[🇧🇩] Reforms carried out by the interim/future Govts.

[Saif]

Local govt bodies: Govt now can remove elected representatives

The interim government can now appoint administrators to the local administrations like city corporations, zilla and upazila parishads in special circumstances

www.thedailystar.net

Local govt bodies: Govt now can remove elected representatives

The interim government can now appoint administrators to the local administrations like city corporations, zilla and upazila parishads in special circumstances.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin yesterday approved the advisory council's recommendation to amend four related laws.

According to a gazette notification, two provisions have been added to the Local Government (city corporation) Ordinance-2024, enabling the government to remove mayors and councillors of city corporations.

The other clause allows the government to appoint "competent persons or officials" as the administrators to the city corporations until further notice.

Similar amendments have been made to three other ordinances allowing the government to remove elected representatives of municipalities, zilla and upazila parishads and appoint administrators.​

 

[Saif]

Journalists demand extensive reforms in media ownership and management

Journalists at all levels have called for extensive reforms in various aspects of media ownership and management to ensure journalism is free from the influence of powerful classes. They expressed these views at an opinion-sharing meeting organised under the banner of "Media Reform Initiative" at

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Journalists demand extensive reforms in media ownership and management
FE ONLINE DESK
Published :
Aug 17, 2024 20:13
Updated :
Aug 17, 2024 20:21

Journalists at all levels have called for extensive reforms in various aspects of media ownership and management to ensure journalism is free from the influence of powerful classes.

They expressed these views at an opinion-sharing meeting organised under the banner of "Media Reform Initiative" at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on Saturday afternoon, reports UNB.

The meeting was conducted by journalists Ariful Sajjad and Ahmed Faiz. During the meeting, journalists agreed on the need to establish a non-partisan platform for free, independent, and robust media.

At the meeting, journalists were of the opinion that prioritizing corporate owners' interests and sycophantic journalism have harmed the rights of professional media workers while positioning the media against the public. To address this crisis, they demanded a transformation of the media's collective character to make it more people-oriented.

Author and researcher Altaf Parvez said that the media cannot escape responsibility for recent state-led atrocities. Therefore, there is a need for intense self-criticism. He mentioned that the journalism sector needs three types of reformation: first, against corporate industry; second, against party-based journalist unions and press clubs; third, against personal greed and bias.

Senior journalist Khairuzzaman Kamal described his experience, saying that the biggest crisis in journalism is corporate ownership. Without changing this system, achieving economic freedom for media workers and creating a people-friendly media will be difficult. He emphasized the need to form a strong organization of professional journalists outside political affiliations.

Another senior journalist, Selim Samad, said that strong measures need to be taken against the arbitrary termination of journalists' jobs. Senior journalist Bahram Khan mentioned that the media, as the fourth pillar of the state, must do whatever is necessary. Unprofessional, sycophantic journalism must be discarded, and extensive reforms in the media are needed.

TRT World's Bangladesh representative Kamruzzaman Bablu said that many senior journalists have sold out to power and personal interests, making any expectation of change from them unrealistic. There is a need for substantial changes in the corrupt system to make journalism an attractive profession for future generations.

Additional statements were made by Shahnaz Sharmin of Ekattor Television, Moinul Haque of New Age, Mahbub Saikat of My TV, Junayed Shishir of Kalbela, journalist Mizanur Rahman Kabir, Hossain Shahadat of News 24, and Ashraful Islam Rana of The Business Post.

At the event, journalists presented a 13-point demand for extensive reforms in the media. The demands are:
​

1. Ensure justice for journalists killed during student and public movements.​
2. Provide compensation for injured and deceased media workers and affected media outlets during student and public movements. All closed media outlets should be reopened immediately.​
3. Investigate and bring to justice media owners and executives who have turned the media into a political tool.​
4. Establish a unified wage board for media workers. Implement the 9th Wage Board immediately. Investigate and take action against those who claimed state benefits by implementing the 8th Wage Board but did not actually implement it.​
5. Distribute dividends according to labor laws.​
6. Immediately halt any undemocratic tendencies in media ownership.​
7. End all forms of intimidation of media workers. Permanently stop government and special agency directives and control in news management, reporting, and journalist organization elections.​
8. Form a high-level commission to reform media management and related issues.​
9. Abolish all clauses of repressive laws against media and freedom of expression.​
10. Withdraw all cases filed against media workers under ICT, Digital Security, and Cyber Security laws.​
11. Ensure justice for the murder of journalist couple Sagar-Runi and all other killings and assaults.​
12. Prosecute those involved in the abduction, torture, and harassment of journalists.​
13. Ensure that all media can act as a voice for the people.​

 

[Saif]

Govt to form banking commission soon for financial sector reforms

The interim government is going to form a banking commission soon to bring about reforms -- a longstanding demand of economists aimed at salvaging the financial sector which has been suffering from high default loans and weak governance

www.thedailystar.net

Govt to form banking commission soon for financial sector reforms

Star file photo

The interim government is going to form a banking commission soon to bring about reforms -- a longstanding demand of economists aimed at salvaging the financial sector which has been suffering from high default loans and weak governance.

Besides, a paper on the overall situation of the financial sector and a roadmap for the reforms will be published in the first 100 days of the interim government, according to a statement from the chief adviser's office today.

The disclosure came after a meeting between Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus and Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Ahsan H Mansur.

The meeting also agreed to maintain the contractionary monetary policy stance to bring down inflation, which hit 11.66 percent in July, the highest in 13 years.

To increase the flow of foreign exchange, a decision has been taken to increase the band of the crawling peg, which allows fluctuations of the exchange rate within a predefined range, to 2.5 percent from 1 percent.

The revision in the band of crawling peg comes more than three months after the BB introduced the crawling peg moving away from administered rates of US dollar in its bid to gradually allow demand and supply to determine the exchange rate.

The BB introduced a crawling peg mid-rate of Tk 117 in May this year by allowing an over 6.3 percent deprecation of the taka, which has significantly lost value in the last two and a half years amid falling foreign exchange reserves.​

 

[Saif]

For true democracy, we need checks and balances of power

When the constitution and laws of a country of 170 million people allow and enable one individual to have complete control over the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government, can that country genuinely be considered democratic?

www.thedailystar.net

For true democracy, we need checks and balances of power

Having so much power in the hands of one person is dangerous and harmful for a country, the results of which we are witnessing today. FILE PHOTO: ORCHID CHAKMA

Bangladesh is a country of around 170 million people, with more than 20 million residing in the capital, Dhaka, alone. Yet, only 151-300 members of parliament representing the ruling party decide our fate in parliament. They are all members of a single party led by one individual: the party leader. There is no distribution of power or checks and balances—there's only consolidation of power. Due to our people's loyalty to two political families, the only two parties to be in power since 1991 have been led by and remained completely dependent on two individuals from those two families, each of whom do everything possible to ensure all power is consolidated within their families.

As a result, each party is entirely controlled by one person; the party leader holds immense power over the party based on familial ties and our country's history, making their stance the "end all, be all" for all party decisions. On top of this, Article 70 of the Constitution of Bangladesh prohibits members of parliament from voting against their party's decisions. The elected party (primarily its leader) gets to choose a party-affiliated president for the country, who then appoints the party leader as the prime minister.

That leads us to this to the party leader, serving as the prime minister, who formally heads the executive branch of government, which includes all ministries, law enforcement, and armed forces.

As the party leader, the prime minister also has complete control over the legislative branch, since party members cannot vote against the party, as mentioned above. Therefore, all the decisions of the party ultimately rest with the leader.

The president, chosen by the ruling party (primarily at the party leader's discretion), appoints the country's chief justice and other Supreme Court judges, giving the prime minister significant influence over the judiciary.

So, our tendency to elect leaders based on familial ties, combined with our country's laws, make it easy for one person to control all three branches of government. Our laws inherently support the creation of a democratic autocracy. With the lack of separation of powers, this enables one person to be able to make our laws, enforce them, and judge us based on them.

When the constitution and laws of a country of 170 million people allow and enable one individual to have complete control over the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government, can that country genuinely be considered democratic?

On top of this, that one person also gets the power to amend our constitution when their party secures a two-thirds majority in parliament (more than 201 of 300 elected seats). The Awami League-led grand alliance achieved this feat in 2008 with 263 seats. That is the election through which we handed "supreme power" to our former prime minister.

My question now is: will we repeat the same mistake, just with a different party or leader? We must not let that happen now that we have the scope for reinstating democratic practices.

Having so much power in the hands of one person is dangerous and harmful for a country, the results of which we are witnessing today. Going forward, we need to change our laws and elect our government based on merit, not familial ties. In my opinion, our system was never strong enough to be able to protect democracy. That is why almost all political parties have exploited this system one way or another.

Bangladesh needs the distribution, checks and balances of power. Otherwise, we will always be hopelessly dependent on the mercy of the prime minister. The name on that seat may change over time, but the reality for ordinary people will remain the same.

Taus Noor is an expatriate Bangladeshi software engineer based in Canada.​

 

[Saif]

Banking, revenue sectors need major reforms

The leaders of the International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh, (ICC-B) called on Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus at his office at the State Guest House Jamuna yesterday.

www.thedailystar.net

Banking, revenue sectors need major reforms
Business leaders tell Yunus

The leaders of the International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh, (ICC-B) called on Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus at his office at the State Guest House Jamuna yesterday.

The delegation, led by ICC-B President Mahbubur Rahman, told him that the country's businesspeople fully support him in his new role, said a press release of the chief adviser's press wing.

Yunus said his administration inherited an economic mess, but he was confident the situation would soon improve following vital reforms.

"It's a very hard situation that we are in now. But it's also the biggest opportunity that we can get. Our job is difficult, but very much doable," he said.

The ICC-B leaders urged the Nobel peace laureate to carry out the much-needed reforms.

They said the previous government left the country in ruins. They said deep reforms and restructuring were needed in the banking sector, revenue administrations, education, and industry.

"We are a witness to what happened over the last 15 years. The Bangladesh private sector is with you 100 percent," said Mahbubur.

Yunus asked the delegation "to think outside the box to achieve greatness as a nation".

Senior business leaders, including FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam, Tapan Chowdhury, Kutubuddin Ahmed, AK Azad, Simeen Rahman, Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, Naser Ezaz Bijoy, Fazlul Hoque, and Mohammad Hatem, attended the meeting.​

 

[Saif]

Can't demand polls until new constitution drafted, Farhad Mazhar to BNP

Writer and poet Farhad Mazhar called on BNP leaders to exercise patience, stressing that demands for elections cannot be made until a new constitution is formulated

www.thedailystar.net

Can't demand polls until new constitution drafted, Farhad Mazhar to BNP

Writer and poet Farhad Mazhar: File photo

Writer and poet Farhad Mazhar called on BNP leaders to exercise patience, stressing that demands for elections cannot be made until a new constitution is formulated.

"Until the constitution outlining how a political party will participate in elections is established, demands for elections cannot be made," said Farhad during a seminar at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday.

"BNP has already come to power. They are among the people. The party cannot be brought forward. First, the state must be organised,"said Farhad.

"No fight took place for the current constitution. The fight was to overthrow the constitution. The government must be given time until the intentions of those who were martyred are documented.

"The field must be held until a new constitution is drafted," he added.

Criticising the BNP's decision to hold a rally immediately after the recent mass uprising, he added, "It sent the wrong message. Why did you demand elections within three months? What was the purpose?"

Expressing concern over the BNP, he said, "There should be no division within the party. There are two factions within the BNP. One supports this government, and the other is causing disturbances.

Farhad further said, "The BNP could not stop this fascist government. They were behind the students. The students have shown gratitude for that, but misleading messages from London will harm the youth.

"Efforts are still being made to implement Sheikh Hasina's constitution. Yunus must be recognised as the head of the people and as president. He was elected through a mass uprising," he said.

"Those who participated in this revolution will form a national council. The BNP will also be present there. A new constitution will be drafted there. The BNP's primary responsibility is to fully support the process until the new constitution is established." he added.​

 

[Saif]

Crisis provides an opening for important reforms

Bangladesh is facing several challenges, including restoring law and order and stabilising the economy in the near term.

www.thedailystar.net

Crisis provides an opening for important reforms
Says Edimon Ginting, ADB country director for Bangladesh

Edimon Ginting

Bangladesh is facing several challenges, including restoring law and order and stabilising the economy in the near term.

The country also needs to address structural constraints such as a lack of economic diversification, low productivity, high youth unemployment, a large informal sector, and weaknesses in governance and accountability.

"These are the root of ongoing macroeconomic challenges like low foreign exchange reserves, high inflation, low revenue mobilisation, meagre foreign direct investment, and significant banking sector vulnerabilities," said Edimon Ginting, country director of Bangladesh at the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In an interview with The Daily Star, he said the crisis provided "an opening for important reforms to improve governance and public administration to combat corruption".

The country needs to address structural constraints such as a lack of economic diversification, high youth unemployment, a large informal sector, and weaknesses in governance

"Tax revenues remain low compared to international peers and must be raised so that critical investments in physical infrastructure and social sectors can be made," he said.

The chief of the Dhaka office of the ADB, one of the leading financiers for Bangladesh, said greater transparency and accountability of government institutions would help win the public's trust"The regulatory and policy environment must be more conducive to investment. Finally, tackling institutional capacity gaps, design flaws and implementation challenges will enable more effective social protection schemes."

Citing Bangladesh's banking sector, he said it is a big area of concern, especially as non-performing loans (NPLs) have been on the rise for quite some time.

"The recent political change, coupled with improved data transparency, may change the picture on NPLs and it is possible that the size of NPLs increases significantly," he said, adding that the decision to form a banking commission supported by international expertise is a positive development.

He said Bangladesh needs a stable and strong banking system to efficiently finance its development needs going forward. For this, Bangladesh Bank will need to address weaknesses in the regulatory environment while strengthening supervision and governance to rebuild confidence, he said.

Ginting, an Indonesian national, said the ADB is engaging with the interim government to understand its priorities, share its views, and offer assistance.

"My impression is that the interim government is focused on stabilising the situation, and on making effective use of the opportunity to advance robust and far-reaching reforms," he said, citing meetings between senior ADB officials and Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus and other top government functionaries.

He said the ADB stands ready to support the reforms, which are needed to forge a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable future for the people of Bangladesh.

Ginting said the interim government needs the support and trust of the public, which means restoring confidence in law and order and getting the economy back on track while charting a path towards elections.

"There are no quick fixes."

He added that the Manila-based lender has a large ongoing portfolio of projects financing critical sectors including energy, transport, human and social development, finance, public sector management and governance, agriculture, water, and urban development.

"Once the situation is more stable, we intend to undertake a comprehensive portfolio review with the interim government so that public investments and services are not stalled."

This year, ADB has committed $481 million to three projects and had planned to commit to many more projects.

"We hope to be able to continue financing as requested by the interim government. Our approach will be cautious, paying close attention to the political environment and preparations for an election that will hopefully bring a peaceful resolution to the current difficulties."

For new projects, ADB will carefully identify any needed adjustments to meet the priorities of the interim government.

He said the interim government's major reform priorities line up with the ADB's key areas of interest and expertise. The ADB will continue to provide support on the country's most pressing development challenges, he added.

"There are persistent, cross-cutting issues such as climate change and inclusive growth that we aim to prioritise.

"Also, there are growth opportunities that we should further leverage, such as an abundance of talent and skills and a thirst for digital transformation."

In times of transition, strong development outcomes depend on a stable political settlement, transparent and fair processes, and trust in public institutions and political leaders, he opined.

"ADB is an apolitical institution, but as a trusted development partner of Bangladesh, we are committed to supporting the strength and resilience of public institutions so they can be a force multiplier to drive growth and prosperity.

"Once a new government is elected, ADB will work hard to support the leadership's policy agenda to realise the country's immense potential and help meet the aspirations of its people," said Ginting, who has over 20 years of experience, including about 14 years at the ADB.​

 

[Saif]

Star interview: Reshuffle of officials for ensuring reforms

The interim government aims to reform the administration in order to make it people-oriented, inclusive, transparent, and accountable, says Law Adviser Asif Nazrul.

www.thedailystar.net

Star interview: Reshuffle of officials for ensuring reforms
Law Adviser Asif Nazrul tells Star, says efforts on for withdrawing false cases

The interim government aims to reform the administration in order to make it people-oriented, inclusive, transparent, and accountable, says Law Adviser Asif Nazrul.

"Reforms involve more than just appointing qualified individuals. Competent people are being placed in positions to ensure that no one can obstruct the reform process.

Reforms signify a shift towards a more people-oriented, inclusive, transparent, and accountable administration. We must make that happen," he said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star.

Before the reforms, the administration, the judiciary and the police must get rid of those who helped an autocratic government sustain for over one and a half decades, he said, replying to a query on the massive reshuffle in different tiers of the administration and other bodies.

"Is it possible to bring reforms keeping in place the people committing extrajudicial killings? Is it possible to reform the police administration with Harun [Harunor Rashid, former chief of DMP's DB] still in the force? These people should be replaced by honest and competent ones," Asif said.

After bringing in these people, he said, reforms will be done in the institutions, laws and policies. Efforts were already made to withdraw false cases filed over the killings during the uprising in July and early August. "Now we will try to change the policy and laws so that this does not happen again in the future."

He said a lot of work had been done on reforms in Bangladesh in the past – the framework of the three alliances in 1991, constitutional reforms proposed by Serajul Alam Khan in the early 80s, and by many civil society organisations in different times.

"What was absent then was a lack of goodwill. Now, I believe we can deliver some good work because we have a leader [Prof Muhammad Yunus]," he added.

Speaking of reforms in the judiciary, the law adviser said a popular opinion about judicial reform is that the lower courts should be reformed first. However, to get an independent judiciary, the higher courts must be reformed first, according to him.

"Ensuring an independent lower court is to ensure the higher court's full authority on it. The higher court will govern and control the lower court, and the government will not intervene here. What's the point of giving [the control of] lower courts to the higher court if the higher court functions as a subordinate to the government?"

"So, we have to reform the higher court," he said.

Asif said the interim government has been working to this end as there was "anarchy" in the appointment of higher court judges during both Awami League and BNP governments with "incompetent, corrupt and partisan" people.

Steps for higher court reform will include amending the recruitment act and policy, rationalising the chief justice's sole authority over the entire judiciary, reforming the general administration committee of the Supreme Court's Appellate Division and the High Court Division, establishing an independent and dedicated secretariat for the higher court, and putting an end to recruiting retired judges in any post, he said.

Asked if the spree of filing cases against top Awami League leaders and their arrests on various charges are ridiculous, as seen by many, Asif said questions could be raised against these cases but those are not ridiculous.

"Many people have filed cases as they have lost their children during the July massacre. They filed the cases after losing their children, and if they think that the former prime minister was responsible for the murders, will the cases be controversial?"

He said filing a case against someone does not mean they are already punished.

"Even after taking the case into cognisance, there can be an investigation and the accused person can be out on bail. But things will not be like what they used to be during the Awami League regime, whose target was to keep people behind bars by filing cases without granting bail."

Asked whether the cases would hinder the judicial process, Asif said no one has the right to prevent a father who lost his children from filing a case.

He said the July mayhem not only saw people killed but thousands of others were hurt to different degrees, such as loss of eyesight.

"If the people file cases accusing Sheikh Hasina or her former ministers as instigators, we cannot prevent them from doing it.

"We are not encouraging anyone to file cases either. People are filing cases spontaneously. We will only ensure that justice is done," he added.

Commenting on the harassment of some arrested AL leaders, including former social welfare minister Dipu Moni, on the court premises, Asif said, "I felt bad about such incidents, especially about what happened with Dipu Moni. But isn't the recently ousted regime responsible for the situation that unfolded on the court premises?"

It is not proper to expect people to be humble after the anarchy the ousted regime had created in the name of justice and snatched the people's voting rights for the last 15 years, he added.

Speaking of the interim government's tenure and the next parliamentary election, he said the people of Bangladesh will decide how long the government will continue.

If the people want reform and the next election to be fair, then this government should be given time, he said.

BNP, one of the country's biggest political parties, said it will wait as long as it takes, Asif said. "At this moment, we need to do the 'urgent things' first."

The law adviser also said the interim government is trying to learn from its mistakes.

"Many of us don't have the experience of running a government. If any person goes to work with little experience, s/he will make some mistakes. But one should consider whether I have the will to do something good, whether I am working hard and trying to learn from the mistakes," he said.

Asked if a "judicial coup" was going to take place as a counter-revolution, the adviser said, "Since it didn't happen, we don't know what the truth is. However, there was an apprehension that such a thing would happen."

About the student-led movement, he said although six student coordinators are often referred to when it comes to the movement, many others played major roles.

He praised their maturity and sense of consciousness, urging them to be patient so that the revolution, which came in exchange for many people's supreme sacrifice, does not become futile.

Asked about their steps on repressive laws against the media, he said his stance on the issue is nothing different from that of the journalist community.

"I can tell you that the application of these laws will not be the same as before. We will review them very seriously. We will take the stakeholders' views and then see which sections could be scrapped and which are amendable. We will try to give a good news in a month," he added.

About the seven journalists accused in a murder case yesterday, Asif reiterated they cannot prevent a parent of a slain student from filing a case.

"The previous government had made it an established culture to file such cases. Perhaps, we're seeing a continuation of it. However, we will look into the matter so that no one is harassed without proper investigation," he added.​