The parliament speaker, Abdul Hamid, on Sunday blasted the
ministers and ruling party lawmakers for being absent from the house saying the
parliament could not run in such a manner while the prime minister Sheikh
Hasina tried to calm the irate speaker saying some of the absentee ministers
might be busy otherwise.
‘I do not see the people [ministers] who showed interest in
discussion on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper on the floor of the house
today. Although the prime minister is present, I do not see the chief whip and
senior leaders even,’ the speaker said expressing his disappointment.
The day’s proceedings started at about 4:10pm when only the
prime minister and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal’s lawmaker Hasanul Huq Inu were
present at the treasury bench with 28 out of 30 seats empty in the front row.
Besides, lawmakers of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party were
absent as usual. There are five seats for BNP in the front row.
The ministers who sit in the front row, including finance
minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury, planning
minister AK Khandaker, LGRD minister Syed Ashraful Islam, posts and
telecommunications minister Razi Uddin Ahmed Razu, jute and textiles minister
Abdul Latif Siddiqui and industries minister, Dilip Barua, were missing
from the house.
Deputy leader of the house, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury was also absent.
