DHAKA: Thanks to the hard-liners in both the ruling BNP (Bangladesh National Party)-led alliance and the main opposition Awami League (AL), the latest attempt to bring the recalcitrant opposition to the Parliament appear to have ended in a whimper.

The hard liners in both camps do not want that a compromise of any sort be reached between the two sides to make the AL agree to end its boycott and attend the parliament’s budget session beginning from June 4.

However, observers are of the view that the apparent success of the hard liners’ is due more to the intransigence of the AL as its president, Sheikh Hasina, is leading the party’s hard liners herself.

The ruling party leaders have been urging and informally talking to the AL leaders to attend the parliament for quite sometime while the AL leaders responded by asking for formal invitation for a dialogue. Early this week BNP Secretary General, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, formally proposed to senior AL presidium member Abdus Samad Azad for a dialogue.

However, a section of the hardliners in the ruling coalition is insisting that the government not hurry into a dialogue and prolong the next budget session beginning from June 4 for more than 34 more days to challenge the AL.

There is a catch. AL members have been boycotting Parliament since the beginning and already absented themselves for 56 consecutive days of its sitting. Constitution says any member absenting for 90 days of consecutive sitting without seeking the leave of absence from the speaker ceases to be a Member of Parliament.

In the event of AL’s boycotting another 34 consecutive days of sitting, all MPs would lose membership. The Election Commission then would have to call for by-elections within 90 days from the day the seats fall vacant and fill up the 56 seats in a house of 300. This action is sanctioned by the constitution and technically speaking, it would not cause any constitutional crisis.

Meanwhile, before AL leader Azad could get back to the BNP secretary general with his answer, AL President Sheikh Hasina shot the offer down on Wednesday. Addressing a public rally she said: “We don’t suffer from such political bankruptcy as it will prompt us to join parliament as yes-men and (be) used as pawns by a certain party.”

She also said that her party knows it well when to join parliament and why adding: “They have a two-thirds majority, they can do anything in parliament. When they are so strong in the parliament, then why are they so busy trying to take the Awami League back to the House.”

This clearly indicated that she is not interested in a dialogue with the government on the issue. Nobody expects any other decision by either the AL central working committee (CWC) or the AL parliamentary party (ALPP) against her expressed desire.

It is no secret that most of the AL MPs are willing to join the Parliament to participate in the its session and talk about the problems of their respective constituencies. Members are also under tremendous social pressure for doing so. The main opposition Awami League has been boycotting the Parliament following the October 1, 2001 polls, in which the BNP-led four-party alliance won a landslide victory. The AL leaders say the polls were rigged and they don’t accept the result.

The AL leadership in general and Sheikh Hasina in particular are also under pressure from donors to end the impasse for the smooth functioning of parliamentary democracy in the country, which is showing signs of fragility under continuous strains. The AL is considered pro-India by its critics because of the perceived close links of its leaders with the Indian political establishment. However, the Indian leaders are also known to be pushing the AL to join Parliament.

Apparently because of this India factor in Bangladeshi politics, senior AL leaders Abdus Samad Azad and others had earlier hinted that they were interested in attending parliament and would pursue Sheikh Hasina to do so. Because of this the May 7 meeting of the AL central working committee discussed the issue in detail and postponed any decision till Hasina’s return from her US visit.

It was widely felt with relief in the country as well as within the AL circles that this time around the party leaders would respond positively to the government’s call. However, in view of the latest strong statement from Hasina against joining parliament, the frustrated AL leaders seem to have resigned to their fate.

The budget session is scheduled to begin on June 4 and the budget will be tabled on June 6. Sheikh Hasina returned home on May 23 after a month-long tour of London and Florida, USA.

Boycotting of the parliament is nobody’s monopoly in Bangladesh. When AL was in the opposition after the 1991 parliamentary polls, within two years the AL had begun to boycott the parliament and finally resigned from the House only a few months before the tenure of what is known to be the first democratically elected parliament in 1991.

The crisis of parliamentary democracy in the country did not end with the emergence of the Awami League as the ruling party in 1996 after it defeated the BNP in the July 1996 polls. In late 1998, the BNP, as the main opposition party, began to boycott the Parliament. However, after a prolonged absence from the Parliament, the BNP members attended the House for a day to save their membership of the Parliament.

Analysts believe that in all probability, under Sheikh Hasina’s leadership, the AL will also decide to attend the Parliament for a day to retain their membership. In the event of such a scenario, the AL could be criticized for following the BNP’s lead, but there is hardly any alternative. After all, the BNP and its allies had also followed the tradition of prolonged boycott of Parliament set by the AL in the first place.