government intention that the duty-free car facility would continue for the MPs.
Many former MPs, allegedly, had sold their import permits to other individuals or car dealers in exchange for fat amounts. The law enforcers seized a good number of these vehicles during the two-year rule of the caretaker government.
The majority of the lawmakers of the current parliament are new and, obviously, they did not want to be deprived of the facility that their predecessors had enjoyed. Moreover, despite all their differences, both inside and the outside the House, the treasury bench and opposition members do demonstrate a rock-solid unity when it comes to issues concerning their own perks and privileges. This is, however, nothing unique. It is part of human nature. There is no reason to expect anything different from the lawmakers.
There is no denying that lawmakers being elected representatives are important people and they do deserve a respectable level of perks and privileges. They should get more than what is given to the high government officials. Nobody would mind if they are given government transport facilities, particularly when the bureaucrats having the rank and status of joint secretary and above have been enjoying the same.
But it is necessary for both the government and the lawmakers while making the decisions relevant to duty-free vehicles to take into cognizance the possible reactions of the people. It is unlikely that the men in power and the MPs are unaware of the people's attitude towards making available such facilities at the cost of the public exchequer. However, if the lawmakers can deliver goods much up to the expectation of the people, nobody should mind the loss of revenue in the form of unpaid duty on the vehicles imported for them.
It was autocrat Ershad who introduced the duty-free car import facility for the MPs in 1988. Despite widespread criticism, no democratic government since 1991 has scrapped the facility.
When the last caretaker government scrapped the facility because of its widespread abuse, the people had welcomed it. Besides the abuse, most people find no reason behind offering such an expensive facility to the lawmakers who never have performed up to their (people's) expectation.
One cannot blame the electorates for behaving miserly when it comes to better perks and privileges to their own representatives in national parliament. For every time they feel cheated by men whom they elect so enthusiastically. The problems that they face in everyday life instead of being solved have rather become more complicated over the years.
Soon after the incumbent government coming to power, it was also in the news that the government would make available car loan facility and monthly maintenance allowance to senior level bureaucrats, involving a large sum of money. However, someone in the government might have exercised wisdom and dropped the idea.