Mending bankruptcy in the civil service

Bangladesh is a people's republic. It implies that the people are the owners and the source of power. The natural expectation is that the country will have a democratic polity and good governance. But there are questions about these two. In a democratic polity, the country is run by people's representatives. There will be multiparty political system with the rights to speech, public meetings and peaceful rallies. There will be periodic elections which will be fair, inclusive and participatory. There will be a permanent bureaucracy members of which will be recruited on competition and merit. The bureaucracy will be neutral in administration, pro-people in providing services and above all, remain accountable to parliament.
Democracy was one of the key driving forces in the liberation war of the country, and was one of four pillars of the constitution of 1972. There were several parliamentary elections since 1973 in Bangladesh, of which  those of 1991, 1996 and 2001 were acclaimed to be fair, neutral and credible according to public perception. These three elections were held under care-taker governments. The 2008 parliamentary elections were held under the army-backed care-taker government.
The parliamentary elections of January 05, 2014 was not held under the care-taker government. The main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), along with its alliance, boycotted it. They were demanding the elections under a care-taker government which was abolished by the 15th amendment to the constitution by the ruling party. Many quarters, including the UN, EU and some friendly countries, tried to mediate between the government and the opposition alliance. All moves failed. The essence of opposition demand was that a fair, neutral and credible election could not be held under a party government. It was apprehended that since the election commission and the whole chain of command in the civil administration (administration plus police) were in the grip of the government, chances were high that the government might manipulate the polling results with its chosen folks.
The January 05 parliamentary elections witnessed something unprecedented - 153 out of the total 300 seats were won unopposed by the Awami League and its allies. Virtually, voters were absent from voting in the remaining 147 constituencies. In the evening, however, the counting showed casting of votes in large numbers. Press reports eloquently narrated all these on and since January 06, 2014. All these were allegedly done through the good offices of civil officers involved in conducting the pools, according to the main opposition party, the media and the civil society.
Amidst such a situation, the Political Adviser to the Prime Minister, made some remarks at a function organised by the Bangladesh Student League, the student front of the ruling Awami League on November 12. The Adviser, who in the previous tenure of the government served as the PM's Adviser on Establishment affairs, was the co-chairman of election conducting committee of the Awami League.
In the Student League function on November 12 at the Dhaka University, the Adviser, according to media reports, assured the audience that he would take care of the "written passed" candidates in the civil service examination during viva-voce test to get them through. Such remarks, if made, are against the fundamental principles of competitive examinations. This is against the provision of Constitution of the republic that ensures equal opportunity for all in getting jobs. He made further comments about the January 05 elections. He, as reported, applauded the role of the administration and the police during the elections which obviously put the credibility of January 05 election into serious question. The Adviser called a press conference on November 17 to clarify his position. The next day a newspaper headline screamed: "PM's Adviser lies."
It is known to everybody that the civil service in Bangladesh has become highly politicised and demoralised. The politicisation reached its peak during the tenure of the government coming to power in 2009. It made a homework before coming to power. The first action was making more than a thousand officers in the civil service (including those in the police) OSD (officer on special duty). The largest number was in the administrative service amounting to more than six hundred officers at different levels including 15 secretaries to the government. The message was clear that the government was going for a partisan civil administration. Needless to say, such action demoralises the members of the civil services and discourages them to be upright, neutral and action-oriented.
It need not be emphasised that the responsibility of an efficient and merit-based civil administration is to serve the state and the people well. In a pluralistic society, governments will come and go, but the civil service remains the pivotal force to give continuity and sustainability to development. In recent times, governments in Japan, France and Italy are frequently being changed. But these countries have smart and efficient bureaucracies that can push forward good governance and diplomacy. India is also an example where civil service was built on a sound basis.
If we can build an efficient, neutral and merit-based civil service, it will be beneficial to the state and the society. There must be a clear demarcation between political bossing and neutral role of the civil servants. The civil servants must have a place to lodge their complaints and grievances. Environment should be created where civil servants should really be servants of the republic and not servants of a political party.

The writer is an economist and columnist.
 chowdhuryjafar@ymail.com