SALEEM SAMAD
Dr Yunus, Bangladesh interim government chief adviser, is dealing with serious challenges amid public outcry. Dhaka is notorious for poor transport service and traffic jams, which symbolizes the situation faced by the Nobel laureate.
Celebrated Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus was appointed as Bangladesh interim government chief adviser in early August after a students-led uprising toppled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
But for the third month in a row, the people, who welcomed the change, feel the pinch. They have taken to social media to criticize the government for failing to control the vegetable prices, law and order, corruption and traffic system.
The price hike of essentials like groceries, eggs, rice, and lintels has skyrocketed, putting them beyond the reach of not only lower-middle-income groups but also the middle class.
As a result, the media has also joined in amplifying the silent voice of the disadvantaged population, especially daily wagers and low-income groups, who are the majority.
The egg prices as well as that of onions and green chilies have reached a point where the government allowed traders to swiftly importing from India to arrest the trend.
Dhaka Traffic Jam:
Meanwhile, people in Dhaka continue experiencing excruciating traffic jam daily, with commuters including students, stranded for several hours on the roads. And the net result is massive loss of human hours, imported transport fuel and the commuters’ anger.
But the main reason behind this mess is the absence of a mass transit system that could cater of the needs of millions. One can feel the pain of the around 23 million people living in Greater Dhaka, who are at the mercy of a rogue transport sector.
The public buses flout traffic rules and use old vehicles – which also cause air pollution – as they do not park these at designated bus stops. Not to speak of charging fares at their free will.
Hence, the people in Dhaka have now started calculating distance in “time”, not kilometers, because even a one-kilometer journey may require 30 minutes.
Last week, the Yunus government announced that all 25-year-old public transport to be taken off the road or face reprisal, in an attempt to tackle the situation.
However, the unrest in garments export industries over wage disputes and unpaid arrears has gradually subsided. The industrial actions by agitating workers were mostly against their factory owners.
In Bangladesh, there are two categories of export-oriented factories: Red and Green. There have not been any labor-management disputes and industrial actions in factories marked as Green.
These factories strictly follow international compliance which the factory owners, buyers, laborer rights groups and fair-trade networks have to religiously obey or their exports would face boycott.
Inefficient Government Machine:
Unfortunately, the law-and-order situation is not as satisfactory as expected. The military troops are deployed at key police stations in the cities and towns. In the aftermath of the Monsoon Revolution, mass absence of the police force impacted law enforcement. An overwhelming majority of police force from constables to officers were recruited on the basis of being affiliated with Awami League.
The entire police force went into hiding to escape the wrath of the angry students for the deaths of nearly 1,500 during the bloody Monsoon Revolution.
It means extortion, protection money and corruption have emerged after a brief hiatus. As reported in mainstream media, the underworld has changed hands – from Awami League hooligans to members of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) days after Hasina fled the country.
Mohiuddin Ahmad, a political historian, says the BNP goons in the absence of an effective government are fishing in troubled waters. With the law enforcement agencies and civil administration missing on the ground, the student leaders who overthrew the autocratic regime had to come to the aid of restoring law and order.
During the first few weeks of the student uprising, the stock exchange felt an earthquake. However, the mafias, who control the financial centers, have either fled the country or lying low draped with political color. But the passage of time, the stocks have gradually stabilized, with broad smiles on the faces of investors.
U-turns:
On the other hand, the government on several occasions has backtracked on its decisions during its three months in office, casting doubts about the civil bureaucracy.
Most of these decisions concerned the appointments for crucial government positions after hundreds of pro-Hasina senior and junior officials were shunted out. This backpedaling was a result of the pressure created by social media outcry and public perception amid a shifting political landscape.
Political analysts interpret this as signs of inconsistency, a lack of experience and determination, and the uncertainty troubling the government as it struggles to strike a balance between diverse demands.
The government’s U-turns sometimes appeared to be a result of having to navigate diverse pressure groups and maneuver around different preferences of the political forces.
Prof Al Masud Hasanuzzaman, who teaches government and politics at Jahangirnagar University, describes this approach as sign of “indecision”.
“The government had to take many decisions hastily because time was of the essence and thus some mistakes were made,” he recently told an independent newspaper, The Daily Star.
He said that the government was in in search of experienced and efficient officials to run the administration, but often had to give in to people’s demands.
Most importantly, 84-year-old Dr Yunus is managing a temporary administration, to tackle what he has called the “extremely tough” challenge of restoring democratic institutions.
Awaiting Reforms:
“None of us are aiming at staying for a prolonged time,” Yunus reiterated in an interview published by the largest circulated newspaper Prothom Alo.
“Reforms are pivotal,” he added. “If you say, hold the election, we are ready to hold the election. But it would be wrong to hold the election first.”
Without reforms in democratic institutions, like the electoral system, the announcement of an election roadmap would bring back the same old legacy of vote fraud, vote buying, intimidating the opponent candidates, influencing the polling officers and the worst of all – the filthy rich acquiring party nomination through highest bidding.
Most of the political parties have given nod to Yunus’ plan to hold elections after much-talked-about reforms. A couple of the interim government advisers have indicated that the ousted Awami League will also have to participate to hold inclusive elections.
To depoliticize the key pillars of democracy, the Yunus administration has constituted 10 commissions for recommending reforms in judiciary, law enforcement, election system, constitution, anti-corruption, public administration, and other sectors.
Hasina’s government has been accused of politicization of the judiciary, civil bureaucracy, and law enforcement as well as organizing flawed elections, to dismantle democratic checks on its power.
Yunus said he had inherited a “completely broken down” system of public administration that needed a comprehensive overhaul to prevent a future return to autocracy.
The hiccup of the new administration is not because the revolutionaries nor Dr Yunus have gotten enough time to do their homework on how to run a government. They also could not predict that Hasina’s kleptocracy regime would cave in 36 days of violent anti-government street protests, the political historian said.
In the post-revolution period, history says, the revolutionaries in different countries went through trial and error while riding on the back of a crazy horse, remarked Mohiuddin Ahmad.
First published in Stratheia Policy Journal, Islamabad, Pakistan, 28 October 2024
Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with the Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad
