(Feb. 27, 2009) The new parliamentary Government of Bangladesh formed in January 2009 has created a 15-member special parliamentary committee to review all ordinances promulgated by the caretaker government. According to article 58(D) of the Bangladesh Constitution, the authority of the caretaker government is limited to routine governmental work and ensuring the holding of a parliamentary election. However, the temporary government has promulgated 122 ordinances, including ordinances unrelated to the election.
The new government is required to ratify these ordinances within 30 days of their introduction to the Parliament on January 25, 2009. The special parliamentary committee, after consideration of all the 122 ordinances, accepted only 44 for ratification. If the rest of the ordinances are not ratified by the current Parliament, they will become ineffective after February 25, 2009. (Shakhawat Liton, Half of Ordinances to Be Left Out, THE DAILY STAR, Feb. 4, 2009, available at http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=74303.)