Opposition Deputy Leader Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher said he does not want parliament to return to its “dark history,” citing past incidents including the beating death of a speaker, the killing of Deputy Speaker Shahid Ali and shoe-throwing. He made the remarks on Sunday in the Jatiya Sangsad during discussion on the formation and reconstitution of standing committees.

His comments came amid exchanges between government and opposition members over the distribution of chairmanships of parliamentary standing committees. Taher said the opposition was entitled to 26 percent of committee memberships in line with its number of lawmakers and had expected the same 26 percent share of committee chairmanships. He said no opposition member had yet been made chair of any ministry-related parliamentary standing committee.

Referring to a phone conversation with the chief whip, Taher denied any agreement that the opposition would receive chairmanships if it joined the constitutional amendment committee. He said his party had made a policy decision not to participate in that committee and opposed imposing conditions or pressure to make it join. He said the prime minister had described it as the people’s parliament and that the opposition’s fair rights should be ensured in a parliament opposed to discrimination.