Staff Reporter:
Leader of the Opposition Shafiqur Rahman on Thursday proposed five MPs from the opposition for a 10-member joint committee aimed at working with the government to address the country’s ongoing energy situation.
He announced the names in Jatiya Sangsad, hours after Prime Minister Tarique Rahman proposed forming the committee and requested the opposition to nominate five members.
From the opposition, the five proposed members are Jamaat lawmakers Md Saiful Alam (Dhaka-12), Md Nurul Islam (Chapainawabganj-3) and Md Abdul Baten (Dhaka-16), Md Abul Hasnat (Cumilla-4) and Khilafat Majlis lawmaker Mohammed Abul Hasan (Sylhet-5).
“Since five names from the government side have already been announced, I am also placing five names from the opposition side out of respect,” said Shafiqur.
Referring to the government’s decision to introduce a trial 110-megawatt load-shedding in Dhaka, he suggested that the implementation of this decision should start in Parliament Complex.
“I would request that this begins from Parliament as well. Parliament should not remain outside this load management system. If other parts of Dhaka face one hour of load-shedding, the same should apply here so people understand that we are trying to build a uniform system,” he said.
When Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad noted that load-shedding in Parliament would disrupt House proceedings, the opposition leader clarified that he meant the Parliament complex, not the ongoing session.
Earlier in the afternoon, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman proposed in Parliament the formation of a 10-member joint committee, seeking five names from the opposition to work together on ”rational solutions” to the country’s ongoing energy situation in the national interest.
The proposed committee will be headed by Power and Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood and include five members each from the treasury and opposition benches.
From the government side, the five members proposed by the prime minister are Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood, State Minister Aninda Islam Amit, and MPs ABM Ashraf Uddin Nizan (Laxmipur-4), Moinul Islam Khan (Manikganj-2) and Miah Nuruddin Ahmad Apu (Shariatpur-3).
