Menon perplexed over role in the House

Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon told the House on Wednesday that he is in a bit of a sticky situation regarding what his party’s role should be in the parliament.

At the maiden session of the parliament, Menon, who got elected as an MP in the 11th parliament from the Dhaka 8 constituency, said: “I am equally happy and perplexed about the 11th parliament. I struggled to answer when questions were raised [by journalists] on my way to the Chamber today [Wednesday] on what should be our [elected members of the Awami League–led alliance’s] role in the House.

“We had been asked why we are not sitting in the opposition side. In this context, I must say that I am afraid we [Awami League–led alliance members] are yet to be consulted on what our role should be in the House. It seems as if the onus lies on us to make a decision in this regard- whether we should sit with the ruling party or we should act like opposition members,” said the 75-year-old leftist politician, while addressing the parliament.  

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has not considered both Menon, who had hold the portfolios of Social Welfare and Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministries in the last government’s cabinet, and Hasanul Huq Inu, leader of a Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal faction and former minister for Information in the same cabinet, for any position in the recently constituted cabinet after Awami League won the election on December 30.

Since then, speculations have been swirling in the political spectrum that member parties of the Awami League-led 14-party alliance are quite baffled and unhappy regarding the move by the prime minister.

Though none is yet to come up with an official statement, multiple news outlets have reported, quoting politicians of alliance parties off the record, that they were expecting some kind of recognition from the Awami League president, considering their staunch support during the last two terms of the government.