If the referendum verdict on implementing the July charter is not resolved in parliament, it will be settled on the streets, opposition leader and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Dr. Shafiqur Rahman has said. “Whatever can be resolved in parliament, will be. If it is not resolved in parliament, it will be settled on the streets,” he said. “We will not abandon the people’s demand; we have no right to abandon it. We are committed. We cannot break this commitment. We will not betray the people. We are confident this demand will be met, whether today or tomorrow, inshallah.”
He made the remarks on Tuesday (June 16) in response to a question at a meeting with journalists at the LD Hall of the national parliament. Saying the opposition would not send a representative to the committee proposed by the ruling party to amend the constitution, Shafiqur Rahman said the people’s demand had been for constitutional reform, which was why a referendum was held. “We have said that where 70 percent of people have voted, we do not want to come inside parliament and change it. We are on the side of the people, on the side of the people’s verdict. So we will consider it if a committee is formed for reform, not amendment.”
He said: “We have made it clear, and there is nothing new to say, that a committee is not needed to amend the constitution. This is routine work. It will come as a bill from the treasury bench, and we will take part in the discussion. If it passes, it passes; if it is rejected, it is rejected. No committee is needed for this. A committee is needed for constitutional reform. If they make any proposal for reform, then we will consider it.” Saying he would break from the culture of the past and play the role of the opposition in the people’s interest, Shafiqur Rahman said: “Our decision is entirely different. We will not be a compliant opposition, and we will not behave inside parliament in any way that harms the public interest. The people have sent us here [to parliament] to speak for the people.”
He said: “If our reasonable points are dismissed on any issue without consideration, or if we are not given the opportunity, then we will walk out. But that will not be for the long term. I say again, do not think of us as a very aggressive opposition, and please cooperate with us in working for the country’s interest as a reasonable opposition.” Saying that running a parliamentary session costs 176,000 taka per minute, the opposition leader said: “We had requested the speaker that personal character assassination, party character assassination and flattering or praising anyone be avoided. We have not come here to praise anyone. We have come to speak for the people.”
Outlining the opposition’s activities in parliament, Shafiqur Rahman said: “We have given some notices in parliament. Our first notice was to call a session on the referendum. We presented our reasoned arguments on that inside parliament.”
He said: “We have spoken on the banking issue. We spoke on that too in the public interest. Both wings of our fragile economy are shattered. The stock market has collapsed to the ground. Whatever bones the banks had are now on the verge of being crushed to powder.”
“We spoke on this inside parliament on behalf of the people. We gave a notice on the problems of expatriates. Both the government and the opposition held very constructive discussions on that. But if this is confined to discussion and does not go into execution, it will not solve any of the expatriates’ problems. We have specifically proposed forming a parliamentary task force. So far we have not learned of any response or decision from the government. We gave another notice, on push-ins at the border.”
“My notice-giver was called in and told that this is a sensitive issue and asked to withdraw it. That MP said he would not withdraw it.”
“It is because it is a sensitive issue that I want to discuss it — in the interest of the country, in the interest of independence and sovereignty. A notice was given once on the 14th that it would come up for discussion. We received the notice, then it was dropped again and that day’s agenda was rearranged.”
Also present at the meeting were deputy opposition leader Dr. Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, opposition chief whip Nahid Islam, opposition whip Rafiqul Islam Khan and Jamaat secretary general Mia Golam Parwar.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report