ACC should become an effective body
Friday, 7 May 2010
Maswood Alam Khan
Bangladesh, it seems, has become a doll to play with, a place of political experimentations. Those who come to govern this country try out with their own ideas and caprices to modify the laws that suit their purposes to rule the country unchallenged. Interestingly, political parties in the opposition who have a chance to gain power of governance in future also remain silent when the change of a law, however unpopular or detrimental, is meant for more power with lesser accountability for a government. This is a peculiar country where the interests of the nation are always compromised for the interests of a few vested quarters.
This country has become a ground of political games for a variety of governments: a military government, a caretaker government, a government reared by dynastic rights, a civil government backed by military strength, or a government somehow or other elected by the gullible masses who are unaware of what their representatives once elected will do for their future. And there is a always a consensus among the political parties, both in power and opposition, that there cannot be a law that can curtail the power of the selected executives or the elected representatives, no matter the selected or the elected can live up to the expectations of the people or not.
Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, the chief of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the parliament on Monday said that the country does not need an anti-corruption body like the one in the past caretaker government.
Anyone who holds respects towards M K Alamgir, the head of the PAC, might guess that he had perhaps wished the country's anti-graft body, the Anti Corruption Commission, to be overhauled and reequipped with tools that would be more efficacious in fighting against corruption. But in reality, as is evident from the news reports and the news analyses, the PAC chief wanted to mean that the ACC should not be as powerful as the one which could put anyone of his status to prison as he said while talking to reporters: "It would be unwise to give absolute power to ACC to turn it into an autocratic institute" -- a statement that goes against the spirit of the election manifesto of Awami League, his own party, that had pledged to strengthen the ACC while currying favour with the voters in the last general election.
Obviously in defence of the government's recent move to curtail freedom of the ACC or to pamper certain functionaries of the government, M K Alamgir said that the ACC had misused its absolute power and served interests of the functionaries of two-year rule of the caretaker government which he termed illegal.
One may now raise questions how the political parties participated in the last general election held under the caretaker government, now being termed illegal, and under the supervision of an election commission constituted under the same caretaker government.
One may also wonder what powers and prerogatives, according to Mr. Mohiuddin's ideas, whims or caprices, should be given to other constitutional positions like the comptroller and accountant general, the judges of the Supreme Court, the election commissioners etc.! Another question may naturally pop up in people's minds whether the existing constitutional institutions are serving the interest of certain quarters or at all functioning with complete freedoms.
The proposed amendments to the ACC Act that are surely to be passed in parliament include among others obligations on the part of the ACC to take prior permission from the government before initiating a corruption case against any government official---a tragic departure from the major change that was brought in to anti-corruption laws. Allowing ACC to function independently was a revolutionary freedom the anti-graft body was allowed by the caretaker government so that government functionaries had to think twice before indulging in any corrupt practices. And it was possible for the caretaker government to give such freedom to the anti-graft body as none of the caretaker government functionaries had a chance to come to power in future.
The amendments of the Act that have already been passed by the cabinet will make the ACC accountable to the President and no more a self-governed body to act independently. The cabinet also approved a five-year jail term and fine for filing a false complaint or case against any individual, and appointment of the ACC secretary by the government. As a consequence, the executive branch of the government would now hold the immense power to control the ACC which, many fear, may be reversed back to what was once known as Anti-corruption Bureau, a lame duck body that in the past had to wait for months or even years to take permissions from the government each and every time it had to initiate an anti-corruption charge against anybody. A pick-and-choose game was played to allow the corrupt to become more corrupt; the innocent who did fall prey to the corrupt did never find the Anti-corruption Bureau as a place where they could vent their angers against the corrupt. Rather, the Anti-corruption Bureau itself was once known as a body full of corrupt people.
Of course, the ACC with immense freedom had a chance to become an autocratic institution if the commission was not manned by people of integrity and character. It is also true that checks and balances are necessary to control the excesses of a constitutional body against the innocent and the government which is popularly elected by the people has every right to amend laws for the sake of people's interests. But the tragedy is people's representatives cry for people's interests before elections and give a fig for people's interest immediately after the votes are cast. None of our government institutions -- in the legislative, in the executive or in the judiciary wing -- is manned by people who are courageous enough to take a stand against any of those in power, if s/he is found strayed into the wrong direction.
Our political leaders, especially those who are policy makers and law makers, may leave a lasting imprint in our history if they could help solve our Number One Problem: CORRUPTION. Can the ACC, with its wings so ruthlessly clipped, help retard the pace of ever-increasing corruption in our society?
The writer can be reached at e-mail : maswood@hotmail.com
Bangladesh, it seems, has become a doll to play with, a place of political experimentations. Those who come to govern this country try out with their own ideas and caprices to modify the laws that suit their purposes to rule the country unchallenged. Interestingly, political parties in the opposition who have a chance to gain power of governance in future also remain silent when the change of a law, however unpopular or detrimental, is meant for more power with lesser accountability for a government. This is a peculiar country where the interests of the nation are always compromised for the interests of a few vested quarters.
This country has become a ground of political games for a variety of governments: a military government, a caretaker government, a government reared by dynastic rights, a civil government backed by military strength, or a government somehow or other elected by the gullible masses who are unaware of what their representatives once elected will do for their future. And there is a always a consensus among the political parties, both in power and opposition, that there cannot be a law that can curtail the power of the selected executives or the elected representatives, no matter the selected or the elected can live up to the expectations of the people or not.
Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, the chief of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the parliament on Monday said that the country does not need an anti-corruption body like the one in the past caretaker government.
Anyone who holds respects towards M K Alamgir, the head of the PAC, might guess that he had perhaps wished the country's anti-graft body, the Anti Corruption Commission, to be overhauled and reequipped with tools that would be more efficacious in fighting against corruption. But in reality, as is evident from the news reports and the news analyses, the PAC chief wanted to mean that the ACC should not be as powerful as the one which could put anyone of his status to prison as he said while talking to reporters: "It would be unwise to give absolute power to ACC to turn it into an autocratic institute" -- a statement that goes against the spirit of the election manifesto of Awami League, his own party, that had pledged to strengthen the ACC while currying favour with the voters in the last general election.
Obviously in defence of the government's recent move to curtail freedom of the ACC or to pamper certain functionaries of the government, M K Alamgir said that the ACC had misused its absolute power and served interests of the functionaries of two-year rule of the caretaker government which he termed illegal.
One may now raise questions how the political parties participated in the last general election held under the caretaker government, now being termed illegal, and under the supervision of an election commission constituted under the same caretaker government.
One may also wonder what powers and prerogatives, according to Mr. Mohiuddin's ideas, whims or caprices, should be given to other constitutional positions like the comptroller and accountant general, the judges of the Supreme Court, the election commissioners etc.! Another question may naturally pop up in people's minds whether the existing constitutional institutions are serving the interest of certain quarters or at all functioning with complete freedoms.
The proposed amendments to the ACC Act that are surely to be passed in parliament include among others obligations on the part of the ACC to take prior permission from the government before initiating a corruption case against any government official---a tragic departure from the major change that was brought in to anti-corruption laws. Allowing ACC to function independently was a revolutionary freedom the anti-graft body was allowed by the caretaker government so that government functionaries had to think twice before indulging in any corrupt practices. And it was possible for the caretaker government to give such freedom to the anti-graft body as none of the caretaker government functionaries had a chance to come to power in future.
The amendments of the Act that have already been passed by the cabinet will make the ACC accountable to the President and no more a self-governed body to act independently. The cabinet also approved a five-year jail term and fine for filing a false complaint or case against any individual, and appointment of the ACC secretary by the government. As a consequence, the executive branch of the government would now hold the immense power to control the ACC which, many fear, may be reversed back to what was once known as Anti-corruption Bureau, a lame duck body that in the past had to wait for months or even years to take permissions from the government each and every time it had to initiate an anti-corruption charge against anybody. A pick-and-choose game was played to allow the corrupt to become more corrupt; the innocent who did fall prey to the corrupt did never find the Anti-corruption Bureau as a place where they could vent their angers against the corrupt. Rather, the Anti-corruption Bureau itself was once known as a body full of corrupt people.
Of course, the ACC with immense freedom had a chance to become an autocratic institution if the commission was not manned by people of integrity and character. It is also true that checks and balances are necessary to control the excesses of a constitutional body against the innocent and the government which is popularly elected by the people has every right to amend laws for the sake of people's interests. But the tragedy is people's representatives cry for people's interests before elections and give a fig for people's interest immediately after the votes are cast. None of our government institutions -- in the legislative, in the executive or in the judiciary wing -- is manned by people who are courageous enough to take a stand against any of those in power, if s/he is found strayed into the wrong direction.
Our political leaders, especially those who are policy makers and law makers, may leave a lasting imprint in our history if they could help solve our Number One Problem: CORRUPTION. Can the ACC, with its wings so ruthlessly clipped, help retard the pace of ever-increasing corruption in our society?
The writer can be reached at e-mail : maswood@hotmail.com