Tasmiah Nuhiya Ahmed writes for DOT : The Daily Star on 1 December published a report that states that a report of the UK House of Commons known as “Research Briefing” says – even though many observers expected the December 30 election to be credible, the “playing field” remains far from being level. The said report also indicates that harassment of political opponents remains intense while the ruling Awami League enjoys the advantages of incumbency. According to the latest briefing of the House on Bangladesh, the degree of trust over the “rules of the game” remains low (Daily Star, Playing field far from level, 1 December 2018).
However, on the same day bdnews24.com published an opinion written by M Sanjib Hossain, Sessional Tutor, Warwick University, UK; in which he stated that the said report has not been published by the House of Commons of UK. Rather it was published by the House of Commons Library on November 29 as a briefing paper, titled ‘Bangladesh: November 2018 update’. The briefing paper was prepared by John Lawn, Senior Research Analyst at the House of Commons Library (Jon Lunn, ‘Bangladesh: November 2018 update’ (House of Commons Library, 29 November 2018) https://bit.ly/2zyL0la).
The House of Commons Library is an independent research and information unit. On November 29, 2018, a total of 5 briefing papers including ‘Bangladesh: November 2018 update’ have been published from the House of Commons Library. Many such briefing papers or research briefs are drafted and published by the UK’s House of Commons Library, House of Lords Library and Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology on a regular basis. Hossain concluded that this briefing paper can never be considered as a UK House of Commons report. The main reason for this is ‘principal of parliamentary sovereignty’, which is known as one of the main principles of the UK’s constitution. When a senior research analyst in the House of Commons Libraries writes a briefing paper, in the light of the principal of parliamentary civilization, the briefing paper will be considered as a briefing paper of the House of Commons Library, and it can never be called the House of Commons or the UK Parliament’s briefing paper or report.
If this is the case then people must take this issue into account very seriously. Before relying on whatever media presents, we must double check. We should not come to any conclusion without proper verification.
The writers is Executive Editor, The New York Times, Bangladesh National Section
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