Published in the 11th Anniversary Special Edition of New Age on Sunday, 14 September 2014.
Only dialogues are the solution
Only dialogues between the ruling and opposition parties can ensure a free, fair and participatory general election. The issue of the caretaker government is minor and the major issue is whether we have trust among the political parties so that an election can be held which will be perceived by everyone as a free and fair election. That is why we need discussions and dialogues among political parties, Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said in an interview with Shakhawat Hossain.
New Age: How will you evaluate the present economic condition of the country?
Mustafizur Rahman: Bangladesh has a very good record of economic progress over the years under successive governments. It has emerged as a major readymade garment export nation and has maintained a good record in food security. The rate of poverty reduced to 26 per cent according to the latest count in 2010 from the earlier 50 per cent. Still, hardcore poverty prevails in the country and inequality remains as a major challenge. The Bangladesh economy has the potential to grow 8 per cent to 10 per cent but we have seen that we cannot do many of the needed works in the area of productivity enhancement — in capital and in labour. We are also facing difficulties regarding infrastructure. We need foreign direct investments which is more than $10 billion in Vietnam and Malaysia attracted a year. Although we can take pride in what we have achieved in the past, still there is a need for a higher pace for development in many areas. I also want to point out that the government should employ all its efforts to improve governance which is a key to improving the economic condition. If we could address the issue of governance and infrastructure, I am sure that the country will have a double-digit growth in five years.
New Age: Do you think that the present government is running the financial sector effectively?
Mustafizur Rahman: I think that the financial sector is the lifeguard of any economy. The sector is both important for mobilising fund and channelling it out to stakeholders engaged in economic activities. The sector is a key to the development of economy. Regrettably, I think that the present condition of the financial sector is not well as it is facing difficulties. Although some banks could attract FDIs in the past, they seriously lacked governance. We have seen scandal after scandal in the financial sector. The amount of default loan is increasing in state-owned banks; it is increasing in private-sector banks too. The appointment of directors, inside lending and political pressure in loan disbursement are also matters of concerns. The government should appoint a commission on banks to come up with recommendations for the improvement of the ailing banking sector. The central bank should enhance vigilance to monitor activities of errant banks. It should play proactive roles to bring back discipline in the sector.
New Age: How do you rate the present government’s approach to fighting corruption and poverty?
Mustafizur Rahman: There is notable success in fighting poverty over the years by successive governments. The present government is continuing with the efforts. Still there is a need for enhancing spending on the social safety net programme. Citizens expected a lot more from state-owned agencies in the fight against corruption. We have many organisations such as the Anti-Corruption Commission but they are weak in law enforcement. A large part of the corruption is linked to politics. Successive governments have not paid attention to this crucial issue. Corruption creates an unsustainable economy. There should be more attention to dealing with corruption to check the proliferation of undisclosed money and capital flight. There should be zero tolerance towards corruption.
New Age: Do you think that democracy is flourishing under the present government?
Mustafizur Rahman: We take pride in the sense that after the fall of the military regime, Bangladesh has been set on path to democratic governance since the early 1990s. We have had a transition to elected governments. We have seen that it is possible to hold free and fair elections under democratic governments. Election in local bodies are said to be free and fair. But we have also seen that the latest election was non-participatory. This is not good for democracy. Obviously, our efforts should be on holding an inclusive election, with major political parties taking part. In a democratic election, opposition in the parliament is important for ensuring good governance that we had in the 1990s. There was an election, but not all major political parties took part in it. As a citizen, I hope in due course there will be dialogues among major political parties for countrymen to see a meaningful election in a true democratic atmosphere.
New Age: Democracy is not all about election but do you think that democracy is possible without elections?
Mustafizur Rahman: It is true that democracy is not only about election. We have seen that many countries of the world do not practise democracy although the governments there are elected through a democratic process. Democracy should not be delimited to the issue of election. Still, election is an important component of democracy. Election is not necessarily the only element of democracy but without election democracy is not possible. I think that participatory and inclusive elections are important components of democracy.
New Age: How are, in your view, elections related to democracy and good economic progress?
Mustafizur Rahman: I think that democracy is important for a sustainable economic progress in countries such as Bangladesh. In the absence of democracy, we cannot expect peaceful environment that is needed for economic progress. In the past, we have seen that economic progress was undermined by frequent disruptions and general strikes. Progress was harmed both in terms of domestic production and in attracting FDIs. We need a peaceful environment as foreign investors do not want uncertainty. In order to give them a better outlook, we will need to ensure a democratic government and the continuation of democracy. From that perspective, an inclusive democracy is very much needed for a better economic progress.
New Age: The incumbents now claim that theirs is a democratically elected government and that they have the people’s mandate for a five-year tenure despite the fact that they secured 154 seats of the 300-strong parliament before a single vote was cast while some 10–12 per cent of voters went to the polling stations to elect public representatives in the election boycotted by opposition parties. What is your view about the stance of the incumbents?
Mustafizur Rahman: Of course, as a citizen of the country, I do not want the type election that we had on January 5. It could have been a good election if all the political parties had taken part in it. It is right that majority of the seats went uncontested and there is no effective opposition in the parliament. One can argue and have a long debate whether the parties should have taken part in the latest election as it was after the amendment to the constitution. But the issue is that politics is all about dialogues and compromises. It could have been good if there had been some compromise between the ruling and opposition parties regarding the latest election.
New Age: What are the steps, in your view, that the authorities concerned should take to ensure a free, fair and participatory general election?
Mustafizur Rahman: Only dialogues between the ruling party and opposition parties can ensure a free, fair and participatory general election. In the past, the losing party used to allege vote rigging in elections conducted by the caretaker administrations. The issue of the caretaker government is minor. The major issue is whether we have trust among the political parties so that an election can be held which will be perceived by everyone as a free and fair election. For that, the caretaker government should not be an issue. The issue should be how major political parties can reach an agreement whereby we can have a free and fair election. That is why we need discussions and dialogues among political parties. As citizens, we hope that an opportunity for the dialogue is still there. We have had an election and there is a government in place. But that is not the end of it. I think that through dialogues, we can reach a consensus to overcome the present impasse. Many foreign investors are marking their time. The present uncertainty is not good. So the government would look into the matter with more enlightened perspective.
New Age: When do you think the next elections should be held?
Mustafizur Rahman: It is very difficult to say when the next election will be held. It will depend on many factors. But what I can say is that there should be a dialogue and a discussion between the ruling and major opposition political parties in order to arrive at some rules of the game for a participatory and inclusive election. When it will happen and how depends on how the dialogue progresses and the compromise that they could make. At this point, it is difficult to set a time and a date.
New Age: What if the incumbents do not agree to the timeline?
Mustafizur Rahman: The timeline will depend on discussions and a mutually acceptable solution. So it is not the issue if they do not agree because both the incumbents and the opposition will need to comprise. So it is not that just one party which will agree or not agree. And it has be a mutually agreed time that can only be set through dialogues.
New Age: How do you evaluate the necessity of a participatory election for better economic progress?
Mustafizur Rahman: Economic progress is critically dependent on the overall political environment within the county. Investors generally shy away from the countries that which have political uncertainty. This is also manifested in Bangladesh through investments which could have been much higher. Local investors are cautious about investments, causing idle money to flood banks. Obviously, the economic progress will critically depend on the overall environment and the overall environment is dependent on participatory election. Certainly, Bangladesh has potential to grow but for that, good governance and participatory election are important factors.