Parliament in UPROAR: Bills passed without opposition discussion
A procedural controversy unfolded on the floor of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday after two significant financial sector bills were passed without members of the opposition getting a chance to speak — triggering an unusual post-passage debate that the rules of procedure do not actually permit.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (Amendment) Bill 2026 and the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill 2026 were passed by voice vote after Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury moved them in parliament.
What followed exposed deep fault lines between the treasury and opposition benches over both the substance of the legislation and the manner in which it was rushed through.
The controversy stemmed from the fact that only one lawmaker — independent MP Rumeen Farhana, elected from Brahmanbaria-2 — had proposed referring the bills to a scrutiny committee or seeking public opinion. Under parliamentary rules, members can participate in bill discussions only if such a proposal has been made. Since no other member moved such a proposal, the rest of the House was effectively silenced.
Several opposition members raised their hands seeking to speak, but Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal declined, noting there was no procedural provision for discussion at that stage.
He nonetheless allowed Leader of the Opposition Shafiqur Rahman to take the floor — a concession that opened the floodgates.
Shafiqur Rahman immediately called for the bills to be suspended, saying his bench had not received the bill documents in time. The deputy speaker rejected the objection, stating the reports had been circulated on Wednesday and the process had proceeded accordingly.
The central substantive concern raised by the opposition was the removal of age restrictions under both the Securities and Exchange Commission Act and the Insurance Corporation Act.
NCP MP Akhter Hossen put the concern bluntly: “Is this being done keeping a person in mind or a policy in mind?” He warned that lifting age caps to facilitate particular appointments would undermine the very principle of merit the finance minister had invoked.
Drawing a pointed historical parallel, he noted that in 2001, the BNP government had raised the retirement age of the chief justice to engineer a favourable caretaker government head — “and after that, the nation had to endure a long suffering.”
Finance Minister Khosru pushed back, arguing that in most countries where securities commissions operate successfully, no such age barriers exist. “If qualified and skilled people want to come here, you have to keep these in mind,” he said.
The Bangladesh Bank Governor Row
The debate quickly widened into a broader clash over the government’s appointments in the financial sector. Shafiqur Rahman charged that the government’s conduct over the past two months — including at Bangladesh Bank — had “gone against the wishes of the people,” citing the replacement of the central bank governor as a case in point.
“If everything is politicised and groups and families are given charge of particular areas, the country will not move forward,” he said.
Khosru responded firmly, insisting that all appointments made by BNP governments in Bangladesh Bank and the Securities Exchange Commission had been non-political. “The BB governor is not a member of any party,” he said, adding that the governor’s performance surpassed that of previous incumbents.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition Syed Abdullah Md Taher welcomed the prime minister’s stated commitment that no political figures would be appointed to financial institutions — but added a sting to his praise. “The current BB governor has an identity,” he said. “That is, he was a member of the BNP election steering committee.”
When the Speaker asked the finance minister to respond, Khosru drew a distinction between supporting a party and being its member. “Supporting a party in election activities does not mean being a party member,” he said, adding that many non-members help parties during campaigns.
Amid the procedural and political sparring, independent MP Rumeen Farhana — the only member formally entitled to speak on the bills — used her time to flag the fragile state of the insurance industry. “One of the pillars of the Bangladesh economy is the insurance sector. If we discuss it honestly, the condition of the insurance sector is not very good,” she said.
Unusually, the finance minister offered no disagreement. “Many insurance companies have been born due to mismanagement, corruption and government patronage — those who do not care about the law and regulations,” Khosru acknowledged, conceding the sector is in a “very difficult situation.”
