Bangladesh’s parliament acknowledges JAPA chief GM Quader as Opposition leader

Dhaka: Bangladesh's newly elected parliamentary speaker Shirin Sharmin Choudhury on Sunday declared Opposition Jatiya Party (JAPA) chairman GM Quader as the leader of the opposition amid uncertainty whether his party could emerge as the parliamentary opposition winning only 11 seats in 300 constituencies.

Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has recognised Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader, the lawmaker representing Rangpur-3 constituency, as the leader of the opposition in the 12th Jatiya Sangsad, the parliament secretariat said in a statement.

Simultaneously, it said, she recognised JAPA Co-Chairman Anisul Islam Mahmud as the deputy leader of the House which is scheduled to meet in its maiden session on January 30.

The parliamentary Rules of Procedure define the leader of the Opposition as the Member of Parliament who, in the opinion of the speaker, is the leader of the party or the group, as the case may be, in opposition to the government with the greatest numerical strength in the House.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League won 223 seats while JAPA won in 11 constituencies in the January 7 general elections, boycotted by major opposition BNP, while independent candidates bagged 62.

The Awami League-led 14-party alliance partners Workers Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASOD) got one seat each while one went to the Kalyan Party.

The law stipulates at least 10 per cent or 30 seats are required to form the main Opposition in the House.

Legal experts, however, said JAPA could emerge as the main parliamentary opposition if it could rally the support of 19 independent candidates the way in a hung Parliament the government needs support from other parties or independent lawmakers.

Otherwise, they said, JAPA could be called the Opposition “group” if not the “party” and with the speaker’s recognition of Quader as the Opposition leader his party would play the role of the opposition party in parliament.

The speculation over the status of JAPA grew earlier as independent candidates outnumbered the party.

Most of the independent lawmakers were actually “rebel” Awami League candidates who were encouraged by the party to contest the polls to make it participatory as major opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) ex-premier Khaleda Zia boycotted the polls.

Several independent MPs said they were working to form a parliamentary “platform” or “alliance”.

Incumbent law minister Anisul Huq earlier this month said the formation of the parliamentary opposition “depends on independent MPs move” since JAPA did not get the required number of seats to be the main opposition.

“They (independent MPs) have said they will form a platform. Let us see what they do,” Huq told PTI.

Elections, however, were held in 299 seats as the natural death of a candidate during electioneering forced the suspension of polls in one constituency.