Action against Gaddafi
Diplomatic options must be explored
Libya is under armed attack from the United States, United Kingdom and France. The action against Tripoli, mandated by a UN Security Council resolution, with significant abstentions has been taken to prevent the autocratic regime of Muammar Gaddafi from attacking and killing his own people, who have in these past few weeks made it clear that they want him out of power. For his part, Gaddafi has not helped matters any by vowing to show no mercy to those who have risen against him. His chilling warning that his forces will conduct house to house and room to room searches to locate his opponents has only demonstrated the desperate straits his people are in.
That said, it is a matter of huge concern that military action by the Western powers against Gaddafi now threatens not just the regime but the future of Libya as well. That Gaddafi's hanging on to power can only worsen matters for his people is not in question. The bigger issue, though, is the dilemma the air attacks on Libya pose for those Libyans who want him out. In the first place, the attacks will likely cause civilian deaths and injuries while taking the anti-Gaddafi initiative out of the protestors' hands. In the second, it could lead to Libya's becoming another Iraq or Afghanistan, with perhaps foreign soldiers eventually marching into the country. The worries are immense.
There is yet time for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. To be sure, there is the need to prevent Col. Gaddafi from carrying on the way he has, indeed to convince him that for the good of Libya he must go. But that is a task calling for other kinds of pressure, a focused and relentless imposition of sanctions for instance. In the past, sanctions have worked well, though they have taken longer to convince tyrants they must leave.
We urge all concerned that the Libya issue be handled diplomatically, through engaging the Arab League and the African Union. Gaddafi rather than killing his own people should take the path of diplomacy. The point is one of how to forcefully persuade the Libyan regime into submission without causing long-term damage to the liberty and territorial integrity of Libya. And intervention is no option.
Public interest motions in JS
Allow more space for debate
It is discomforting news that notices relating to matters of public interest are mostly rejected in the Jatiyo Sangsad. In the last two years more than four thousand motions have been rejected by the House. Even matters of serious issues like citizens' security, renovation of Dhaka-Chittagong highway and law and order situation etc., were not taken up.
Notices are served both by the ruling party and opposition law makers under article 71 of the rules of procedures. Everyday between thirty and fifty notices are served but only three are accepted. And fifteen, among the rejected notices are allowed to be raised in the House with two-minute time slot for each speaker but not adopted for discussion.
This is a disappointing situation for laymen, let alone the constitutional and parliamentary experts. In parliamentary democracy it is the merit and importance of the issue that must get precedence over who tables a motion.
True given the time constraints the speaker would need to be selective but that does not necessarily mean that so many public interest related issues would be set aside. The picture has been similar in the last four parliaments. Motions that could be embarrassing to the government were generally not allowed for discussion irrespective of party in power.
We feel that any serious topic of public interest should be taken up for discussion whether it is from the ruling party or the opposition lawmakers. That is where the test of speakers' impartiality and ruling party's allowing space to the opposition lies.
Usually the motions are centered on problems facing the public or a development project in which a constituency is involved. That is why such matters deserve attention of the authorities concerned at a high level.
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