Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Thursday proposed the formation of a 10-member joint parliamentary committee, comprising representatives from both the Treasury and Opposition benches, to address the ongoing energy crisis.
Speaking in Parliament during a discussion on the energy situation, the Prime Minister named five members from the government side and urged the Opposition to nominate an equal number of representatives to complete the body. The House was presided over by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad.
The proposal followed an earlier call on Wednesday by Leader of the Opposition Shafiqur Rahman for a bipartisan initiative to resolve the fuel and electricity challenges facing the country.
"The opposition's proposals and suggestions will reach the government through this committee," Tarique Rahman told Parliament. "If there are realistic suggestions, the government will take the initiative to implement them."
Describing the crisis as a "global problem", he said his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) remained open to dialogue in the national interest.
The Prime Minister proposed Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood as head of the committee. The other government-nominated members are State Minister Aninda Islam Amit and lawmakers ABM Ashraf Uddin, Moinul Islam Khan, and Miah Nuruddin Ahmad Apu.
In response, Opposition Leader and Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman named five representatives from his side: three Jamaat MPs - Saiful Alam (Dhaka-12), Abdul Baten (Dhaka-16), and Nurul Islam (Chapainawabganj-3) - along with NCP MP Hasnat Abdullah (Cumilla-4) and Khelafat Majlish MP Mohammed Abul Hasan.
Shafiqur Rahman welcomed the Prime Minister's proposal, thanking him for accepting the initiative. "We hope this Parliament will become the centre for solving all national problems, God willing," he said
