Institutional weaknesses root of the problem
Saturday, 8 May 2010
Shamsher Chowdhury
ALL the governments that ruled the country to date have miserably failed to deliver. There may have been healthy growth of gross domestic product (GDP), visible rise of window of excellence in some spheres like the RMG sector and the inward remittance of our overseas workers but the truth remains that there has hardly been any substantial development in the lives of the poor and the common man. Governments in this country fit the description both in spirit and content what Aristotle so aptly observed in his book Politics: "Where some people are very wealthy and others have none the result would be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those two excesses". Here is another observation on governments by Herbert Henry Asquith, a British Statesman (1852-1920): "One to mislead the public, another to mislead the cabinet and the third to mislead itself". In our country, some people, nay, most people in the government and those associated with the ruling party have always been some of the wealthiest people in the country. In such an environment, can democracy flourish? Aristotle was thus right in his observation at least in the case of Bangladesh: given the presence of the elements under whom no democracy can flourish, it will be either oligarchy or despotism. One of the hallmarks of our successive governments is that they have misled and continue to mislead the people. Can anyone with all honesty say that we ever had a real democratic government in this country? Contrarily, 15 moths into operation, this government already appears to be sufficiently confused and has lost its focus. How can one expect good governance take its roots in this country when so much of miss-match continues amongst its own cabinet members, its policy planners and executors at different levels. We are apparently on a path to self-destruction. One of the other major weaknesses of any government in this country that stands in the way to good governance has been the running of the government by people of poor academic background and a bunch of professional weaklings. Besides, any one in some governmental position or authority of some kind, view them as the mighty and invincible, to them serving the people is of secondary consideration.
Come to the state of judiciary. It has never been that vulnerable as it is today. Now the media has busted yet another bubble wherein it is reported that 11 of the 17 nominated as additional judges of the High Court are third class degree holders in LLB. The present vulnerable state of the judiciary may cause great damage to the nation if we do not put our acts together sooner than later. As much as the government must refrain from any kind of interference with the judiciary, both the community of lawyers and the judges must display wisdom, sagacity and restraint in their actions. If the Bar (lawyers) is right, the Bench cannot be wrong. We have only to take lessons from the Pakistan's debacle that took place due to the sacking of the then Chief Justice by Musharraf during his regime. I followed the incident very closely since I was at Islamabad at the time of the occurrence. This single incident played the major role in the disgraceful exit of Musharraf and his government.
There is no hiding of the fact that the police now are full of political corruption. It is not only highly partisan but also has become high-handed in its conduct. Most people of the country today view police, including the various intelligence agencies, with total mistrust; not that it was any different during previous regimes. It is perhaps morally and ethically the most corrupt organisation of the administration. Without exception, our intelligence agencies are viewed by the public as added elements of fear in their lives.
While it takes years to build an institution it may not take even days to dismantle it due to senseless acts and wrong and unwanted interventions of the administration. Over the years, police has been used and abused by powerful elements within the government and influential politicians alike. The moral and ethical fibre of the police is now in a tattered condition, almost in a state of disrepair.
Priority attention should be given in revamping and revitalising these institutions aimed at bringing about a qualitative changes in the health of the society.
The writer can be reached at e-mail:
chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com
ALL the governments that ruled the country to date have miserably failed to deliver. There may have been healthy growth of gross domestic product (GDP), visible rise of window of excellence in some spheres like the RMG sector and the inward remittance of our overseas workers but the truth remains that there has hardly been any substantial development in the lives of the poor and the common man. Governments in this country fit the description both in spirit and content what Aristotle so aptly observed in his book Politics: "Where some people are very wealthy and others have none the result would be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those two excesses". Here is another observation on governments by Herbert Henry Asquith, a British Statesman (1852-1920): "One to mislead the public, another to mislead the cabinet and the third to mislead itself". In our country, some people, nay, most people in the government and those associated with the ruling party have always been some of the wealthiest people in the country. In such an environment, can democracy flourish? Aristotle was thus right in his observation at least in the case of Bangladesh: given the presence of the elements under whom no democracy can flourish, it will be either oligarchy or despotism. One of the hallmarks of our successive governments is that they have misled and continue to mislead the people. Can anyone with all honesty say that we ever had a real democratic government in this country? Contrarily, 15 moths into operation, this government already appears to be sufficiently confused and has lost its focus. How can one expect good governance take its roots in this country when so much of miss-match continues amongst its own cabinet members, its policy planners and executors at different levels. We are apparently on a path to self-destruction. One of the other major weaknesses of any government in this country that stands in the way to good governance has been the running of the government by people of poor academic background and a bunch of professional weaklings. Besides, any one in some governmental position or authority of some kind, view them as the mighty and invincible, to them serving the people is of secondary consideration.
Come to the state of judiciary. It has never been that vulnerable as it is today. Now the media has busted yet another bubble wherein it is reported that 11 of the 17 nominated as additional judges of the High Court are third class degree holders in LLB. The present vulnerable state of the judiciary may cause great damage to the nation if we do not put our acts together sooner than later. As much as the government must refrain from any kind of interference with the judiciary, both the community of lawyers and the judges must display wisdom, sagacity and restraint in their actions. If the Bar (lawyers) is right, the Bench cannot be wrong. We have only to take lessons from the Pakistan's debacle that took place due to the sacking of the then Chief Justice by Musharraf during his regime. I followed the incident very closely since I was at Islamabad at the time of the occurrence. This single incident played the major role in the disgraceful exit of Musharraf and his government.
There is no hiding of the fact that the police now are full of political corruption. It is not only highly partisan but also has become high-handed in its conduct. Most people of the country today view police, including the various intelligence agencies, with total mistrust; not that it was any different during previous regimes. It is perhaps morally and ethically the most corrupt organisation of the administration. Without exception, our intelligence agencies are viewed by the public as added elements of fear in their lives.
While it takes years to build an institution it may not take even days to dismantle it due to senseless acts and wrong and unwanted interventions of the administration. Over the years, police has been used and abused by powerful elements within the government and influential politicians alike. The moral and ethical fibre of the police is now in a tattered condition, almost in a state of disrepair.
Priority attention should be given in revamping and revitalising these institutions aimed at bringing about a qualitative changes in the health of the society.
The writer can be reached at e-mail:
chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com