Opposition decries e-commerce scam, poll anomalies in JS   

Two opposition parliamentarians in the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Monday criticised the government over the scam-tainted e-commerce sector and anomalies in recently held union parishad polls.

"It is true that the e-commerce sector has burgeoned manyfold. But several thousands of crores of taka have been swindled in the last couple of months," Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) lawmaker Md Harunur Rashid told the JS.

Awami League MP Md Abdus Shahid on Monday made a thanksgiving motion to express gratitude to Unesco for introducing "Unesco-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize on Creative Economy".

Taking part in the special discussion on the motion, a member of parliament (MP) from BNP Harunur Rashid said they are proud of the achievement. But issues that have been affecting the nation should be discussed too.

He said online shopping has been gaining momentum, but corruption in digital form is on the rise too. He wanted to know what steps the government has taken to rein in e-commerce frauds.

The house in the last session also talked about e-commerce scams.

Harunur Rashid, elected from Chapainawabganj-3, also underscored countermeasures for unbridled commodity prices.

The MP said, "The country's economy, people's purchasing power and commodity prices should be discussed as we have started to return to normalcy after almost two years of the pandemic."

"There will be a conference of one hundred democracies in the United States, but Bangladesh is not on the list. Where are we in the democratic index? These are frustrating and disappointing issues, and we should also talk about these," he added.

The BNP lawmaker said he proposed an overhauling of the health sector in the last session of the parliament two months ago but to no avail.

"We need to determine how we could overcome these crises, and fix the issues. But we are being barred whenever we start the discussion. We are being ridiculed in various ways," he alleged.

In the discussion, Jatiya Party (JP) MP Md Mujibul Haque said, "Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman struggled for democracy throughout his life. But democracy in Bangladesh is in deep crisis today."

The MP from Kishoreganj-3 complained ruling Awami League MPs and other local leaders had been constantly pressurising the JP candidates to withdraw their candidatures in the recent phase of the union parishad polls.

"Is it democracy," he questioned.

On Sunday, BNP MP Harunur Rashid talked about irregularities in local elections which were met with a fuss by the ruling party MPs.