Speaker urges chief whip to avoid ministers, whips as standing committee chairs

Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad has urged the chief whip to be cautious about appointing ministers, state ministers and whips as chairpersons of parliamentary standing committees, saying parliamentary convention calls for ordinary MPs to head the panels.

He made the remarks in parliament today (8 September) after the House approved proposals to form five new standing committees and reconstitute two others.

Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni placed the proposals before the House, which later approved them by voice vote.

“The spirit and practice of parliament is that a committee should be chaired by an ordinary member, while ministers and those holding ministerial rank should serve as members,” the speaker said.

He noted that state ministers and whips had been appointed to several committees and said they already held important positions and received various government facilities.

“There is no prohibition in this regard. But the spirit and practice of parliament is that ordinary members should hold these positions and ministers should serve as members. I request you to keep this in mind when forming committees in the future,” Hafiz Uddin said.

Several ministers, whips already chair committees

Several whips have already been appointed chairpersons of ministry-related standing committees.
Whip Rakibul Islam Bokul was made chairman of the committee on the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry, while Whip M Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu was made chairman of the committee on the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Akhtaruzzaman Mia and GK Gaus were appointed chairmen of the standing committees on the Ministry of Textiles and Jute and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change respectively.

Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Zahir Uddin Swapan, who holds the rank of a minister, has also been appointed chairman of the standing committee on the Planning Ministry.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam has been made a member of the standing committees on the home ministry and the finance ministry.

Under parliamentary convention, MPs serving as ministers and state ministers generally serve as members of committees related to their own ministries rather than committees overseeing other ministries.

Five new committees formed

The five standing committees formed today are those on the Ministries of Social Welfare; Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment; Railways; Science and Technology; and Health and Family Welfare.

Md Shahjahan was appointed chairman of the social welfare ministry committee, while AKM Fazlul Haque Milon was named chairman of the committee on Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.

Mohammad Ali Asgar Lobi was appointed chairman of the railways ministry committee, while SM Rafiqul Islam was made chairman of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry committee.

The committee on the Science and Technology Ministry is chaired by Whip M Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu.

Two committees reconstituted

The standing committees on the Water Resources Ministry and the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry were also reconstituted.

In the water resources ministry committee, Mazharul Islam and Faridul Kabir Talukder replaced AKM Fazlul Haque Milon and Munshi Rafiqul Alam.

In the civil aviation and tourism ministry committee, Jamaat lawmaker Kamrul Hasan replaced fellow party MP Masum Mostafa.

With today’s formation, 45 of the 50 standing committees of parliament have now been constituted, including 36 ministry-related and nine subject-specific committees.

No opposition MP has so far been appointed chairperson of a ministry-related standing committee.
Among the nine subject-specific committees, only the Public Accounts Committee is chaired by an opposition lawmaker.