AL skips CPA meeting over inclusion of non-MPs

The AL boycotted the meeting protesting the inclusion of two non-members of parliament and the party's not getting the 'due share' of the committee's membership.

The first meeting was held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhavan, with Speaker Jamir Uddin Sircar in the chair. The committee reviewed the preparations for the October 4-12 conference. So far 156 parliamentarians from 54 national parliaments are expected to attend the conference.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Abdul Hamid lodged his party's protest with the speaker and demanded that the two non- parliamentarians be dropped from the committee. He also asked for his party's rightful share of the committee's membership.

"We were not offered our share of membership. We were entitled to have at least five members (proportionately) in the 25-member committee,'' Abdus Shahid, chief whip of the opposition, told The Daily Star yesterday.

Haris Chowdhury and Mosaddeq Ali Falu, political secretaries to the prime minister, were made members of the committee.

Out of the 25 members of the committee, 16 attended the meeting.