Youth Parliament National Assembly 2022 held

Youth Parliament National Assembly-2022 was organised by Global Youth Lead Platform Youth Parliament on 30 September.

This Assembly session started at 10:30am and ended at 8:00pm on the proposal to prioritise the tourism sector as the future fuel for foreign exchange remittances, reads a press release.                                       

Member of the University Grants Commission, Professor Biswajit Chand was present as the chief guest of the inaugural ceremony. Also present as guests of honour were Jyoti F Gomes, executive secretary, Bangladesh Catholic Education Board; Kazi Nahian, manager - Bangladesh, Cambridge University Press; Shariful Anwar, eminent educationist and advisor, Youth Parliament. 

Bebak More, general secretary of Youth Parliament and duke of Edinburgh Award Recipient, gave a welcome speech at the beginning of the event and Sarkar Tanvir Ahmed, president of Youth Parliament, Diana Award recipient and Queen Elizabeth's Commonwealth young leader, presided over the event.

In the opening session, condolence motion were presented on the death of Queen Elizabeth II of Britain, Deputy Leader of Parliament Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Fazle Rabbi Mia and former advisor to caretaker government Akbar Ali Khan. 

The Youth Parliament session was conducted with Sohail Rana as the speaker, Tanmanie Toma as deputy speaker, Razia Sultana as speaker panel president.

Meanwhile, UGC member Professor Biswajit Chand said, "Organising Youth Parliament is a wonderful initiative. Youth can learn about the Constitution and the rules of Parliament through debate sessions. Youth Parliament exercise is a suitable mechanism for the youth to express their opinions strongly in the policy-making forum of the government. This kind of initiative will bring importance to the future of students."

Vice-Chancellor of Rabindra University, Bangladesh Prof Md Shah Azam was present as the chief guest and Prof Md Rashidul Hasan of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University was present as the special guest in the concluding part of the session

Vice-Chancellor of Rabindra University, Bangladesh Prof Md Shah Azam said, "In the era of information technology, the contribution of youth to nation building is no less than the liberation war of 1971. The youth should not forget the Bengali culture and society. The Youth Parliament will open a new direction in the national progress of development". He hopes, "The special wing of the National Parliament will be opened soon to prioritise the opinion of the youth." 

On the occasion of Youth Parliament Session-2022, there will be 5 days of workshops, oath taking ceremony and practice session. Zannatul Nayem was elected as the Prime Minister of this parliament, Inzamamul Haque was elected as the Opposition Leader.

In the day-long session, the youth of different districts of Bangladesh enlivened the parliament with their opinions and arguments on the general proposal "Tourism sector will be given priority as the future fuel of foreign exchange" as members of parliament of their constituencies. Opposition MPs walked out 2 times in the session.

Minister of State for Tourism Tasfiya Sara Chowdhury requested the speaker to put the motion to vote to pass it in the recommended form. The speaker put the motion to voice vote and it was passed but a division vote was held over the protest of the opposition. There too the government party got majority. After that again the speaker gave electronic voting on the opposition party's objection. As a result of that vote, the proposal was accepted in the Parliament by a huge margin of votes.

Guests discussed the need for a separate department in the National Parliament to deal with Youth Parliament Bills. They all praised such arrangements. If the proposals of the Youth Parliament are presented to the relevant authorities and considered at the national level, many new ideas will emerge.

The event partners are, International Human Rights Commission, Asian Network of Youth Volunteers Society, Youth Power Community, Connecting Dreams Foundation of India, Youth 360, SUNFO Global Sri Lanka and more others. The Business Standard joined the event as Media partner. 

Since 2018, Youth Parliament has been working to develop leadership skills of young people internationally to actively contribute to SDG-16.

President of Youth Parliament Sarker Tanvir Ahmed said, "Bangladesh will be a developed country in 2041. Therefore, youth parliament practice can play a significant role in building the future generation of the national parliament of Bangladesh. We want youth parliament to be practiced in the national parliament hall of Bangladesh like developed countries."