Parliaments
during the Pandemic:
A “Dual State” explanation
of Bangladesh Jatya Sangsad
M. Jashim Ali
Chowdhury*
Raihan Rahman
Rafid**
This article seeks to theorise the Parliament of
Bangladesh (JatiyaSangsad)’s response
to the Covid-19 pandemic in light of the normative traits of global
parliamentary responses to the public health emergency.It is argued that while
the pandemic has contributed to the executive aggrandizement in established and
unstable democracies alike, it has irreversibly marginalised the legislatures
in countries with “pre-existing conditions” like democratic decay, elected
authoritarianism etc. This article adopts the “Dual State” thesis expounded by
Csaba Győry and Nyasha Weinberg in relation to Hungary and uses it as a
theoretical lens to look through the Bangladesh Parliament’s performance during
the pandemic. It concludes that Bangladesh’s total neglect
of parliament as an institution of relevance during the pandemic is relatable
to the Hungarian or Georgian style “Dual State” approach to the crisis and this
might end up normalising a perpetual marginalisation of the JatyaSangadas
an institution of accountability.
*PhD Candidate (Parliament Studies), King’s College London, UK, Email: m.chowdhury@kcl.ac.uk.
**Associate, The Old Baily Chambers, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Email: raihanrrahman@gmail.com.
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