JP (E) sounds tough on JS boycott

At a meeting, the JP decided not to participate in the parliamentary session until Deputy Minister for Relief and Disaster Management Asadul Habib Dulu apologises for his remarks in Saturday's TV interview that the lawmakers from Rangpur are living in luxury in the capital instead of visiting monga-hit people.

The precondition tagged by the JP for its return to parliament recalls the main opposition party Awami League's demand for apologies from the prime minister, the speaker and a state minister.

"We will take a stern decision, if our demand goes unmet," TIM Fazle Rabbi Chowdhury, JP presidium member, told newspersons after the parliamentary party meeting at the Sangsad Bhaban.

"The government is trying to force all opposition lawmakers out of the House. We will disclose everything of the mistreatment we have been subjected to in the coalition's first two years in office,'' he said.

On whether to launch an anti-government movement, Fazle Rabbi said, "The party presidium will decide on it."

The JP also demanded membership of parliamentary standing committees in consultation with the lawmakers in line with the Jatiya Sangsad Rules of Procedure.

The lawmakers of the second largest opposition party threatened to resign from the committees, if the demand remained unmet.

"The ruling BNP formed parliamentary bodies without consulting us -- a trend that violates the Rules of Procedure. We demanded retooling of the bodies, but it did not care about our demand,'' JP lawmaker GM Kader said.

JP's walkout on Sunday, coinciding with AL's boycott since June 26 following derogatory remarks by State Minister for Housing and Public Works Alamgir Kabir, left the House with only two fringe groupings in opposition -- the Jatiya Party of Anwar Hossain Monju and Krishak Sramik Janata League of Kader Siddiqui.