DHAKA: Parliament goes into autumn session on Monday afternoon with the boycotting main opposition BNP and its allies staying away, as they were yet to decide on their return.

Incidentally, both the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition will not be in when the House sits, as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is now in New York while BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia is leading the prolonged boycott.       

President Zillur Rahman, on September 2, summoned the parliament into session at 4pm on September 20 as per Article 72 (1) of the Bangladesh Constitution.

This session in the autumn will be a 13-day sixth one of the ninth parliament, elected after the lapse of two years for state of emergency in the country following a political crisis over election issues.

“The session is brief but expected to be important for some major tasks in hand,” said a government part source.

The parliament is to consider at least 15 government bills for legislation, sources said. Also, a special parliamentary committee is readying a recast of the Constitution based on the cancellation of the Fifth and Seventh Amendments and apex court directions.        

The fifth session of the parliament, which was the second budget session under the present Awami League-led Grand Alliance government, ended on July 22 with the main opposition BNP staying away.

On Thursday, opposition Chief Whip Jainul Abdin Faruque requested the government to consider the conditions given by them for joining parliament session, as Awami League Chief Whip of Parliament vice-principal Abdus Shahid knocked his door for a surprise meet.

On Friday, speaker Abdul Hamid requested BNP to return to parliament and promised a fair play in the House.

BNP lawmakers had joined the fifth session, the second budget session of the current parliament, but they staged a walkout on June 2 in protest against the arrest of acting editor Mahmudur Rahman and closure of the daily Amar Desh. Since then, the opposition continued on the abstention.

BDST: 2015 HRS, SEP 19, 2010