Grim year for economy

Cautions CPD over scam-riddled banking sector, soaring import, dwindling export

Staff Correspondent

The economy has come under pressure due to the banking sector crisis, inflation and soaring imports amid inadequate export earnings and insufficient remittance inflows, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) said yesterday (Saturday).

The banking sector is suffering from cronyism, the think-tank said, adding that various irregularities and embezzlement of public funds are taking place with influential people involved in it.

“We do not see any prospect of a turnaround in this sector in the next couple of months as the appetite for reforms remains low during the year ahead of elections,” CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun told a press briefing at the Cirdap auditorium in Dhaka.

The CPD said the stealing of public money by a handful of corrupt people and the rise in financial crimes in the country indicate that the banking sector is in dire straits.

Fahmida said economies of countries such as Indonesia and Argentina also suffered due to problems in financial sector.“It needs to be seen if we are going in that direction,” she added.

NPL’s rise & Political influence

The CPD's views come at a time when non-performing loans rose to Tk 80,307 crore between January and September last year, up from Tk 62,172 crore in December 2016, mainly due to irregularities in lending, political influence in loan sanctioning and weak corporate governance.

As a result, the financial health of some banks, namely Farmers Bank, NRB Commercial Bank and AB Bank, has recently deteriorated, creating a vulnerable situation in the entire banking sector, one of the main pillars of the economy.

Some state-run banks, including Sonali and BASIC, were also hit hard by loan scams. The government provided a total of Tk 15,705 crore to bail out the state banks from taxpayers' money between 2009 and 2017.

Currently, nine out of the 57 commercial banks in the country suffer from capital shortfall because of rising default loans, according to central bank data.

The CPD organised the event to present its review on the economic development during the first half of the fiscal 2017-18. It said income and wealth inequality rose despite an average 6.5 percent annual economic growth between 2010 and 2016.

According to its estimate, the revenue collection in the current fiscal may fall short of target between Tk 43,000 crore and Tk 55,000 crore. 

Also, the Rohingya rehabilitation expenditure, the damage from last year's flood, import of food grains by the government at higher costs and rising borrowing by the government from costly saving certificates have created a pressure on the fiscal management. 

Inflation, stability under pressure

Challenges for the economy increased further in the face of inflationary pressure for higher prices of rice and other food items, rising default loans, capital shortfall in state banks, the trouble faced by some new banks and weak governance and leadership, said the CPD.

“We see various types of cracks in the macroeconomic stability,” said CPD Distinguished Fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya at the programme.

He said the year 2017 began with signs of an increase in private investment but it did not end with the same level of enthusiasm. As a result, private investment did not rise as expected despite growth of credit flow and capital machinery import.

“The macroeconomic stability has come under pressure,” he said, adding that reforms did not gain momentum either.

 “The best example is the banking sector. The year 2017 will be marked as a year of scam in the sector. And at this moment, we do not see any indication that things will be any better in 2018,” said Debapriya.

He also spoke of soaring defaulted loans and shortfall in provision against defaulted loans by some banks, repicapitalisation of state banks with taxpayers' money, concentration of loans to a handful of persons, transfer of ownership through administrative measures and poor performance of new banks.

Increased family control on banks

“And we now see siphoning off funds through private banks. But the government, instead of taking measures against these problems, increased family control on banks,” he said, citing the government move to extend the tenure of directors in the board and increase the number of director from a single family.

The potentials of the economy could not be exploited due to the weakness in economic management, he said.

“We have also seen weakness in the decision-making process of the finance ministry. We have seen that finance ministry could not make decisions related to economy on its own. We have seen in many cases they [finance ministry] have implemented decisions that came from top even though those were not rational from economic point of view.”

Under the circumstances, the CPD recommended a conservative approach to the economic management by curbing private sector credit flow, controlling inflation and increasing collection of income tax.

Pressure on foreign exchange reserve

CPD Distinguished Fellow Mustafizur Rahman said foreign exchange reserve may come under pressure due to an increasing deficit in current accounts. “We also need to analyse the quality of growth,” he said.

CPD Research Fellow Towfiqul Islam Khan, who presented the report, said the rate of job growth and poverty reduction in 2010-2016 was slower than in 2005-2010. Also, the pace of poverty reduction has not been equal throughout the country.

The income of the bottom five percent of the population dropped 60 percent in 2016 compared with 2010. By contrast, the income of the top 5 percent rose 57 percent during the same period, he said.  

• Courtesy: The Daily Star/Jan 14, 2018 

Low gas pressure disrupts life

Sudden fall in pressure of gas in the supply lines due to acute cold weather has been causing severe disruption in the daily life of people in Dhaka and in other parts of the country. 

The low pressure, especially in the first half of the day, coupled with the existing short supply, has been hampering daily chores, including preparing breakfast and lunch, to the utter inconvenience of people.

In Dhaka, residents of old town, Razabazar, Indira Road, Jatrabari and Gendaria and parts of Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Kalabagan, Kanthalbagan, Jatrabari, Khilgaon, Bashabo, Malibagh, Rampura, Banasree, Badda and Uttara have complained about acute low pressure of gas for the past two weeks.

Mohammadpur resident Suraya Begum said that she had to prepare breakfast for her family by 6:30am and wait until 3:30pm for preparing lunch as the burners got virtually no gas supplies during the period.

Elderly people and children were suffering the most as the warm water they needed could not be provided for lack of gas, said Gendaria resident Samia Alam.

She also expressed her disgust for the government’s latest move to raise the price of natural gas when it failed to ensure uninterrupted supply.

New Age correspondents in Chittagong and Comilla also reported that domestic consumers in many areas of the cities were experiencing short supply of gas.

Officials of the gas distribution utilities attributed the shortage to increased demand and rapid fall in temperature. 

The country’s demand for natural gas was more than 3,700 million cubic feet per day while Petrobangla, the state-run Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources Corporation, could supply less than 2,700 mmcfd, they said.

Now approximately three million domestic users consume around 300 mmcfd gas, they added.

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company managing director Mir Mashiur Rahman on Wednesday told New Age that the country’s largest gas distribution utility supplied 1,600 mmcfd to 1,650 mmcfd against a demand for 2,000 mmcfd.

Recent cold wave worsened the situation due to rise in demand for natural gas for heating water and due to ‘condensate problem’ in the gas transmission and distribution lines, he added.

Business bodies, however, claimed that they were getting better gas supplies at factories and CNG filling stations than previous years as the government suspended gas supplies to the fertiliser factories before winter set in towards the end of December to increase the supplies to the industrial units and CNG stations.

Out of six fertiliser factories, the government suspended gas supplies to four, which increased gas supplies by more than 100 mmcfd.

Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversation Workshop Owners’ Association general secretary Farhan Noor said that they were still experiencing shortage of gas supplies but the magnitude of sufferings was lesser than previous years.

New Age correspondent in Chittagong, however, reported that a good number of CNG filling stations were not receiving gas supplies at standard pressure for the past one week.

Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association vice president Mansoor Ahmed said that the gas supply situation was not that bad this winter.

He, however, said that the supply situation usually worsened after February when the distribution utilities increased gas supplies to the power stations.

Election, economy presents double whammy for 2018

Shahid Islam

As morning shows the day, the year 2018 is headed toward posing a double challenge for the government, and the nation. 

Election uncertainties aside, the economy is flip-flopping; according to the indications emitted by whopping price hikes; reduced remittance and export earning; stalled employment opportunities; frozen real estate market and, the impact of black money that will have polluted the ‘white economy’ during the pre-election spending- spree by candidates of all denominations.

Violence & economy

Violence in coming months is expected anyway; whether the election is fair and inclusive, or not. Violence and instability is a potent nemesis to the economy. Historically, most of the election years since independence have been violent, exacting a severe toll on the economy. 

Foremost, trade deficit always mounted during the election year; the latest example of which came into focus during 2007-2008 fiscal year when the deficit soared to $3.9 billion, from $ 2.3 billion in 2006-2007.

Election-time uncertainties also negatively impacted remittance inflows. In 2008-2009, remittance amounted to only $9.7 billion, which, in 2009-2010, increased to $11 billion. Similarly, inflation rose to 6.99 % in 2008-2009, amidst political chaos relating to election, but dropped to 6.4 % in the following fiscal.

Impact on GDP, reserve

The impact on the GDP of such negativities is paramount. The GDP grew by 5.05 % during 2008, which was an election year. It went up to 5.57 % in 2009. Meanwhile, election- time uncertainties choked off foreign currency reserve to $22.34 billion in late 2014, which went up to $28 billion in the following year.

Lately, the World Bank had disputed the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ (BBS) data of 7.28 % GDP growth in the 2016-17 fiscal, which the global lender said didn’t cross the 7 % mark.

Debt & deficit

And, according to a number of internationally-published reports, the current account deficit will yawn further in 2018 as the expected trade deficit and lower remittances begin to make their impact; compelling the government to borrow further to finish the development undertakings as the much-needed pre-election stunt to convince voters. 

That will constitute an unwanted reversal in the wheel of fortune. In 2016, public (government) debt dipped to 27.20 percent of the GDP, a record low since 1995 when it averaged at 39.45 % until 2015; hitting an all-time high of 50 % in 2000.  Earlier, the UN Economic Forum predicted the 2018 fiscal deficit to be 5 % of the GDP, while inflation to remain within the bounds of 5.4 %. 

Yet, inflation registered 5.83 % in December 2017, according to the minister of planning, and, continuous price hikes of essential commodities might have already pushed it to 6 % by mid-January 2018.

Consensus vs. confrontation

Despite the nation facing such harsh realities, there is no indication as yet that the economy, or the political ambiance that primes the internal dynamics of economic growth, will move toward anything better in coming months. 

The BNP is still adamant on having a national government, if not a care taker one, under which it’s willing to join the polling. The government is equally determined to holding the election under the incumbent set-up, as per the amended constitutional mandate.

Unless there is a deal of some sort, between the BNP-led allies and the governing AL, to overcome this protracted limbo, confrontation is inevitable; as are disruptions of export, import, and other productivities.

Polarization and danger

Sources say, JP, the third largest political party in the country, is parleying simultaneously with the governing AL and the BNP to have as many candidacies approved from each of the two major parties as a prerequisite to choosing its electoral alliance, on which depends who shall form the next government; BNP or AL.

That too is as yet fluid, embryonic, and uncertain. The ruling AL may once again take the JP to its side in order to deprive the BNP of any hope of forming the next government; provided the BNP joins the polling.

That foists the election itself into an uncertainty; like the one held in 2014, when the main opposition BNP abstained from joining the poll and turned the election itself into a farce following 154 of the seats — more than half of the total needed to form the government — having won by the ruling AL, without facing any contest. 

This lack of inclusivity robbed the 2014 election of the rubric of minimum credibility needed to show that, democracy is still a functional entity in Bangladesh.

Poverty trap

Existence of democracy, rule of law, and the economic wellbeing of the people are always positively correlated. Only an inclusive election, and a credible, functional democracy can retrieve Bangladesh from perennial political instability and the poverty trap that engulfs almost 1 in 4 of its citizenry (24.3 % of the population), of which 12.9 % live in extreme poverty.

More worryingly, reduced flow of remittance, which has been very much visible in recent years, is negatively impacting the rural poverty reduction dynamism which decreased from 35.2 % in 2010 to 26.4 % in 2016. Better employment prospect also reduced urban poverty from 21.3 % to 18.9 % during the same period.

Dreadful scenario

Today, the scenario had changed, almost abruptly, as land price had halved in rural areas, while in major cities, developers are stuck with unsold apartments for years, with no sign of the situation turning to anything better, any sooner. This is wary, scary and dreadful. Whether the government is aware or not, ordinary people are cash-starved, poverty-stricken, and thoroughly demoralized.

Unless the upcoming election is seen and perceived as being a fair, credible and inclusive one, the economy will suffer a major jot — may be a bang of some sort — as did democracy since 2015. That in turn can wither and wash away the expectation of the country becoming a mid-income one any time sooner. Can you hear us, dear politicians?

• Courtesy -  weeklyholiday.net

Bank recruitment exam: Mismanagement rules 2 centres

Retest for all candidates of the 2 centres in city on Jan 20

Staff Correspondents

The authorities yesterday announced a date for retaking the recruitment tests of eight state-run banks in the capital following demonstration of candidates of two exam centres over seat shortage and mismanagement.

According to the authorities, more than 5,000 candidates could not take part in the recruitment test scheduled to begin at 3:30pm yesterday (Friday) at the two centres -- Government Bangla College in Mirpur-1 and Hazrat Shah Ali Mohila College in the same area. They were among the 61 designated exam centres. 

A number of candidates complained that they found all the seats already taken when they entered the centres, especially at Hazrat Shah Ali Mohila College.

They alleged that there were no seat plans at the centre and in many cases four to five candidates sat on a single bench built to accommodate only two.

Finding no empty benches, they said, many candidates left the centre to take the 100-mark MCQ test.

"It seemed the authorities were making fun of thousands of candidates. There was no seat plan at the centre. Examinees of one room sat in another room while five candidates sat on a bench," said Tawsif, a candidate in Hazrat Shah Ali Mohila College exam centre. He alleged that the question paper did not arrive at the centre till 4:00pm.

Sajjad, another candidate, said some of the exam halls in the centre were crammed with candidates."Many examinees took cell phones inside the halls. It was total chaos," he said.

"The authorities must resign if they cannot take the responsibility of conducting a fair exam. Such incidents must be strongly protested,” he added.

Many candidates left the Shah Ali Mohila College centre finding no place to sit and held demonstrations outside the centre.

Contacted, Anwar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Shah Ali Police Station, said a number of candidates, failing to find a place to take the test, staged demonstrations outside the centre. They, however, left the place after getting assurance from the authorities.

Following the demonstration, Bankers' Selection Committee held an emergency meeting on the issue.

Md Mosharraf Hossain Khan, member secretary of the committee, said, "The exam will be held on January 20 from 3:00pm to 4:30pm at the same centres."

The decision was taken in an urgent meeting of the committee with the approval of Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Fazle Kabir, said Mosharraf, also general manager of BB.

The recruitment test for the posts of senior officer, officer and cash officer was held to fill over 7,000 vacancies at the banks.

• Courtesy: The Daily Star, Jan 13, 2018 

AL Govt. did not keep key pledges

Disappearance, extrajudicial killing, price hike, corruption remain major concerns

Moloy Saha and Mustafizur Rahman 

The Awami League-led government has failed to keep many of its 2008 election pledges such as enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killing, soaring goods prices and corruption, which continue apace.

AL promised nine years back before the 2008 general election, and also before the 2014 election which was boycotted by all opposition political parties, to end extrajudicial killing, curb corruption, establish good governance and keep prices of essentials stable.

Political observers said that the AL-led alliance got elected making lofty pledges that raised great expectations among the people. 

The government has so far mostly failed to live up to such expectations, said experts, adding that frequent incidents of question paper leaks in public examinations down to annual exams even at the primary level and mistakes in textbooks in recent times worried all guardians and academics. 

Asked for comment, AL presidium member Mohammad Nasim, also the health minister, said that the government had taken adequate steps to improve human rights situation and curb corruption. ‘The situations will improve soon as a result of the steps already taken.’

According to rights organisation Odhikar, at least 414 people were subjected to enforced disappearance between 2009 and 2017 with the number being highest in 2016-17. In the past nine years, there were 1,276 extrajudicial killings, the rights body reported. 

It was the responsibility of the state to find out disappeared people, said National Human Rights Commission chairman Kazi Reazul Haque. He said that not a single incident of extrajudicial killing and custodial deaths was expected. 

Several top Awami league leaders, avoiding direct answers to questions as to why the government failed to keep the promises, assured that these issues would be addressed soon. AL presidium member Muhammad Faruk Khan claimed that the government had fulfilled most of the election pledges while some were fulfilled partly and would be completed in future. 

Another presidium member Pijush Kanti Bhattachrya said that some important pledges were yet to be implemented. ‘I shall raise the issue in the party forum and hope government would address it,’ he added.

‘These are important pledges that should have been implemented long back,’ AL organising secretary Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury said, adding, ‘as a party we have failed to remind the government to implement the pledges.’

Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed, now facing severe criticisms following price hike of essentials, recently said that 14 state-owned agencies were monitoring the local commodity markets. Tightening monitoring system on buying and selling price of imported products might lead to adverse situation, he said while talking to reporters on price hike at his office on December 21, 2017. He explained that traders’ associations were very powerful and might stop sale of products.

Towards the end of 2017, education minister Nurul Islam Nahid’s speech at a December 24 programme sparked widespread criticisms as he allegedly asked officials to ‘take bribe, but keep it tolerable’ and said ‘government official and cabinet members are thief’. Nahid on several occasions blamed a section of dishonest teachers for question leaks and claimed that corruption had decreased in education sector while academics alleged corruption had rather multiplied in absence of good governance in the important area.

AL’s promise to control violence and religious extremism, and end extrajudicial killings and strengthen human rights commission are still in the paper.

Ain o Salish Kendra in a report released on December 31, 2017 described the overall human rights situation in 2017 as extremely worrying. Extrajudicial killings by the law enforcement agencies in the cover of gunfights, crossfire and exchange of fire continued throughout 2017 just like in the preceding years, it said. 

Anti-Corruption Commission chairman Iqbal Mahmood said that the commission offered assistance to various ministries and Cabinet Division for containing corruption in big projects in a pro-active move. ‘But we have not got any response as yet. We are working on our own,’ he said.

The Awami League before the 2008 elections promised that multi-pronged measures to fight corruption would be put in place and strict measures would be taken to eliminate bribe, extortion, rent-seeking and corruption. The promises have belied the ground reality, said experts.

Big scams involving the theft at Bangladesh Bank, corruption in BASIC Bank, Sonali Bank, railway, the Hallmark Group and the Destiny Group detected in the past five years questioned the transparency and credibility of the government.

Name of Bangladeshi people in illegal investment in offshore companies in the secretive tax haven of the British Virgin Islands also created concern among the people.

The government neither moved to appoint an ombudsman to promote good governance by fighting corruption nor ensured the disclosure of wealth statements and sources of income of the prime minister, ministers, lawmakers and members of their families.

Anti-graft campaigners questioned sincerity of the Anti-Corruption Commission as petty corruption suspects were held while big shots were not netted.

Bangladesh ranked the 15th most corrupt country in the world in 2016 in the world’s corruption perceptions index prepared by Berlin-based Transparency International. Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman said that steps to control corruption could be much stronger. ‘High level corruption is a matter of concern,’ he added.

Many of the five priority issues, including measures to reduce the burden of price hike, setting up of an institution for commodity price control are still unfulfilled, said rights activists.  

Consumer Association Bangladesh in a report released on January 2 showed that the cost of living leaped by 8.44 per cent in the capital in 2017 for food and other essentials, utility charges as well house rent became costlier. In the year, rice price shot up by 20.40 on an average, it said.

CAB energy adviser M Shamsul Alam blamed unabated corruption, extortions in food supply chain, businessmen’s greed for unbridled profits together with the government’s tendency to increase revenue earnings contributing to soaring annual cost of living. 

AL’s promises to make parliament effective and the government accountable, to ban use of religion and communalism in politics and ensure security and rights of religious and ethnic minorities and contain extremism and extortion also fallen flat, observers said.

Experts said that governments promise of making administration free from politicisation and ensuring appointment and promotion in public service based on efficiency, seniority and merit were also not addressed. 

Good governance campaigner Badiul Alam Majumder said that the country lagged behind in terms of rule of law, democracy and good governance as the government presented a theory of pro-development democracy in its regime. 

‘It’s true that we have made some developments. But corruption and criminalisation have increased as the government has failed to decentralise services,’ he said.

Courtesy: New Age, Jan 12, 2013

Pabna Medical College closed following BCL factions’ clash

Staff Correspondent

Authorities have shut down Pabna Medical College for indefinite period following a clash between two factions of Bangladesh Chhatra League that left at least 10 students injured. 

The college was closed over security concern and the students were asked to vacate the hostels after the clash on the campus on Friday, said the college principal Riazul Haque Reza.

This is the third in such kind of BCL factional clashes in first 12 days of the year. 

The clash erupted between the followers of college unit BCL president Mahfuzur Rahman Nayan and general secretary Additiya Dey over newcomers’ reception, revealed BCL insiders. 

Police and students said the BCL president Mahfuzur Rahman leads the Medicine Club while secretary Aditya Dey leads Rotary Club on the campus.

Aditya Dey’s followers forcibly entered in to a reception of newcomers by Medicine Club and got into a clash with Mahfuzur Rahman’s followers on Thursday night, said Pabna Sadar police station officer-in-charge Abdur Razzak.

The president’s group, however, attacked the rival group staying in the college hostel and beat them up at about 1:00pm on Friday, the OC said.

BCL insiders said at least 10 students were hurt. Among them, former BCL president Abu Torab Meem, organising secretary of Bangabandhu Hall Mashiur Rahman, joint secretary Joydeb Kumar Sutradhar, BCL activists Jubayer Mahamud, Imran Hossain, Nirjhor, Sagar Ahmed were admitted to Pabna Medical College Hospital.

On January 4, Comilla Medical College authorities declared the college closed for a week over security concerns following a clash between two factions of BCL.

On January 7, a BCL activist died in clash between two BCL college units in Sylhet. 

• Courtesy: New Age, Jan 13, 2017

139 fall prey to ‘crossfire’ in 2017: Odhikar

Staff Correspondent

At least 139 people fell victim to ‘crossfire’ and 86 to enforced disappearance in Bangladesh in 2017, said rights organisation Odhikar.

The annual report of the organisation released on Friday also said 59 people ‘died’ in jail and 77 people were killed in political violence in the outgoing year.

Besides, 783 people became victims of rape, 242 were subjected to sexual harassment, 256 women became victims of violence for dowry and 52 women were injured in acid attacks in 2017.

The Odhikar report said 32 were arrested under notorious Information and Communication Technology Act, one journalist was killed, 24 injured, 9 were assaulted and 11 journalists were threatened in 2017.

It reported that 25 Bangladeshis killing by Indian border security force BSF, injuring 29 and 28 Bangladeshis were victims of abduction by BSF in last year.

The report said 13 apparel workers were killed, 362 were injured and 3141 were terminated from their jobs. Besides, 82 workers of other sectors were killed and 80 others were injured in 2017.

Odhikar said that most cases of human rights abuse could not be reported in the media due to hindrances on freedom of expression on media and also due to self-censorship.

‘Victims and their families refrained from making the incidents of violence on them public, due to fear of reprisals... the actual number of human rights violations were more than the information published in this report,’ it said.

Odhikar recommended that in order to restore democracy and the franchise of the people, an accountable government must be established through free, fair and inclusive election, under a neutral interim government or even under the supervision of the United Nations.

It said the incidents of extrajudicial killings and torture by law enforcement agencies must be investigated and the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

It also recommended that the government should investigate and explain all incidents of enforced disappearance and post-disappearance killings, allegedly perpetrated by law enforcement agencies.

• Courtesy: New Age, Jan 13, 2018 

Army deployment needed for acceptable election: speakers

Staff Correspondent 

Deployment of army in parliamentary elections was important to hold a free, fair and acceptable election, said academician, local government expert and good governance campaigners on Thursday.

Addressing a roundtable organised by the Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik at the National Press Club they also said that recently held Rangpur and Comilla city elections would not be considered as model for national election.

Sujon organised the programme to discuss about the ‘success of Rangpur city election’ and future action plan.

Sujon executive member and former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder said most of the stakeholders support the deployment of army during election. 

Quoting the first point of the country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s six-point movement, he said that the people wanted universal voting rights.

The point is: ‘The Constitution should provide for a Federation of Pakistan in its true sense on the Lahore Resolution, and the parliamentary form of government with supremacy of a legislature directly elected on the basis of universal adult franchise.’

Dhaka University teacher Asif Nazrul said people experienced the January 5, 2014 controversial election even after fair elections in five cities before the one-sided national election.

Sujon secretary Badiul Alam Majumder said without dissolving the parliament and understanding between the major parties a free, fair and acceptable election would not be possible.

Among others former additional secretary Shofiul Alam, Sujon central coordinator Dilip Kumar Sarkar and politician Humayun Kabir Hiru spoke in the programme.

• Courtesy: New Age, Jan 12, 2018

ঘুষে ডুবে অাছেন ভোটারবিহীন এমপি ওয়াদুদ! জয় বাংলা!!

‘জানুয়ারি ৫ ভোটারবিহীন কলঙ্কিত নির্বাচন’ এ রাজশাহীর পুঠিয়া-দুর্গাপুর আসনের সরকারদলীয় সংসদ  সদস্য  আবদুল ওয়াদুদ (দারা) চাকরি দেওয়ারনামে এলাকার অসংখ্য মানুষের কাছ থেকে টাকা নিয়েছেন।

পুঠিয়া-দুর্গাপুরে গিয়ে জানা গেছে, ‌এই এমপিকে  টাকা দিয়ে অনেকের চাকরি হয়েছে। আবার চাকরি না হওয়ায় টাকা ফেরত চেয়ে পাচ্ছেন না, এমনঅন্তত ১৫ জন প্রথম আলোর কাছে সরাসরি অভিযোগ করেছেন। পাঁচজনকে পাওয়া গেছে, যাঁরা অনেক দেনদরবারের পর আংশিক টাকা ফেরতপেয়েছেন।

২০১৭ এ পুঠিয়া ও দুর্গাপুর উপজেলার বিভিন্ন শিক্ষাপ্রতিষ্ঠানে প্রায় ৭০০ নিয়োগ হয়। একেকটি নিয়োগের জন্য আবদুল ওয়াদুদ  ৫ লাখ থেকে সর্বোচ্চ১৭ লাখ টাকা পর্যন্ত নিয়েছেন বলে সংশ্লিষ্ট ব্যক্তিরা অভিযোগ করেছেন।

২০০৯ থেকে ২০১৭ পর্যন্ত   এভাবেই সাধারণ মানুষ থেকে শুরু করে, এমনকি আলীগের নেতা-কর্মীদের কাছে থেকেও লাখ লাখ টাকা ঘুষ নেন আবদুলওয়াদুদ। একদা সহায় সম্পত্তিহীন আবদুল ওয়াদুদ এখন অনেক দামী গাড়ি-বাড়ি-ফ্ল্যাট-জমির মালিক। জয় বাংলা!

• তথ্যসূত্র - প্রথম আলো/ জানুয়ারি ১১, ২০১৮

4 Years of AL Govt.: Priority forgotten

Shakhawat Liton and Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee

The situation was unique when Awami League unveiled its electoral manifesto four years ago seeking people's support ahead of the January 2014 parliamentary polls.

Two weeks before making the manifesto public, the party was close to the magic number, 151 seats, required for forming a new government. It had won 127 of the 153 uncontested seats.

And around three weeks prior to voting day, the party was certain that almost all its candidates contesting in 110 out of the remaining 147 seats would be victorious due to the absence of BNP-led alliance candidates, who had boycotted the polls.

The record shows the party was certain of winning at least two-third majority in parliament a lot before a single vote was cast. Because of this, its electoral manifesto largely lost appeal. 

The party in the manifesto had given high priority to good governance, democratisation and decentralisation of powers. If it formed the government, the party promised some major reforms to bring qualitative changes in those areas. But four years down the line, the picture looks gloomy as the promises remained largely ignored.

An almost ineffective parliament, lack of checks and balances, alarming state of human rights, alleged rise of graft in some sectors, incident of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings, shrinking space for dissenting voices and opposition parties portray an unhealthy state of democracy and governance.

The poor state of governance overshadowed the government's successes in some important areas, like continuation of economic growth, the trial of war criminals and controlling the sudden eruption of militancy. To some extent the situation, as many political analysts say, became worse than that of its previous term, 2009-2013. With this backdrop, the current government steps into its final year today and the AL is preparing its new electoral manifesto for the upcoming polls.

No significant reform was brought to strengthen the Election Commission in line with the electoral promise. Rather, most of the local government elections, including that of upazila and union parishads held after the parliamentary polls, were marred by violence and electoral irregularities, eroding people's confidence in the electoral system. Local government system was supposed to be made more effective through decentralisation of power. But no meaningful reform was made. 

Over the last four years, rights body Ain o Salish Kendra have been saying that the overall human rights situation in the country remained alarming, largely due to incidents of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and violence against women and children.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) still remains toothless thanks to lack of efforts to strengthen it as per the AL's promise. A report published by The Daily Star on December 10 showed how the police ignored the NHRC. The NHRC could not find an answer for the relatives of victims of 154 incidents of enforced disappearance, custodial torture and death, extrajudicial killing and other rights violation from 2012 to 2016. It did not get investigation reports on those incidents even after writing as many letters.

The AL's promise to uphold the independence of the judiciary appeared to be a rhetoric following the resignation of the chief justice.

The row between the Supreme Court and the government over some issues, including the apex court verdict that scrapped the 16th constitutional amendment, had appeared as a big blow to the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.

Justice SK Sinha, who led the apex court to nullify the 16th amendment that had empowered the parliament to remove SC judges on grounds of gross misconduct and inability, finally resigned when he was abroad.

The promise to build a national consensus to uphold the democratic process and ensure unhindered development remained on paper. There was no move in the last four years to achieve that.

Thus, political stand-off between the AL and the BNP over the mode the election-time government remains a big concern ahead of the next general election. 

According to the AL electoral pledge, the Anti-Corruption Commission was supposed to be strengthened to fight graft. But every year, the global corruption index published by Transparency International came up with bad news.

In the financial sector, fragile governance was exposed with the revelation of some more shocking scams.

Frequent leakage of question papers of public examinations and continuous unruly and violent behaviours by Chhatra League, the pro-AL student body, men have also become an example of poor governance, overshadowing the government's success in distributing free textbooks every year.

The AL also did nothing about the promise to hold MPs accountable and making sure they are transparent by enacting a law. Controversial and unlawful activities by some MPs tainted the ruling party's image.

The AL-led government did not make any move to appoint an ombudsman, a post created by the constitution for good governance.

The inability of parliament, with a handpicked main opposition, and other institutions to fulfil their mandates further destroyed checks and balances, allowing the rise of an all-powerful executive branch.

In a democracy, a government and its leaders are judged by how they perform to improve overall governance by establishing rule of law, upholding human rights and ensuring accountability and transparency in their work.

If the government is to be judged that way, it does not look good at all. Things could have been different had it been able to make major reforms in line with its electoral pledges.  

The AL-led government got the opportunity, as some political analysts thought four years ago, to do something good by fulfilling its promises and minimise the criticism for staying in power through the one-sided election.

Being indifferent to electoral pledges is common in our political culture and the present government could not change that.

The saying "people with good intentions make promises, but the people with good character keep them" tells us what lacks of our politicians.

Asked about the party's last electoral manifesto, Awami League presidium member Faruk Khan told The Daily Star that the government had fulfilled most of its pledges and the rest would be done this year.

“In many cases, the government did more than promised,” he said.

• Courtesy: The Daily Star, Jan 11, 2018 (Slightly abridged)