Bangladesh
Law Minister Anything can happen in last session of Parliament: Law Minister
Dhaka, Oct 18: The last session of the 11th parliament will be held this month. Law Minister Anisul Huq has commented that everything can happen besides passing the law through discussion in this parliament session.
He made this comment in response to a question from journalists after a meeting with representatives of the International Labour Organization (ILO) at the secretariat on Tuesday. A delegation led by ILO Bangladesh Country Director Tumo Potiinen participated in the meeting.
Law Minister was asked by journalists - the last session of Parliament in October, what will happen there? In reply, he said, "everything can be discussed in the parliament. Apart from passing the law, everything can happen in the parliament."
In response to another question about the election-term government, the law minister said, "There is no mention of the election-term government anywhere in the constitution. It is up to the Prime Minister to decide how many ministers he needs during the election period, and how many not. If he needs everyone, everyone will be there. And if he thinks he can do it on a smaller scale that's his wish. The Constitution has given him that power."
Earlier, the minister said about the meeting, "The amendment to the labor law has been approved in the cabinet meeting. The ILO has some say in the amendments that are in place. Today came with that statement. The ILO Country Director and his team here have presented that statement to us. We have heard that and today we have resolved some of the issues. I have given the clarification that needs to be given."
He said, "There are some issues in which we felt that the discussion needs to be more detailed and since they gave their complaint today. I will not say complaints, priority areas, since they have given them today, we have said that next Sunday (October 22) the meeting will be held here at 11:30 am. There will be discussions except for the answers we have given regarding their priority areas."
What has been resolved in the discussion? In response to the questions of the journalists, the law minister said, "There was a question about the formation of the trade union, and the discussion was done. If a group of companies wanted to form a trade union, then 30 percent of the workers' signatures were required. It is being revised to 20 percent. We had a commitment to the ILO that it will be gradually reduced."
