Members of the national parliament’s reserved women’s seats have no constituency of their own. The government is now moving to create a legal route for them to play “a role in development work” in one or more general parliamentary constituencies. A specialist calls the move entirely unjustified and unacceptable.
To create that legal route, an initiative has been taken to amend the National Parliament (Reserved Women’s Seats) Election Act, 2004. A draft of the amendment has been prepared.
Sources concerned said the draft, titled the National Parliament (Reserved Women’s Seats) Election (Amendment) Act, 2026, has been sent from the law ministry to the cabinet division. If the cabinet approves it, it will be placed before parliament quickly.
Nizam Uddin Ahmed, a professor, public administration specialist and researcher on parliament, told a national news outlet that the move to enact such a law in the name of a role in development work is entirely unjustified and unacceptable. It is not the job of members of parliament at all, he said. Nor are members of the reserved women’s seats elected by the direct votes of the people of any particular area. The parties nominated them in the full knowledge that they have no constituency. There is now no justification for giving them responsibility in one or more general constituencies through legislation, he said. It will further weaken the existing system of representation and become a threat to the democratic order.
The draft proposes inserting a new section 26A after section 26 of the existing act. Under the proposal, duties and functions may be allocated to a member of the reserved women’s seats so that she can play a role in the development work of the parliamentary areas fixed for members elected in general seats. Her party or alliance will fix one or more general constituencies as her area of work, and the leader of her party or alliance’s parliamentary group will decide her duties and functions.
Sources concerned say the initiative has its origins in the recent controversy over the ruling BNP giving its reserved-seat women members responsibility in constituencies held by elected opposition members of parliament.
In response to that controversy the BNP said the area of work of reserved-seat women members had been fixed because they have no constituency. Opposition leaders, on the other hand, said it could amount to interference in the work of directly elected opposition members and create a lack of coordination and political conflict.
Party or alliance to fix the seat and inform the speaker
Under the draft, the allocation can be made at any time after the name of a member elected to a reserved women’s seat is published in the official gazette. The party or alliance on whose proportional representation she was elected will fix one or more general constituencies as her area of work, and will then inform the speaker in writing.
The draft does not provide for the speaker’s approval to be obtained. It requires only that the speaker be “informed.” The decision on fixing a general constituency for a reserved-seat woman member will therefore rest with the leadership of her party or alliance.
The draft does set out how the constituency and duties will be fixed in the case of a reserved-seat woman member elected on the proportional representation of independent members of parliament.
Under the proposal, the speaker will fix one or more general constituencies as the area of work of such a member on the basis of a written proposal by a majority of the independent members in the non-party bloc. If there is no consensus among the independent members, the reserved-seat woman member will herself apply to the speaker naming the constituency she prefers. The speaker’s decision, taking the application and related matters into consideration, will be treated as final.
The draft states that fixing such an area of work for a reserved-seat woman member will in no way diminish the duties and rights of a directly elected member of parliament under article 65(2) of the constitution.
Several questions left unanswered
The draft does not specify the maximum number of general constituencies a single reserved-seat woman member can be given.
Nor does it say whether a party or alliance will choose the area of work of its reserved-seat woman member only from the general seats it has itself won.
As a result, the draft is silent on whether the ruling party can choose seats won by the opposition, and the opposition seats won by the ruling party, for their own reserved-seat women members.
There is also no provision on what will happen, or how a dispute will be settled, if more than one party or alliance assigns its reserved-seat woman member to the same general constituency.
The draft cites the “role” of reserved-seat women members in “development work” in general parliamentary constituencies as the purpose of the amendment. But it is not clear what that “role” will include.
Although the draft says the leader of the party or alliance’s parliamentary group will fix the reserved-seat member’s duties and functions, no limit is set on that power.
The draft contains no procedure for distinguishing between the “development work” roles of the two members — the directly elected member and the reserved-seat member — in the same parliamentary area. That leaves the risk of disputes over power and difficulties of coordination on the ground.
The present arrangement
Under article 65(2) of the constitution, 300 members of parliament are elected by the direct votes of the people from single territorial constituencies. Under article 65(3), 50 seats in parliament are reserved for women. They are elected by the votes of the members holding general seats.
The National Parliament (Reserved Women’s Seats) Election Act, 2004 sets out the method of allocating the reserved women’s seats. The 50 seats are allocated among parties and alliances on the basis of proportional representation in parliament. One reserved women’s seat is allocated for every six general members.
On that basis, in the 13th national parliament the BNP alliance received 36 reserved women’s seats, the Jamaat alliance 13 and independents together one.
These members carry out the same duties as general members, including lawmaking, parliamentary debate and work on parliamentary standing committees. Their salaries, allowances and other facilities are also the same as those of general members.
Where the government and opposition differ
At a meeting of the BNP’s parliamentary group early last month it was decided to give the party’s reserved-seat women members responsibility for development supervision and political coordination in 79 constituencies held by opposition members. Some women members were given one or two seats, some as many as four, and several were given responsibility for a whole district. Seats held by Jamaat, the National Citizen Party (NCP), Khelafat Majlish, Islami Andolan and independent members not aligned with the BNP are included in the allocation.
The BNP has argued that just as a directly elected member has the right to play a part in the development of an area, so do reserved-seat women members.
Jamaat and the NCP said after the decision that it would create needless conflict in constituencies. They described the decision as “undemocratic and discriminatory conduct.”
Analysts say that if the proposed amendment is passed, not only the BNP but also the Jamaat-led alliance will be able to give its reserved-seat women members responsibility in one or more general constituencies. But unless it is specified what a reserved-seat woman member’s work will be, and in how many seats one member can serve, disorder may follow.
Disputes between general and reserved-seat women members in the same constituency have been seen in the past, and have even turned into conflict and clashes.
Professor Nizam Uddin Ahmed said conflict is inevitable if a reserved-seat woman member is installed with responsibility for “development work” in the area of a directly elected member. In that case, he said, there will be tussles over power, authority, allocations and recommendations. The situation will be still more dangerous if a ruling-party reserved-seat woman member is given responsibility in a seat won by the opposition. It will destroy the space for cooperation between government and opposition, he said. If this law is made, disputes and disorder will only increase.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report