Posted by: Farzana Yesmin
on Aug 06, 2009
Despite the advantage of a population broadly united by a common Bengali language and dominant Muslim identity, the conduct of government during the short history of Bangladesh has been driven more by dynastic feuding and patronage than policy debate, to the detriment of the poor and to the considerable irritation of the donor community. The country has for years languished at or close to the very bottom of the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International and life for ordinary citizens is punctuated by demands for bribes, draining the formal economy by an estimated 2% of GDP.
The three main political parties are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Khaleda Zia, the Awami League (AWL) led by Sheikh Hasina and the largest Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, led by Matiur Rahman Nizami. Disputes between them during the approach to the election due in January 2007 created a state of near anarchy which forced the declaration of a state of emergency. An interim government, headed by Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed and backed by the military, was asked to establish an impartial electoral process.
A new Election Commission discovered that there were 21 million errors in the electoral register and resolved to tear it up and start again. This formidable task, employing digital biometric identification and taking care to search out more than 80 million prospective voters in every corner of the country, has been completed in sufficient time for the December 2008 poll timetable to proceed. Elements of the state of emergency have been lifted in an attempt to create conditions for a free and fair election. The European Union has agreed to send a team of observers.
Dr. Ahmed also pledged to root out corruption, reviving the moribund Anti-Corruption Commission which has secured prison sentences for about 150 senior political figures. Serious charges have been brought against both former prime ministers, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina. But this has proved to be the limit of the Dr.Ahmed’s success. The two leaders are on bail, having been neither convicted nor cleared, leaving them free to participate in the election at the head of their parties which have not rejected them, as many had hoped. With the legal system overloaded, a Truth and Accountability Commission was established to offer amnesty to any officials willing to confess to inappropriate conduct, to repay their gains and to keep out of political life for 5 years.As the Commission’s proceedings are conducted in secrecy, it is impossible to gauge the results. Low level corruption continues much as before.
Civil society in general has flourished in a climate of healthy aid flows although the survival of individual organizations has been very sensitive to sudden changes in donor priorities. The sector is led by the monolithic Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) which, with over 100,000 staff, has become the size of a government ministry and may be the world's largest NGO.
