Bangladesh’s parliament saw a dispute on Sunday between the government and opposition over representation on a special constitutional amendment committee and chairmanships of ministry-related standing committees. Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Chief Whip Nurul Islam and opposition deputy leader Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher exchanged arguments before parliamentary committees were due to be formed. No new ministry-related committees were formed after the debate, although several committees were reconstituted.

The government said the opposition would not receive committee chairmanships unless it nominated members to the constitutional amendment committee. The opposition repeated that it would not join the body and demanded chairmanships in proportion to its 26 percent of parliamentary seats, citing the July Charter. Taher said opposition members had received proportional committee membership but no chairmanship of a ministry-related committee.

The 12-member special committee, headed by Salahuddin Ahmed, was formed on July 13 and requested five opposition nominees, but the opposition provided none and walked out during its formation. Deputy Speaker Kaiser Kamal urged both sides to reduce differences through closed-door talks and work together in the national interest.