|
E-MAIL FOR HON. MEMBERS:
EXTRACTS FROM THE HON. SPEAKER’S LETTER TO HON. MPS
Humayun Rasheed Choudhury
SPEAKER
Honourable
Member of Parliament,
Assalamu
Alaikum.
The
modernisation process of Parliaments throughout the world
has focused, among other areas, on the improvement of the
information management systems. We are proud that the
Bangladesh Parliament has now initiated its own
computerisation process. One important step in this
direction is the current development of a Legislative
Information Centre (LIC) through the conversion of the
Parliament Library.
A major
achievement of the LIC has been the registration of the
LIC Website, providing also personal E-mail accounts.
As from
the 1st of September 2000, the Honourable MPs
will be able to receive, retrieve and send your own
messages from their E-mail account at the Computer Users’
Centre of the Parliament. The Centre also provides the
Honourable MPs access to the Internet, free of cost. I
strongly encourage the Hon’ble MPs to utilise these
facilities. I am sure that you will appreciate the ongoing
modernisation efforts that are underway, supported by the
"Strengthening Parliamentary Democracy" Project,
with the ultimate objective of establishing E-governance
in our Parliament.
Yours
sincerely
(Humayun Rasheed Choudhury)
EXPLORE THE LIC WEBSITE
The
Legislative Information Centre (LIC) has established a
website. At this site, Hon. Members, Parliament
Secretariat Officials, and otherwise interested person can
access, free of cost, the official documents of the
Bangladesh Parliament. The Website also facilitates access
to the Catalogue of the Bangladesh Parliament Library. The
Website has been designed to be ultimately available in
Bangla and English versions, with the posting of Bangla
documents as a priority.
Homepage
The
opening page of the LIC Website provides access to three
sections:
- On-line Public Access
Catalogue
- The Jatiyo Sangsad at
Work
- Parliamentary Archives.
It also
provides links to three important pages: the Constitution,
the Rules of Procedure and the Homepage of the Jatiya
Sangsad
OPAC
The
on-line catalogue allows for searching any catalogued book
or document of the Bangladesh Parliament Library. Books
can be searched by title, author, subject or date. The
OPAC provides information on what books are available,
what books are currently on loan to another user and on
where the book is located in the library.
Jatiyo
Sangsad at Work
This
section is designed for parliamentarians and
practitioners. It provides access to information on other
parliaments of the world, as well as detailed information
on the Bangladesh Parliament itself. For example, a
section of "General Information" provides
didactic material for persons who approach the Jatiya
Sangsad for the first time (courtesy of Mr. Khondaker
Abdul Haque Miah, Personal Adviser to the Hon. Speaker).
A section
is also included focused on the IPS. It provides the texts
of the IPS Newsletter, the IPS Monographs, the IPS
Orientation and Training activities and of the IPS
Conferences and Seminars (all under construction).
Finally, a
section on "Business of the House" is intended
for the direct use of the Hon. Members. The documents that
will be inserted, as the digitisation process of the LIC
progresses, include the President’s Addresses to the
House and subsequent debates (by year), the Prime Minister’s
Question Time (questions and answers, by session),
legislation (by year), budget (by year, Finance Minister’s
speeches) and the documentation produced by the
Committees.
Archive
Materials
This third
section contains the treasures of the Bangladesh
Parliament Library. It is meant to be a useful tool for
today and the technological tool by which the
parliamentary heritage of British India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh since its independence, shall be preserved for
future generations. Currently under construction,
information available on this page will include the
Debates of the Bengal Legislative Assembly, the Debates of
Pakistan Constituent Assembly and National Assembly, and
the Debates of the East Pakistan Legislative Assembly.
Monograph:
The Transition to Parliamentary System in 1991 in
Perspective
In this
latest monograph, currently in draft form, Professor Abdul
Hakim studied the events and issues that characterised
Bangladesh's journey towards institutional democracy from
1919 to date. The author makes explicit reference to the
intricate social and political setting of Bangladesh
during the study period. Following brief discussions on
the non-committed British attitude to offer India a
democratic form of government, Professor Hakim analyses
the reasons for failure of successive Pakistan regimes in
framing a stable and healthy Constitution and in
institutionalising parliamentary democracy.
The
post-independence Bangladesh experience with a turbulent
journey to parliamentary democracy is described, including
the country's painstaking experience of the pendulum swing
between parliamentary form of government to presidential
form under democratic and military regimes and back to
parliamentary system. The processes of political
autocracy, military dictatorship and the unique style of
civilianisation of military rule that the country
witnessed in its existence between 1972 and 1990 have been
critically observed.
The
monograph goes on to narrate the initial crisis facing the
nation due to the lack of political consensus for a
transition to parliamentary democracy in 1991 and the
subsequent process of 12th constitutional
amendment to change the form of government from
presidential to a parliamentary one. Professor Abdul
Hakim's monograph will no doubt strengthen the resource
centre of IPS, and will provide the food for thought to
Hon'ble MPs, parliamentary officials and future
researchers on Bangladesh politics and democracy.
Opening of
The Foundation Training
The
Institute of Parliamentary Studies hosted the first
Foundation Training for Parliamentary Officials, which
began on 13 August. The Training course contains nine
modules to be conducted in 21 sessions by 12 guest
speakers. Based on a training need assessment, conducted
earlier by the Mr. Azizul Haq, Training Consultant (SPD
Project) the course is designed to cater to the typical
need of parliamentary officials. The specific objective of
this training is to enhance skills and knowledge of the
officials so that they can better perform their functions
in various Departments of the Parliament Secretariat.
As
planned, the course started with a simple opening
ceremony. All the 31 selected participants registered
their names for training at 2 o’clock in the afternoon.
The Training Consultant briefed the participants on
various aspects of training. He began his briefing putring
an emphasis on the need for training and referred to the
TNA exercise as the basis for designing the training
programme and its modules to fulfil that need. Mr. Haq
elaborated the format of training and gave necessary
information on lecture time tea break and follow-up
interactions between guest speakers and participants. He
also reminded the officials of the way in which evaluation
of their performance would be undertaken (i.e. class room
performance, group discussions and written test with
objective questions). Finally, the participants were told
that they would also assess, through a structured form,
the lecturing skills and performance of guest speakers.
Following
Mr. Haq’s briefing, Mr. Abdul Muktadir Choudhury,
Additional Secretary (Legislation) of the Parliamentary
Secretariat and the National Project Director of ‘Strengthening
Parliamentary Democracy’ project formally inaugurated
the training course. He also set the vision of the IPS and
its training activities. Mr. Choudhury highlighted the
importance of training in the career of parliamentary
officials. Welcoming the participants, the Project
Director outlined the objectives of training and hoped
that the tailormade approach, with which the modules have
been developed would bring enormous benefit to the
participants. He further expressed his optimism that the
trainees would apply their inquiring mind and learn more
through interaction and active participation. Mr.
Chowdhury shared his view that the beginning of IPS
activity with this Foundation Course will bring new ideas
and feedback to redesign a more suitable and appropriate
training curriculum in future.
Professor
Mohammad Mohabbat Khan, Member, Bangladesh Public Service
Commission was the guest speaker on the inaugural day. Dr.
Mohammad Habibur Rahman, Institutional Development
Specialist (SPD Project) introduced Professor Khan before
the participants. Following the simple inaugural ceremony,
Professor Khan began delivering his two-hour lecture on
‘The Organs of the Government’. In the open discussion
phase of the Professor’s session, lively interaction
took place between himself and the participants.
IPU
MILLENNIUM CONFERENCE AT THE UN HEADQUARTERS
Extracts of the Address of
the Hon. Speaker of the Bangladesh Parliament
Mr.
Secretary General of the United Nations,
Madam
President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
Excellencies,
Ladies and
Gentlemen,
I would
like first of all to thank all my peers and dear
colleagues, Presiding Officers of Parliaments,
Representatives of the United Nations, and especially the
UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for having supported
the IPU initiative on which we have been working for the
last two years. Our Declaration, presented in this
Millennium Conference, expresses the desire of
parliamentarians to join voices with all who work
tirelessly in favour of peace, international cooperation,
democracy, human rights and sustainable development.
As the
Speaker of the Parliament that represents a nation which
has been entrusted by the poorest of this world to chair
the group of the Least Developed Countries in the United
Nations. I believe it is our duty to stress the importance
of Development and Democracy, the "double D"
Agenda. Every step we take towards increasing welfare
means added value for our
freedom.
Every time we uphold our liberty, we translate political
rights into social and economic rights for our people.
"Liberty has restraints, but no frontiers", said
Lloyd George. We may be the representatives of the Least
Developed Countries, but we are not representing the Least
Developed Democracies. We are young nations, born often
from bitter struggles, having had to assert our political
independence. We are now eager to assert our economic
independence in the present, harnessing the advantages of
a globalised world, that does not have to be, necessarily,
an unfair world. We believe that a globalised planet can
provide a future of equal and peaceful relations between
sovereign States. For attaining such ideals, I believe we
need the debt of the poorest countries to be cancelled and
official development assistance to reverse its decline, as
stated in our declaration.
We have
always possessed the seed of liberty in our soil and in
our souls. It was only necessary to create the conditions
that would allow this seed to flourish. We recognised the
need to accompany this growth by creating the institutions
which would allow liberty to flourish. It is perhaps true
to say that democracy is a process, not a static
condition. It is perhaps also true to say that it involves
an eternal struggle. It is however this process that will
provide, and is providing, for a better life for our
people.
By
bequeathing strongly legitimised Parliaments and a renewed
United Nations to our future generations, we will be
providing the instruments, which hold the keys to making
this a fairer and freer world. Parliaments can be reliable
partners for the United Nations, be it by enhancing aid of
donor states, or ensuring transparency and accountability
of the use of such aid in the recipient countries.
Parliaments can also influence their respective countries’
policies in matters dealt with in the United Nations.
We are
determined to actively promote the work of IPU as the
world organisation of Parliaments and to promote
cooperation with the United Nations. We are convinced that
we share common principles, common values and a joint
mission: the mission of Democracy and Development, of
international cooperation and national dignity. It is this
dignity that we desire for every man and every woman on
earth, and that is the result of freedom, equality and
fraternity, as were enshrined two centuries ago in the
parliamentary revolution.
Thank you
very much
If
you want to contact the IPS Newsletter, please write to:
Please
write to:
Board
of Editors
(Headed by NPD)
Institute of Parliamentary Studies
Jatiya Sangsad
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207
Fax: 8124126 - Tel: 8124127
E-mail: kendra@bol-online.com
|
.gif)
