Jamaat seeks merit-based PSC

FE Team | Published: July 28, 2025 22:39:04

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami's Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher on Monday demanded a transparent, merit-based and impartial Public Service Commission (PSC) to keep 'authoritarian ghosts' at bay from the country's bureaucracy, reports UNB. "We want a PSC that is transparent, merit-based and impartial, so that no 'dictatorial ghost' can rule the administration anymore," he said while briefing reporters during the lunch break of the 20th session of the second-round reform dialogue between the National Consensus Commission and political parties in the capital's Foreign Service Academy.
Taher said many talented young people were denied jobs in the past or lost their jobs due to political identity, which ultimately harmed the state the most.
"In our neighbouring countries, there's no compromise over PSCs. They ensure that qualified people are appointed and the merits are valued in the administration to strengthen the state," he said.
Criticising the existing system, the Jamaat leader said recruitment in the administration is sometimes determined by 'a note from a drawer'.
"We want a PSC protected as an independent body by the Constitution and remains beyond the interference of any minister, prime minister or political party," he added.
NCC vice chair Prof Ali Riaz on Monday morning raised a proposal for discussion over the appointment process to the PSC and three other key constitutional and statutory instinstitutions -- Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and Ombudsman's Office.