Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rejects BNP seat claim..............

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday rebuffed BNP's demand for more front row seats in the House, saying the main opposition party had been given more than they should proportionately get according to their party strength.

"The BNP won less than 30 of 300 seats. They should get three front seats. Do they have the right to demand what they do not have?" Hasina questioned the House on the BNP's demand for at least seven front row seats.

During her third weekly question-answer session in parliament, the prime minister came down heavily on the BNP for boycotting parliament.

She said the BNP in the previous parliament gave the Awami League six front row seats against its 60 MPs.

Pointing the finger at former speaker Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar for creating the "problem" over seating order, Sheikh Hasina told the House: "We have 232 seats. We should have 23 (one tenth) front row seats ... But only 19 Awami League MPs have taken seats on the front bench."

"We have fewer front row seats than we are supposed to get. We have shown liberalism to honour other parties," said the PM.

"They should at best get three front row seats (according to their party strength). But the speaker has given them four," said Hasina, who was the leader of the opposition during the previous BNP-led government.

"Is it right that they are staying away from parliament for this reason?"

"As if this is a school. Their attitude is: 'I will not attend school if I do not get front row seats'."

The prime minister brought up the seating dispute, over which the opposition has been boycotting parliament, when independent MP Fazlul Azim (a former BNP MP) asked her about the opposition's return to the House to ensure an effective parliament.

The PM's question-answer session marked the first time Sheikh Hasina has commented on BNP's boycott of parliament over the row between the treasury and the opposition benches centering on the seating order.

Outgoing speaker Jamiruddin Sircar gave the BNP nine front row seats in his seating plan, but the present speaker Abdul Hamid reduced the number to four.

The BNP has been boycotting the House since Jan 28, demanding at least three more seats. Speaker Abdul Hamid has urged the opposition to return to the House assuring them of a reshuffle in the next session.

But the BNP is yet to respond positively.