Raising public awareness on privatisation
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Ehsanul Kabir
THERE should be a broad consensus on privatisation. Only the left political parties, which have no seats in parliament, are opposed to privatisation. There was otherwise no valid reason for Bangladesh to go slow on privatisation. It is ironic that pressure from lesser parties obstructed privatisation. Why were or are the major political parties, committed to privatisation, at least theoretically, afraid of pressure from the lesser parties is difficult to understand.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in its first tenure had created optimism with its privatisation initiative. Gradually the BNP government slowed down privatisation keeping election victory in view. The BNP government was simply afraid that privatisation could adversely affect its electoral prospects. For similar reasons, the Awami League (AL) government earlier could not redeem its pledge about privatisation. The present signals indicate that it would not like any firm move for pushing forward the privatisation programme, though it made promises in its election manifesto about divestment of state-owned enterprises in order to rid the public exchequer of their unnecessary burden.
Thus, successive governments in Bangladesh, since 1991, back-pedalled on privatisation though they stated in no uncertain terms that they would want it. Fear of pressure from the trade unions, employees to be affected by privatisation and the vested interest groups who want the state sector to remain, derailed the two major parties from the objective. Such groups are still active to frustrate any move for privatisation.
The major parties, elected to power, relied less on their own political strength, economists as well as the business groups who favour private sector-led development. This has been the main reason for the successive governments, to abandon privatisation, time and again, in the middle of their tenures. Clearly, the governments failed to exploit their inherent political strength to neutralise the pressure from anti-privatisation groups. The same thing is most likely to happen now also.
The vocal interest groups, opposed to privatisation, represent a small percentage of the total population. The elected governments should mobilise public support for faster privatisation to make the economy efficient. By countering the small anti-privatisation lobbies, they can make the national economy more dynamic in their last three tenures.
Indeed, the new AL-led alliance government should go for a sustained privatisation campaign. The leaders of the new government should really opt for private sector-led development. Misconception about what the private sector can do should be removed at the earliest. But the government must not forget its due regulatory role to keep the greed of businesses in check.
The global economic crisis does not in any way signal that the developed countries would take to socialism. It would be good for Bangladesh, if all those who would like this country to move in tandem with others understand the way the world is moving.
THERE should be a broad consensus on privatisation. Only the left political parties, which have no seats in parliament, are opposed to privatisation. There was otherwise no valid reason for Bangladesh to go slow on privatisation. It is ironic that pressure from lesser parties obstructed privatisation. Why were or are the major political parties, committed to privatisation, at least theoretically, afraid of pressure from the lesser parties is difficult to understand.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in its first tenure had created optimism with its privatisation initiative. Gradually the BNP government slowed down privatisation keeping election victory in view. The BNP government was simply afraid that privatisation could adversely affect its electoral prospects. For similar reasons, the Awami League (AL) government earlier could not redeem its pledge about privatisation. The present signals indicate that it would not like any firm move for pushing forward the privatisation programme, though it made promises in its election manifesto about divestment of state-owned enterprises in order to rid the public exchequer of their unnecessary burden.
Thus, successive governments in Bangladesh, since 1991, back-pedalled on privatisation though they stated in no uncertain terms that they would want it. Fear of pressure from the trade unions, employees to be affected by privatisation and the vested interest groups who want the state sector to remain, derailed the two major parties from the objective. Such groups are still active to frustrate any move for privatisation.
The major parties, elected to power, relied less on their own political strength, economists as well as the business groups who favour private sector-led development. This has been the main reason for the successive governments, to abandon privatisation, time and again, in the middle of their tenures. Clearly, the governments failed to exploit their inherent political strength to neutralise the pressure from anti-privatisation groups. The same thing is most likely to happen now also.
The vocal interest groups, opposed to privatisation, represent a small percentage of the total population. The elected governments should mobilise public support for faster privatisation to make the economy efficient. By countering the small anti-privatisation lobbies, they can make the national economy more dynamic in their last three tenures.
Indeed, the new AL-led alliance government should go for a sustained privatisation campaign. The leaders of the new government should really opt for private sector-led development. Misconception about what the private sector can do should be removed at the earliest. But the government must not forget its due regulatory role to keep the greed of businesses in check.
The global economic crisis does not in any way signal that the developed countries would take to socialism. It would be good for Bangladesh, if all those who would like this country to move in tandem with others understand the way the world is moving.