The question has become evident from the fact that the Treasury Bench members also appear to have lost their interest in parliament, resulting in a serious and continuous quorum crisis in the ongoing parliament session. In a house having a strength of 300 members, it is astonishing that the 60 members required for averting quorum crisis do not attend the house.

The main opposition Awami League has been boycotting the House from the beginning of the 8th Parliament on various grounds, some valid, others less so. The Awami League with 55 plus MPs might have equal responsibility to their electorates which they are not fulfilling, but their absence does not have any effect on the smooth running of the parliament as the ruling alliance has an overwhelming majority. The Awami League, according to their logic, may have reasons for boycotting the parliament. But what happens to the ruling party MPs? Why have they lost their interest? Minus AL lawmakers, the ruling alliance has alone over 225 MPs. Then why the quorum crisis? Has the 8th Parliament become dead?

As a voter and conscious citizen of this soil, I think time has ripened to dissolve the 8th parliament. The time has come to seek a fresh mandate, both for the government and lawmakers. The electorates who sent their representatives to the parliament are not being represented, although the MPs are taking lucrative allowances and other perks from their voters. If an employee of a government or private office lost his interest in his job, would the employer continue his service? Is it morally right to cling to the post without serving one's paymasters? An MP is nothing but an appointed representative selected by the voters of his constituency. He is selected through votes rather than through an interview. He was supposed to serve his electorates through participating in the parliament sessions and making legislation that would help ameliorate their socio-economic conditions.

But what are we witnessing from the lawmakers of the 8th Parliament? In fact, the 8th Parliament could hardly frame a single law which is public-friendly and people-oriented. Rather it passed a number of controversial laws such as the ones on speedy tribunal and women's reserved seats that triggered serious discontent among the members of the public.

The ineffectiveness of the present parliament is palpable from the deliberations of some lawmakers who belong to none but the ruling alliance. The lawmakers, chairmen of various parliamentary standing committees, at a workshop in presence of the Speaker clearly expressed their discontent saying that the parliamentary committees are nothing but a rubber stamp. No minister, even the petty government officials, pays heed to them, cooperation is a far cry. In fact, in parliamentary democracy, standing committees, dubbed as watchdogs, are supposed to be more powerful than a ministry. The ministries and ministers are accountable to these committees. But what is going on here? The ministers skip the committee meeting and the bureaucrats do not answer their queries and provide information.

Some of the committee chairmen clearly stated that the committees are non-functional due to the indifference of the concerned ministers and their bureaucrat subordinates.

Another thing, lawmakers are supposed to work for their voters. They should talk about the people's interests, their grievances. But what do we see in our House? The lawmakers most of the time engage themselves in spitting venom to opposition parties and showering praise to their leaders. They hardly say anything which is of common public interest.

I didn't see any news about any Treasury Bench lawmaker who talked about price spiral of essentials, price hike of petroleum products or hike of transport fares. I never heard any member from the Treasury Bench bring any amendment in any bill, however anti-people it might be. But if the Treasury Bench members were on the opposition bench, they surely would raise objection to the same bill. What a farce goes on in our parliament. Here personal interest is above party interest, party interest above people and national interest.

The behaviour of the legislators, both ruling and opposition, indicates that they are not any more interested in this current parliament. In fact, they are taking preparation for election. Awami League has been demanding election for a long time. BNP MPs are also apparently not interested in this House. So it is better to go for fresh recruitment for selecting new representatives who will serve the purpose of their electorates.

Nazrul Islam is a journalist and freelance contributor to The Daily Star.