Staff Reporter:
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has said the opportunity for state reform and establishing an accountable system of governance created through the July Mass Uprising has been held hostage by power politics and a vicious bureaucratic cycle.
The anti-graft watchdog said the foundations for the desired reforms could not be laid due to the reluctance of political forces, bureaucratic influence and the interim government’s tendency to compromise.
As a result, state reform and implementation of the July National Charter have fallen into deep legal, constitutional and political uncertainty following the 13th parliamentary election, TIB said in a statement on Friday, marking one year since the signing of the charter.
TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman, in a statement issued on Friday, said political parties and the bureaucracy had failed to learn the lessons of the July Mass Uprising.
“Despite pledging in their 31-point agenda and election manifesto to implement the state reform agenda and the July National Charter ‘to the letter’, MPs from the winning party have created uncertainty over the process by refusing to be sworn in as members of the proposed Constitutional Reform Council, even though they were among those who supported the referendum,” he said.
He said constitutional amendments through the Constitutional Amendment Committee and reforms through legislative and institutional processes had effectively become subject to the discretion of the ruling alliance.
According to TIB, the interim government issued 133 ordinances, a substantial number of which have since been enacted into law. However, it alleged that measures further consolidating the power of the government and executive without adequate accountability had been retained, while those aimed at strengthening accountability had been repealed or suspended.
“In effect, collusion between power politics and bureaucratic forces is obstructing the achievement of the July Movement’s central objective — establishing an accountable and answerable system of governance,” Dr Iftekharuzzaman said.
He also alleged that practices such as land grabbing, extortion and partisan appointments under the slogan “Now it is our turn” had been adopted by the leading political party that emerged victorious after the fall of authoritarian rule, making meaningful state reform increasingly difficult.
The TIB executive director criticised the repeal of the Supreme Court Secretariat (Amendment) Ordinance and the Supreme Court Judges Appointment Ordinance, saying the move represented a setback to efforts to ensure judicial independence.
He also criticised the government’s decision to revert to the previous 2004 law instead of enacting the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Amendment Ordinance with necessary revisions despite political consensus on the issue.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman further alleged that legislation enacted after the repeal of the Prevention and Remedy of Enforced Disappearance Ordinance provided protection to agencies most responsible for enforced disappearances and related human rights violations.
He said that under the guise of dissolving the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the agency had instead been further empowered under a new name.
TIB also expressed concern that no initiative had been taken to establish an independent Police Commission despite political consensus on the proposal.
It further noted that although political parties had agreed that elected representatives would disclose their assets within three months of assuming office and update the information regularly, there had been no indication of such a measure being implemented following the swearing-in of MPs.
“Overall, by moving in the opposite direction from the public aspirations that underpinned the July Movement, the government is advancing towards an executive power structure devoid of accountability and answerability,” Dr Iftekharuzzaman said.
He questioned how the government and political parties could so quickly forget the consequences of turning constitutional and statutory institutions — including the judiciary, law enforcement agencies, the ACC and the National Human Rights Commission — into partisan bodies under the previous authoritarian regime.
“The July National Charter was formulated on the basis of practical experience accumulated during the authoritarian regime and earlier periods. Despite differences on certain issues, the ruling party and other political parties reached a consensus in the broader public interest,” he said.
