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Parliament
in a parliamentary form of government is a
multifunctional organ of the state, but its functions
are rarely defined in any Constitution or other document
anywhere in the world. One has to read in between the
lines of a Constitution to locate the specific functions
of Parliament, if there exists a written Constitution.
Parliament of Bangladesh is not an exception to
this nearly universal phenomenon. This document
restricts itself only to the following three functions
of Jatiyo Shangshad: -
1.
Enactment
of Legislation
2.
Consent
to taxation and control of public expenditure
3.
Ensuring
accountability of the Government
The
elective functions of Parliament, which include the
election of the President, and the exercise of its
constituent power for amendment of the Constitution,
along with several other functions, have not been
discussed.
Enactment of Legislation
Legislation is the basic function of Bangladesh Jatiyo Shangshad. The
Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
has vested the legislative powers of the Republic to
Parliament, subject to the provisions of the
Constitution. Reference was made earlier to the fact
that the President shares this power in two ways; first,
he can make laws called Ordinances which have a life
limited by the Constitution; and secondly, a Bill passed
in Jatiyo Shangshad becomes a statute only after the
President has assented, or is deemed to have assented,
to it.
Every proposal in Parliament for making a law has to be made in the form
of a Bill. If notice for introduction of the Bill has
been given by a Minister, the Bill is known as Government
Bill. If a Member who is not a Minister
introduces it, the Bill is known as Private Member’s Bill. A
Bill passes through three distinct stages in Parliament
i.e. the introduction, consideration and passing, which
conform to the three readings usually known in
parliamentary parlance as first reading, second reading
and third reading respectively. A new stage in the
legislative process called the ‘Committee stage’ is
also now frequently referred to in many Parliaments.
In the case of a Government Bill, a Minister, or in the case of a Private
Member’s Bill, a Member may make a motion for leave to
introduce a Bill after giving the Secretary to
Parliament written notice of his/her intention to do so.
A Minister or a Member who has given such notice is
known as Member-in-charge
in respect of the Bill. The notice has to be accompanied
by two copies of the Bill, together with objectives and
reasons. If the Bill is one that under the Constitution
requires the previous recommendation of the President
for its introduction, the notice has to contain a
certificate that the Bill has been recommended by the
President for introduction. If a motion for leave to
introduce a Bill is opposed, the Speaker may without
further debate put the question to the vote of the
House, after permitting, if he considers appropriate, a
brief explanatory statement by the Member opposing the
leave for introduction and the Member-in-charge moving
for leave. If leave is granted, the Member-in-charge,
when called, formally moves a motion forthwith
introducing the Bill and, on the motion being made, the
Bill stands introduced. This process constitutes the first
reading stage of a Bill.
The second reading of a Bill
begins after a Bill has been introduced. The
Member-in-charge may make anyone of the following
motions in regard to his/her Bill, namely:
- that
it be taken into consideration by the House either
at once or on some future day to be specified in the
motion;
- that
it be referred to a Standing Committee;
- that
it be referred to a Select Committee; or
- that
it be circulated for the purpose of eliciting
opinion on the Bill.
Following any of the above mentioned motions, the lengthy, and to some
extent complex, stage of the second reading commences,
the details of which are defined in the Rules of
Procedure. In the first phase of this stage, no
amendment to the Bill may be moved. However, any Member
may make a counter-motion calling, for example, for the
circulation of the Bill to elicit public opinion on it.
The principles of the Bill and the general clauses of
the Bill are discussed. Details of the Bill are not
discussed further than is necessary to explain its
principles. This is followed by a clause by clause
consideration of the Bill when amendments to the Bill
are considered and voted upon.
The third reading stage is short. The Member-in-Charge makes a
motion that the Bill be passed. The Speaker will then
usually put the motion to vote without allowing any
discussion on it.
Consent to Taxation and Control of Public Expenditure
Parliament controls the purse of the nation. This authority is derived
from the provisions of the Constitution to the following
effect:
- No
tax shall be levied or collected except by, or
under, the authority of an Act of Parliament.
- No
money can be appropriated from the Consolidated Fund
except by an Act of Parliament.
Tax proposals of the Government are submitted to Parliament generally in
the form of the Finance Bill, introduced each year by
the Finance Minister shortly after his budget speech.
Some of the existing Acts/Ordinances that the Finance
Bill usually seeks to amend are the following:
a.
Stamp
Act, 1899
b.
Wealth
Tax Act, 1963
c.
Customs
Act, 1969
d.
Income
Tax ordinance, 1980
e.
The
Excise and Salt Act, 1944
f.
Gift
Tax Act, 1990
g.
Value
Added Tax Act, 1991
h.
Court
Fees Act, 1870
i.
Provisional
Collection of Taxes Act, 1931
Occasionally, a new Bill, in addition to the yearly Finance Bill, may be
introduced to give effect to tax proposals not falling
within the scope of an existing law.
A statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government
for a financial year is laid before Parliament around 3
weeks before the commencement of that year. This
statement has been termed as ‘annual financial
statement’ in the Constitution and as ‘budget’ in
the Rules of Procedure. The Finance Minister lays the
statement in Parliament after his yearly ‘budget
speech’ in which, among other things, he outlines the
taxes proposed in the Finance Bill and also highlights
proposed allocations under some, if not all, demands for
grants.
Some of the terms used in financial considerations of Parliament, such as
‘consolidated fund’, ‘charged expenditure’;
‘demands for grants’ possibly need some
clarification. All revenues received, all loans raised
and all moneys received in repayment of loans by the
Government form part of the Consolidated
Fund. All other public moneys received by or on
behalf of the Government are credited to the Public
Account.
Expenditure from the Consolidated Fund may be classified into two
categories: charged expenditure and vote-able
expenditure. Remuneration payable to the
President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Judges of the
Supreme Court, Comptroller and Auditor General, as well
as a few other items of expenditure, have been termed as
charged expenditure in the Constitution. Charged
expenditure to the Consolidated Fund may be discussed in
Parliament but is not subject to its vote. All other
expenditure from the Consolidated Fund is subject to the
vote of Parliament. Proposals for vote-able expenditure
are submitted to Parliament in the form of demands
for grants. Parliament enjoys power to assent to
or to refuse to assent to any demand, or to assent to it
subject to a reduction of the amount.
After the grants have been made by Parliament, a Bill is introduced to
provide for appropriation out of the Consolidated Fund
moneys required to meet:
a.
the
grants so made by Parliament ; and
b.
the
expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund.
An Appropriation Bill is usually passed in Jatiyo Shangshad without any
discussion for two probable reasons: first, detailed
discussion has already taken place on the demands for
grants; and, second, no amendment having the effect of
varying the amount of any grant can be proposed.
Ensuring Accountability of the Government
The Constitution states that the Cabinet shall be collectively
responsible to Parliament. The Rules of Procedure of
Parliament have prescribed a number of devices to make
the Government answerable and accountable to Parliament.
These include:
·
Questions
·
Half-an-hour
Discussion
·
Call
Attention
·
Resolution
·
Discussion
for short duration
·
Motion
(General)
·
Adjournment
Motion
·
No-confidence
Motion
Among these devices, questions and call attention notices feature in
almost all sittings. In fact, the first hour of every
sitting, unless otherwise directed by the Speaker, is
earmarked for Members to ask questions on matters of
public importance. Ministers answer all questions in
writing. However, oral answers are also given to
'starred' questions i.e. questions marked with asterisks
by Members. Once a starred question has been answered,
Members can ask supplementary questions. It is followed
by call attention notices. Questions and call attention
notices are the most common devices used to raise
discussions on the floor of the House.
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