By AKM Moinuddin
Sangsad Bhaban, Mar 15 (UNB) – After a long break, parliament got back its liveliness with return of opposition led by Khaleda Zia to the House when it resumed at 5:05pm today.
Before taking up the day’s business sans tabling the question-answer Khaleda stood up and Speaker Abdul Hamid allowed her the floor to make a lengthy statement, touching upon vexing national issues and censuring the government for its ‘failure’ to resolve the problems. She held the floor uninterrupted for nearly an hour.
Earlier, welcoming the opposition the Speaker assured of adequate time to ventilate their views.
Khaleda touched upon various national issues - spiraling price of essentials, oppressive law and order situation, share market scam and sacking of Prof Mohammad Yunus, the Nobel Laureate, from his own brainchild Grameen Bank irking the international community.
She was critical of the government for pursuing a weak foreign policy and questioned the wisdom of borrowing one billion dollars from India for implementing projects of New Delhi’s choice.
She said the whole nation was stunned at the conspicuous silence of the government at the brutal killing of young Felani Khatun who was shot down by Indian BSF on Kurigram border. The horrifying photograph of the body of the poor girl kept hung on the barbed wire fence stirred the conscience of all but the government leadership.
Khaleda was often cheered by the opposition members by thumping the table. The treasury benches unusually exercised utmost patience and listened to her lengthy speech.
Few young, enthusiastic members of the treasury benches, however, disagreeing with Khaleda’s points shouted at her. The chair stopped them and advised to be patient to the views of the leader of the opposition.
The House was virtually packed with almost all members because of return of the opposition after nearly nine months.
Khaleda said they have retuned to stay in the House and requested the Speaker to allow their adjournment motions on vital national issues.
Speaker Abdul Hamid hoped that with presence of the opposition parliament would be more effective and meaningful. He also assured of his neutrality in conducting the House and give time to the opposition members in accordance with the rules of procedure.
END/UNB/AKM
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Ruling party will welcome any constructive criticism: Matia
By AKM Moinuddin
Sangsad Bhaban, Mar 15 (UNB) – Agricultural Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury in parliament tonight said the government will welcome constructive criticism from the opposition as it is the best way of practicing democracy.
“We’re open to any criticism. We hope you will point out our mistakes and help us correct the mistakes,” Matia told the opposition members.
Describing various development activities of the government including ensuring adequate supply of fertilizers, she said people now do not need to run after fertilizer, rather fertilizer is running after the farmers.
“We’ve reduced the price of fertilizer up to 75 percent. Now we’re providing fertilizers at a nominal price,” she said with a sense of pride.
Requesting the leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia to visit villages and see for herself Matia said farmers now have money from lucrative jute price to buy agricultural inputs.
A gifted fiery orator Begum Matia was sarcastic of the leader of opposition. “They have forgotten everything of their misrule. Probably they eat the rice of forgetful paddy [bhola dhaner bhat]. So, they soon forget everything.”
She said the food production in the last four years of BNP-Jamat tenure maintained minus growth. “None, not even an ant died of food crisis during the present government.”
About law and order situation, Matia admitted a little indiscipline. But she said the government is working hard to maintain discipline.
About the critical views of the opposition on CHT peace accord she posed a question to the opposition leader why they did not cancel the accord when they were in power.
About the Nobel Laureate, Dr Muhammad Yunus, she questioned who threw out his wife and daughter from his house; how he played the role to empower women. “He (Yunus) is a good salesman. He could sale his story very nicely.”
Matia said they knew that their path is not smooth but full of thorns when they assumed the power. “But we will move ahead overcoming all conspiracies.”
She was critical of Khaleda for putting all the blames on Moeen U Ahmed and Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed who took over responsibility of the caretaker government but not Dr Iajuddin Ahmed who was at the helm of the affairs at the crisis period.
END/UNB/AKM/
Sangsad Bhaban, Mar 15 (UNB) – Agricultural Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury in parliament tonight said the government will welcome constructive criticism from the opposition as it is the best way of practicing democracy.
“We’re open to any criticism. We hope you will point out our mistakes and help us correct the mistakes,” Matia told the opposition members.
Describing various development activities of the government including ensuring adequate supply of fertilizers, she said people now do not need to run after fertilizer, rather fertilizer is running after the farmers.
“We’ve reduced the price of fertilizer up to 75 percent. Now we’re providing fertilizers at a nominal price,” she said with a sense of pride.
Requesting the leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia to visit villages and see for herself Matia said farmers now have money from lucrative jute price to buy agricultural inputs.
A gifted fiery orator Begum Matia was sarcastic of the leader of opposition. “They have forgotten everything of their misrule. Probably they eat the rice of forgetful paddy [bhola dhaner bhat]. So, they soon forget everything.”
She said the food production in the last four years of BNP-Jamat tenure maintained minus growth. “None, not even an ant died of food crisis during the present government.”
About law and order situation, Matia admitted a little indiscipline. But she said the government is working hard to maintain discipline.
About the critical views of the opposition on CHT peace accord she posed a question to the opposition leader why they did not cancel the accord when they were in power.
About the Nobel Laureate, Dr Muhammad Yunus, she questioned who threw out his wife and daughter from his house; how he played the role to empower women. “He (Yunus) is a good salesman. He could sale his story very nicely.”
Matia said they knew that their path is not smooth but full of thorns when they assumed the power. “But we will move ahead overcoming all conspiracies.”
She was critical of Khaleda for putting all the blames on Moeen U Ahmed and Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed who took over responsibility of the caretaker government but not Dr Iajuddin Ahmed who was at the helm of the affairs at the crisis period.
END/UNB/AKM/
BNP staged walkout of parliament
By AKM Moinuddin
Sangsad Bhaban, Mar 15 (UNB) – Opposition BNP staged walkout of parliament tonight protesting remarks of Textiles and Jute Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui.
Referring to the statement of opposition leader Khaleda Zia earlier in the House, Siddiqui observed that by recalling the events of 1972-75 she has virtually reminded the members of the active role of Ziaur Rahman in the killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
His observation was strongly protested by the opposition who said it was irrelevant of what Khaleda Zia narrated. They demanded expansion of Latif’s observation from the proceedings. The chair did not pay heed to the demand.
Khaleda was not in the House. The opposition led by Barrister Moudud Ahmed staged the walkout at 8:15pm and did not return till 9pm.
END/UNB/AKM/
Sangsad Bhaban, Mar 15 (UNB) – Opposition BNP staged walkout of parliament tonight protesting remarks of Textiles and Jute Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui.
Referring to the statement of opposition leader Khaleda Zia earlier in the House, Siddiqui observed that by recalling the events of 1972-75 she has virtually reminded the members of the active role of Ziaur Rahman in the killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
His observation was strongly protested by the opposition who said it was irrelevant of what Khaleda Zia narrated. They demanded expansion of Latif’s observation from the proceedings. The chair did not pay heed to the demand.
Khaleda was not in the House. The opposition led by Barrister Moudud Ahmed staged the walkout at 8:15pm and did not return till 9pm.
END/UNB/AKM/
Remittance face serious setback amid uprising in Libya
Dhaka, Mar 3 (UNB) - Country’s remittance earning that witnessed a balanced trend in recent months might face serious setback in the coming months amid recent uprising in Libya, which forced many Bangladeshi workers to return home.
The present crisis is likely to have further adverse impact on Bangladesh’s overseas labour market and balance of payment.
According to the leaders of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA)), over 80,000 Bangladeshis used to work in Libya in various types of job.
Bangladesh received remittances totaling Tk 68437.80 million in December 2010 with Bangladeshis in Libya sending Tk 3.5 million. The remittance from Libya was the highest in August, 2010 with Tk 6.9 million, according to Bangladesh Bank’s Monthly Economic Trends, January, 2011.
Wage earners’ remittance inflows increased slightly in January this year to US$ 970.54 million (Tk 68947.20 million) from US$ 969.10 million (Tk 68437.80 million) in December last year, according to Foreign Exchange Policy Department of Bangladesh Bank.
“Definitely, remittance inflow will drop significantly following the Libya crisis. It might impact on the overall economy of Bangladesh,” BAIRA president Abul Bashar told UNB Correspondent AKM Moinuddin over phone.
He said over 80,000 Bangladeshis, mostly technical and skilled, had been working in Libya. The workers from strife-torn Libya have started returning home and if this continues Bangladesh will be
deprived of huge amount of remittance.
Replying to a question, the BAIRA chief said they talked to the officials of some companies in Libya, who assured that they would take back their Bangladeshi workers once normalcy is restored in the
West African country.
Former BAIRA president Ghulam Mustafa said overall remittance inflow to the country would come down drastically if the present crisis in Libya and some other Middle-Eastern continues for long.
He said it will have serious impact on the country’s overall economy, including balance of payment situation and foreign exchange reserve.
He suggested forming a National Committee with representatives of Foreign and Labour ministries as well as other stakeholders to cope with the situation and explore new labour markets.
Replying to a query, Mustafa said the government should take immediate steps to arrange sending the returnee Bangladeshis from Libya to other friendly countries.
He informed that Kuwait has not been recruiting workers from Bangladesh for nearly eleven years while Saudi Arabia did not recruit Bangladeshis in the last seven years.
According to the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) analysis, the first half of the current fiscal has posed formidable challenges for the country in terms of the number of workers going abroad and remittance flow. Number of migrant workers has decreased by almost half compared to average figure for comparable periods of fiscals 2006-07 and 2007-08.
It said there has been a significant deceleration in the growth of remittance inflow to Bangladesh during the first five months (July-November) of current fiscal. Total remittance inflow declined
by 1.7 percent during the period compared to the same period of previous fiscal (2009-10).
END/UNB/AKM/
The present crisis is likely to have further adverse impact on Bangladesh’s overseas labour market and balance of payment.
According to the leaders of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA)), over 80,000 Bangladeshis used to work in Libya in various types of job.
Bangladesh received remittances totaling Tk 68437.80 million in December 2010 with Bangladeshis in Libya sending Tk 3.5 million. The remittance from Libya was the highest in August, 2010 with Tk 6.9 million, according to Bangladesh Bank’s Monthly Economic Trends, January, 2011.
Wage earners’ remittance inflows increased slightly in January this year to US$ 970.54 million (Tk 68947.20 million) from US$ 969.10 million (Tk 68437.80 million) in December last year, according to Foreign Exchange Policy Department of Bangladesh Bank.
“Definitely, remittance inflow will drop significantly following the Libya crisis. It might impact on the overall economy of Bangladesh,” BAIRA president Abul Bashar told UNB Correspondent AKM Moinuddin over phone.
He said over 80,000 Bangladeshis, mostly technical and skilled, had been working in Libya. The workers from strife-torn Libya have started returning home and if this continues Bangladesh will be
deprived of huge amount of remittance.
Replying to a question, the BAIRA chief said they talked to the officials of some companies in Libya, who assured that they would take back their Bangladeshi workers once normalcy is restored in the
West African country.
Former BAIRA president Ghulam Mustafa said overall remittance inflow to the country would come down drastically if the present crisis in Libya and some other Middle-Eastern continues for long.
He said it will have serious impact on the country’s overall economy, including balance of payment situation and foreign exchange reserve.
He suggested forming a National Committee with representatives of Foreign and Labour ministries as well as other stakeholders to cope with the situation and explore new labour markets.
Replying to a query, Mustafa said the government should take immediate steps to arrange sending the returnee Bangladeshis from Libya to other friendly countries.
He informed that Kuwait has not been recruiting workers from Bangladesh for nearly eleven years while Saudi Arabia did not recruit Bangladeshis in the last seven years.
According to the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) analysis, the first half of the current fiscal has posed formidable challenges for the country in terms of the number of workers going abroad and remittance flow. Number of migrant workers has decreased by almost half compared to average figure for comparable periods of fiscals 2006-07 and 2007-08.
It said there has been a significant deceleration in the growth of remittance inflow to Bangladesh during the first five months (July-November) of current fiscal. Total remittance inflow declined
by 1.7 percent during the period compared to the same period of previous fiscal (2009-10).
END/UNB/AKM/
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