Constitutional question over resignation of Speaker-Deputy Speaker: Debate on social media

BD Digest Reporter

Constitutional questions and controversies have arisen surrounding the resignation of two BNP leaders, Major (Retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram and Barrister Kaiser Kamal, as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 13th National Parliament, respectively. Political and legal discussions have begun over whether or not they retain their parliamentary membership, especially after they announced their resignation from “all levels” of the BNP.

Hassan Mahmud Tipu, an associate researcher at the Department of Law and Legal Affairs at Carleton University in Canada, raised questions about the issue in a post on social media. In his post, he said that if such a decision is taken without amending the constitution, it could create legal complications.

He mentioned that Major Hafiz Uddin Ahmed and Barrister Kaiser Kamal have resigned from all levels of BNP in order to maintain their neutrality as Speaker and Deputy Speaker. Even the leader of parliament and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, while addressing the parliament, said, “From today, you are no longer part of any party. You are the Speaker of this parliament.”

According to Tipu, if their party membership has also been cancelled through their resignation, then their parliamentary membership should also be cancelled as per Article 70 of the Constitution. And if someone is not a member of parliament, he cannot hold the post of Speaker or Deputy Speaker.

Article 70 of the Constitution of Bangladesh states that if a person becomes a member of parliament as a candidate of a political party and later resigns from that party, his seat in parliament will become vacant. Similarly, if he votes against his own party in parliament, his membership can be revoked.

Meanwhile, according to Article 74, Clause 2(b) of the Constitution, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly must be elected from among the members of Parliament. As a result, if someone is not a member of Parliament, then he cannot perform the duties of Speaker or Deputy Speaker.

Amin Al Rashid, a journalist at the online media outlet bdnews24.com, raised the issue in an analytical article titled “The debate over whether the Speaker and Deputy Speaker should be members of parliament.”

His report said that in his resignation letter submitted to the BNP chairman on March 12, Major Hafiz Uddin Ahmed wrote that he was voluntarily resigning from all levels of the party, including the BNP National Standing Committee, to discharge his duties impartially, having been elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly.

Similarly, after being elected Deputy Speaker, Barrister Kaiser Kamal also announced his resignation from all levels of the party, including the secretary of the BNP National Executive Committee, in his resignation letter.

The 13th National Parliament began its journey on March 12. On that day, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker were elected in a meeting chaired by senior BNP leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain. They later took the oath.

Sitting in the speaker’s chair, Major Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said, “Democracy is a system of majority rule. I hope that both the government and the opposition will unite and take all-out initiatives in the interest of the nation. I will strive to ensure that the opposition can play an effective role.”

However, the question has arisen – does the term “resignation from all levels of office” also include primary party membership? If so, then according to Article 70 of the Constitution, their parliamentary membership should also be cancelled. As a result, many observers have opined that a clear explanation is needed from the BNP on this issue.

The controversy over Article 70 of the Bangladesh Constitution is not new. Discussions on this clause began when the constitution was being drafted in 1972. Several members of the Constituent Assembly, including Hafez Habibur Rahman, a senior member of the Constitution Drafting Committee, objected to this clause.

Later, through an amendment proposal by Constituent Assembly member Nurul Haque, Article 70 was adopted in a revised form. It states that if a person is elected as a candidate of a political party and later resigns from that party or votes against the party in Parliament, his membership of Parliament will be cancelled.

Although some changes were made to this section during the twelfth amendment to the constitution in 1991, the original provisions of the 1972 constitution were restored through the fifteenth amendment in 2011.

According to analysts, this provision, while ensuring political stability, also places restrictions on the free expression of opinions by members of parliament. For this reason, there have been calls for its reform for a long time.

In 2002, former BNP MP Abdul Mannan also introduced a private member’s bill in parliament to amend this section, although it was not passed.

Recently, the Constitutional Reform Commission has also proposed amendments to Article 70. According to the proposed changes, party decisions will have to be followed only in money bills and confidence votes; on other issues, members of parliament will be able to vote independently.

Overall, the questions raised around the resignation of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker by their parties have brought to the fore a new discussion and debate on Article 70 of the Constitution. Now, political observers are watching to see what explanation the political parties and relevant circles will come up with on this issue.