Cumilla-4 constituency lawmaker Hasnat Abdullah has moved to correct what he described as a misrepresentation of his earlier remarks, clarifying that he had requested government-owned vehicles for members of parliament– not tax-free cars.

Rising on a point of order on Wednesday afternoon during the 19th day of the first session of the 13th National Parliament, Abdullah said his proposal had been misunderstood.

“We will not take tax-free cars. We will not take plot benefits,” he said, adding that the entire House had already collectively and unanimously resolved not to accept those perks–a decision he described as a remarkable precedent set by every member of the 13th National Parliament.

What he had actually proposed, he explained, was that lawmakers be provided with government-owned vehicles for official use in the same manner as district council chairmen, upazila council chairmen, municipal mayors, district administrators, upazila nirbahi officers, and other government officials who are assigned official vehicles to carry out their duties.

“A government-owned vehicle would be used only for the duration of one’s tenure as a member of parliament, and it would not require any additional expenditure,” he said.

He pointed out that MPs already receive Tk 70,000 per month for vehicle maintenance, yet have no vehicle to maintain.

Abdullah emphasised that his request was strictly for a functional, state-owned car to be used while in office ” nothing more ” and urged that his position not be conflated with the tax-free vehicle and plot benefits that parliament had already unanimously rejected.