Four more parliamentary committees formed, completing all 50

Four more parliamentary standing committees were constituted today (10 September), completing the formation of all 50 parliamentary committees of the 13th Parliament.

The newly formed committees cover the Ministries of Defence; Power, Energy and Mineral Resources; Public Administration; and Public Undertakings.

Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni placed proposals for forming the four committees and reconstituting several existing ones before the House. The proposals were approved by voice vote.

All four newly formed committees have BNP lawmakers as chairpersons.

Md Ashraf Uddin (Narsingdi-5) was appointed chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Defence, while Miah Nuruddin Ahmad Apu (Shariatpur-3) was made chairman of the committee on the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

Sayeed Ahmed (Shariatpur-1) was appointed chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Public Administration, while Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni (Barguna-2) will head the committee on Public Undertakings.

Seven existing committees reconstituted

Parliament also reconstituted several existing committees without changing their chairpersons.

The committees are those on Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions; Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs; Agriculture; Women and Children Affairs; Youth and Sports; Education; and Foreign Affairs.

Of these, only the Committee on Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions is chaired by an opposition lawmaker – Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami MP Shahjahan Chowdhury (Chattogram-15).

The Public Accounts Committee is the only other committee chaired by an opposition MP, Syed Abdullah Mohammed Taher.

All 50 committees now constituted

The parliament has 50 parliamentary committees, including 39 ministry-related standing committees and 11 subject-based committees.

With the formation of the four committees today, all 50 committees of the 13th parliament have now been constituted.

Apart from the Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions, all parliamentary committees are chaired by lawmakers from the ruling party.