The parliament has passed the seventeenth amendment to the constitution extending the tenure of the women reserve seat for more 25 years.
The Constitution (Seventeenth Amendment) Bill, 2018 was passed unanimously by division votes with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair on Sunday, reports BSS.
Earlier, Law Minister Anisul Haq placed the bill aiming to ensure the women participation and empowerment of the women in the legislation.
Piloting the proposed bill, the minister said as per the article 3 of section 65 of the constitution, the ten years tenure of the 50 women reserve seats in the parliament will expire on January 28, 2019.
“If the tenure of the 50 women seats would not be extended through the amendment of the constitution then the provision of the women reserve seat will be abolished from the constitution,” he added.
Under the proposed bill, law minister said the ratification of the proposed bill will extend the tenure of the women reserve to 25 years.
Earlier, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Haq, M Tajul Islam Chowdhury, MShamsul Haq Tuku, Taluder Mohammad Younus, Advocate Mohammad Ziaul Haq Mridha, Begum Safura Begum, and Begum Amatul Kibria Keya Chowdhury participated in the standing committee meeting for further scrutiny of the bill.
As per the instruction of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then government had kept a provision of 15 women reserve seat in the parliament for 10 years.
Later, the provision of the women reserve seats was extended for three times by increasing to 30 as per the Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Act in 1990, then increased to 45 as per the Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 2004 and finally increased to 50 as per the Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Act in 2011.
