AUGUST 5 marked the end of Sheikh Hasina Wazed’s decades-long despotic regime, a regime that ‘stifled dissent, favoured the elite, and widened inequalities.’ However, after Hasina and her government’s dramatic fall, there were concerns about what was next.
Leader, face and students had answer
THE students who turned their movement from a student agenda into a movement to topple the Hasina regime had the answer for the future. They knew that at this critical juncture, Bangladesh needed a leader, a face that is morally above board and visionary, a face that people could relate to and trust, and someone the world is familiar with, respects, and is comfortable doing business with. Furthermore, the students also realised that at this period of instability where subversion is a real possibility, within and from abroad, Bangladesh needed a leader, a face who could work as a countervailing force against the predators. Professor Yunus warmly responded, accepted the invitation of the students, and agreed to lead the interim government.
Professor Yunus has since picked a team of technocratic advisers to advise him, formulate and implement policies, initiate actions that are key to the restoration of law and order, prosecute the wrongdoers, and, more importantly, prepare the foundations for Bangladesh to progress to democratic transition.
In this regard, a remarkable aspect, if not a unique aspect, of the government is that it includes, among others, representatives of the student movement, the first ever anywhere in the world, let alone Bangladesh, and this has been done to ensure that the march to stabilisation and democratisation reflects the aspirations of students, the warriors of change, the future generation.
So far, it has been promising — the captain and an interim government are in place. The next step is to make the government govern effectively, keeping in mind that the current government’s main governing mandates are establishing law and order, proposing and initiating reforms for democratic transition, corruption control, etc. Another key issue that the government needs to decide is its tenure — how long should the tenure be?
Governance issues
THE interim government is still evolving and, in the interim, has introduced several measures to stabilise law and order and revive the economy. However, given that not many may know the members of the government nor are people informed of the policies they are initiating, the current government may consider following immediate measures to raise its visibility, effectiveness in policy formulation, and accountability:
Visibility/accountability: The interim government needs to raise its visibility and connect with citizens more directly. Although the advisers are highly acclaimed experts in their own fields, they are not widely known. Furthermore, people are also in the dark in terms of the work that the IG is doing. Therefore, it is vital that the interim government raise its visibility and make its work known to people through periodic TV briefing sessions with the chief adviser as the chair, followed by question and answer sessions with journalists and members of civil society. It is important to raise the visibility of the interim government to build public confidence and trust.
Subject-matter specialist consultative committees: Each of the advisers may form 4–5-member consultative teams to advise them on the formulation of policies. It is desirable and would be great if the members of the Consultative Team worked in an honorary capacity and regarded their inputs as contributions to nation-building. It is believed that the proposed government/citizen engagement and engagement of SMSCC will allow: (a) the IG to make themselves and their work known to the public, and such virtual interaction will also help engage the citizens in the reform processes, from formulation to implementation; and (b) the engagement of SMSCC will greatly help in effective policy formulation.
Reform agenda
BEFORE, formulation of the reform agenda, it is important to assess the portfolio of the ruins society has suffered during the Awami League regime.
Inherited ruins: The inheritance of ruins includes but not limited to: (a) corrupt, politicised and incompetent bureaucracy as well the judiciary, the police who are more like thugs in uniform; (b) collusive loot and plunder that have emptied the banks, the exchequer and left the state with huge debts such that the standards and poor, the international credit rating agency has lowered Bangladesh’s international credit rating which will adversely affect country’s exports and imports; (c) the apparel sector, the key export sector faces uncertain future; (d) corruption is endemic such that it is no more deals-under-tables, it is an ‘entitlement’; and (e) education sector, from primary to tertiary, is in shambles. The curriculum, teacher quality, and academic environment are victims of politicisation and have thus been shattered. Then there is also the threat of external forces that are lurking around the corner, waiting to destabilise and weaken Bangladesh and turn it into a vassal state, a process that was almost complete. The fall of the AL regime on August 5 halted the boots.
Agenda and timeline: The agenda of reform is long and complex, and the timeline for the formulation of reform policies/measures and their implementation may take anything between six months and a year, at least.
— Restoring law and order is challenging and may take up to six months. With the police in disarray, the best option is to form local vigilantes made up of local volunteers and the police (those who did not participate in violence during the student protest) under the Bangladesh Army’s supervision. At the same time, the government has to consider new recruitment and retraining of the police force, which may take up to six months.
— Addressing the pent-up grievances by bringing criminals to justice could take up to a year. There are a lot of unresolved grievances. However, care should be taken to ensure that people do not take the law into their own hands. The grievances should be recorded duly and professionally and dealt with through due process of law.
— Bringing human rights violators, plunderers, and looters to justice is key to addressing grievances and promoting the rule of law.
Fixing the economy: The immediate task is to bring back investor confidence in the country’s financial system. The appointment of Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, former governor of Bangladesh Bank, as the finance and planning advisor and Dr Ahsan A Mansur, a former senior IMF official, as the governor of Bangladesh Bank are steps in the right direction. Both are highly qualified and professionally well-endowed to reform the system and revive the economy strategically and incrementally. The process to restore investors’ confidence may take a year.
Corruption control: The control of corruption requires specific long- and short-term interventions.
— Investigate, preferably with the help of international auditors, all the cases of mega-corruption, document and make public a white paper, prosecute the accused, and take immediate steps in this direction.
— As a long-term measure against corruption, strengthen transparency and accountability in the decision-making processes and in the audit of public contracts and expenditures. More importantly, introduce measures that prevent crooks, politicians, and public officials from entering the system. The government can follow South Korea’s Personnel Verification System.
Education reform: The interim government should consider the following steps when planning the reform in the education sector:
— Clean the system of politicised and inappropriate selection, recruitments, and promotions at all levels.
— Review the curriculum and revise it from primary to secondary, making the curriculum such that these orient children to inclusive history and values and learn knowledge and skills that prepare them for the next level of education and/or vocation appropriately.
— Universities, especially public universities, need a complete overhaul in terms of creating an enabling academic atmosphere, merit-based recruitment, and promotion.
— In recent years, there has been a mushrooming growth of private universities. An audit is needed to review their academic quality and relevance.
Reform in electoral system: Laying the foundations for free and fair elections and transitioning to democratic governance may take up to a year.
In recent years, it has become evident that democracy has not been working well in Bangladesh. On the contrary, the Awami League has used ‘democracy to destroy democracy on two occasions: in January 1975, it used its two-third plus majority in the parliament to transform the parliamentary democratic system into a one-party presidential system; and in 2009, the ruling Awami League used the compliant judiciary to annul the election-time caretaker government that until then had delivered three free and fair elections. With the annulment of the CTG system that created the opportunity to rig elections, the Awami League never ‘lost’ an ‘election since and used parliament to rule autocratically.
In view of the above, it is important that the interim government take steps that help establish in Bangladesh a functioning, people-centric democracy free of corrupt elements:
— Re-introduce the election time caretaker government system.
— Scrap the current Constitution of Bangladesh and draft a new constitution that would help ‘democratise democracy.’ The present constitution has proven to be inimical to the growth of democracy in Bangladesh. Besides, since 1975, the current constitution has undergone so many amendments that it is a non-functional constitution, a document that impedes and does not promote democracy.
— Take measures to ‘democratise democracy’ by broadening citizen and government participation in public governance. Set up a People’s Congress made up of the parliamentarians, the mayors, the chairpersons of the municipalities, the secretaries of the ministries, the heads of law enforcement agencies, the defence forces, and selected members of civil society. The People’s Congress will meet once a year to review policies and monitor and seek accountability for the implementation of policies, etc.
— Introduce provisions to ‘keep crooks out’ from the parliament, city corporations, municipalities, and government, and take lessons from South Korea’s personnel verification system.
As is obvious, the reform agenda is long and complex, and yet these are key to advancing Bangladesh as a corruption-free, democratic society. Therefore, the next question that needs to be discussed and sorted out sooner rather than later is the issue of the tenure of the interim government.
Interim government tenure
RECENTLY, Dr Manjur Chowdhury, a former chairperson of the Bangladesh River Protection Commission and chairperson of the Centre for Governance Studies, has argued, and rightly so, in a talk show that this is not the time to ‘cry hoarse for elections and raise questions about the tenure of the interim government. This is the time to focus on reforms and rebuild institutions in such a manner that they do not fall victim to the toxic politics of the past and the caprices of vested interests.’
Indeed, this may be Bangladesh’s last chance to rise from the ashes and rebuild itself on its journey to a truly democratic, just, and sovereign nation. It would be unwise to squander the opportunity by hurrying.