The interim government cannot fail

Now we have another opportunity to do things right. This time we cannot fail. The challenges are many and it will take intelligence, commitment, patience and luck to get out of this mess unscathed.

The main challenge is managing aspirations and expectations. Of course, we want everything: we want safe roads, cheap and high-quality health services, good schools, affordable electricity, low inflation, zero corruption, professional police services, accountable administration and judiciary, rule of law, social justice, jobs… the list is endless.

And we want it all now! Our impulse for instant gratification is strong as we righteously scream for the resignation, arrest, imprisonment, or even “phashi” of anyone or anything, expecting the government to provide it immediately.

Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes. The challenges we face are complex and will require time and effort. However, time is not infinite and, in my opinion, it is more limited than we think.

First, the current mood of victory and joy will soon give way to recriminations, infighting, impatience, and as these phenomena intensify, our poor advisers will find themselves in trouble and only the toughest will continue, while others will decide to leave.

It would be naive to think that all the main stakeholders will remain calm and silent for long. The chaos has not yet subsided; we are ruled by emotions, instincts and a simple disregard for rules, norms and values ​​– these were the worst casualties of a long period of total disregard for the rule of law.

Meanwhile, vultures are circling the sky and have started attacking media houses, banks and places where economic profits can be made.

The same old wine?

Early signs show that the governance playbook hasn’t changed much. Just as top BNP leaders were once accused of burning buses, we now see top AL leaders accused of killings, even in the most remote districts.

The gruesome scenes we are witnessing on our court grounds are no different, if not worse, than anything we have seen in the past, despite having a neutral, apolitical government.

No one talks about judicial reforms before calling on judges to overturn the constitutional amendments. I repeat: the manual previously used by the AL and BNP remains in active use. This is the problem of the new Bangladesh.

It would be naive to think that all the main stakeholders will remain calm and silent for long. The chaos has not yet subsided; we are ruled by emotions, instincts and a simple disregard for rules, norms and values ​​– these were the worst casualties of a long period of total disregard for the rule of law.

What should the caretaker government do? It must be pragmatic and realistic. It must carefully assess what reforms it can implement and what a democratically elected government must expect.

However, he should present a concrete action plan indicating priority areas. We have been discussing reforms for many years, even decades, so the action plan should not pose any serious challenges.

However, the new government must send clear signals from the very beginning that demonstrate its broad commitment to democratic practices, judicial reforms, the rule of law and zero tolerance for corruption.

Perhaps the most important signal it should send is our belief in an inclusive and just socio-economic system within a holistic liberal-democratic-secular framework. These signals remain weak.

Priorities

The first question is really how do we prioritize our transition goals? Should we set ourselves a maximum set of goals? Should we set ourselves a minimum set of critical goals? Or maybe strike a note somewhere in between those two?

The second and much more important question is: how to implement reforms, especially institutional reforms? We have almost zero experience here, so we have to reinvent the wheel.

We could learn from the experiences of other countries that have gone through transition – Singapore would be a great model for us to study – their experience is more recent, they were also a British colony like us, and they inherited similar systems of government, and more importantly, they were able to modify and develop those systems to achieve remarkable results.

If you want to look elsewhere, that’s fine too, but please don’t follow the example of other South Asian countries.

We would simply have to use common sense, be willing to make mistakes, learn from them, and move forward.

All this will require a task force for each department or institution to draw up plans after careful study and discussion. Such task forces could be assisted by consultants from, for example, the Singapore government and international agencies.

They would then have to act within a certain time frame. What we need to do is to restructure, get rid of outdated positions, introduce new positions, identify clear qualifications and experience for recruitment and promotion, have a proper personnel evaluation system, re-examine the compensation and incentive system, and place special emphasis on building a strong HR department, a strong and reliable financial accounting system, and a reliable audit mechanism.

Third-party HR and finance monitoring would be key. While some of these mechanisms exist, they will need to be reformatted and rebuilt.

Anyone who has worked in government knows how difficult these basic conditions of government are to meet.

Time will not be our friend and we certainly do not have it forever to do what we need to do. We need to start the journey by initially choosing one sector of reform to pilot ideas and approaches. We need to throw enough resources at the project so that it does not end in failure.

If we can fix one institution, we can quickly scale up – that’s the good old-fashioned way of doing NGOs, which I personally think is the best approach.

Which sector should we choose? We shouldn’t choose the most difficult sector, nor the least difficult. An “average” sector would be fine, although I can’t think of any easy sectors!

The set of priority reforms must reflect and serve our overarching goal: creating a vibrant democracy with all the necessary elements to make it successful.

Media: Free, trustworthy and independent media are essential in the fight against dishonest social media, fake news and false narratives.

Electoral Commission: A strong and independent EC is the cornerstone of credible elections. A key question is whether some form of interim arrangement will need to continue for, say, another 20 years, and if so, how such an arrangement will be established.

In my opinion, the current government could legally remove itself from power before the elections so that it cannot interfere. This assumes that key institutions have not been/cannot be re-politicized. If de-politicization does not work, the only option is a “caretaker government” formula.

We all understand that fundamental reforms will have to be carried out in the sphere of public administration, judiciary, police, NBR, state banks and industry, and political parties. I do not think that the caretaker government will have enough time to carry out all these reforms.

They can only set an action plan, start the process seriously and ensure that all political parties publicly and in their manifestos declare their commitment to reforms.

A good way to start would be to implement an appropriate legal framework after making appropriate changes, modifications and improvements.

For democracy to function, political party reform and the need to adhere to a code of conduct must be addressed.

We all have ideas about what such a code might include and the current government should be able to propose it, of course after discussions with interested parties.

There is significant low-hanging fruit that should be easy to pick. These involve policy reforms as opposed to institutional reforms, and thus require only a few signatures to change.

Separation of executive and judicial powers should be at the top of the list. Reforms to the Bangladesh Bank’s charter to ensure its autonomy should also be relatively easy. There are also various crony-friendly rules in the banking and financial sector that could be changed.

Furthermore, it would be possible to restore the autonomy of various public sector institutions (including my previous institution, BIDS) and return to the status quo ante.

There are also likely to be many subtle benefits to crony capital in the form of tax relief, subsidies, and tariff exemptions that should be eliminated. Our tariffs and taxes need to be adjusted to promote diversified exports and employment.

Conspiracy

The student-led movement was undoubtedly indigenous. However, various analysts, including Jeffery Sachs, have spoken of possible US involvement and infiltration of the movement. This is a serious accusation that will require thorough investigation.

We should have no qualms about establishing better relations with the West. However, these relations will only make sense if they go far beyond the usual Western rhetoric of democracy, good governance, workers’ rights, etc., aimed at expanding their own empire.

We are tired of this kind of useless advice. We have strong development aspirations to follow in the footsteps of the Asian Tigers. We need access to Western markets, technology transfer and help to build capacity in science, engineering, technology and AI.

We need to have at least one world-class “Institute of Technology” in the next five years. We need massive investment in infrastructure. Help us do this and you will gain our friendship and access to a potentially huge market of 170 million souls.

Final Note

This is our last chance to bring democracy to Bangladesh. Too many lives have been lost in its pursuit since we were freed from colonial rule in 1947. It has been thwarted time and again by hostile forces within and without.

We cannot afford to waste this opportunity again. We do not want to witness another mass coup, another act of violence to settle scores, another political crisis – all because of the greed and arrogance of our rulers and their cronies and their desire to rule forever! Nor do we want to witness the beginning of another group of authoritarian rulers and despots.

We are fortunate to have Professor Yunus to lead this effort. He is the only person in the country that I can think of who can unite us and find a way to resolve our differences so that we can emerge as a strong democratic country with a dynamic economy.

Let us show the world that we can be a Muslim-majority state with a strong democracy; that we can continue our great economic journey, taking all our people with us, including farmers, women and other so-called minorities.

Let’s show them that we can indeed develop our own model of a just society. Professor Yunus enjoys enormous international goodwill. At this critical moment in our history, Bangladesh needs all the goodwill it can get.

Our enemies are waiting for us to fail. We cannot afford to fulfill their expectations. My grim warning to all is this: Failure now would leave the door open to foreign intervention and the subsequent loss of the sovereignty and independence we have achieved after a thousand years of repression.

You have been warned.

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Kas Murshid. Illustration: TBS

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Kas Murshid. Illustration: TBS