Governance failure holds back democratic culture
Even after four decades of independence, Bangladesh has failed to establish strong democratic institutions, and this remains a major impediment to the building of a liberal democratic culture, says a study report of BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD).
It also says the country's parliament has not been effective due to political conflicts. This has resulted in the dominance of the executive in the lawmaking process and parliament's weak oversight of government activities.
The observations were made in the report titled “The State of Governance Bangladesh 2014-2015” launched by the BIGD at the capital's BRAC Centre Inn yesterday.
The study covered the elections of 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2008, and the activities of the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth parliaments. It also looked into the governance status in the economic and social sectors.
“Bangladesh has made progress in a number of economic and social indicators, which have been discussed at home and abroad. However, development in intellectual, cultural and institutional levels has not been so,” said BIGD Executive Director Sultan Hafeez Rahman.
If this trend of economic progress continues without institutional development, the country's economic advancement would halt and even reverse at one stage, he said at the launching programme.
POLITICAL ASPECTS
BIGD Research Associate Harun-Or-Rashid said though parliamentary elections held between 1991 and 2008 were deemed acceptable and fair, repeated allegations of manipulation, mistrust and boycott of elections by political parties have put the Election Commission's effectiveness under question.
“Also, ineffective leadership as well as pressure from the executive are impediments to a credible Election Commission,” he said.
The study said, “The experience of the 10th parliamentary elections has been very difficult where the major opposition party boycotted the polls and a large number of candidates won their seats uncontested.”
It also raised concerns about the democratic gains made till then through competitive polls and the exercise of franchise.
Harun said the percentage of lawmakers from the business community rose to 61.3 percent in the ninth parliament from 38.4 percent in the fifth parliament.
Though representation of women and youths in the House increased over the period, it remains very low compared to their large number, he said.
The report said, “Most importantly, persistent boycott of the main opposition party in every national parliament to date has seriously undermined the quality of representation in parliament and hence its effectiveness.”
The effectiveness of parliamentary oversight has been limited due to some factors, including limited independence of parliamentary committees, low capacity of parliamentary staff and lack of responsiveness of the ministries, it said.
“One-third of the standing committees never submitted any report on the working of the ministries,” it said, adding that though a large number of reports were prepared by the committees, very few were accepted.
ECONOMIC ASPECTS
Bangladesh did not face any major economic challenge in a decade till last year, and all indicators on banks showed improvement, said BIGD Senior Research Associate Syeda Selina Aziz.
“Yet, comparatively low performance by state-owned banks or financial institutions than the private ones is a matter of grave concern,” according to the report.
The state's subsidy for maintaining financial flows of state-owned banks is a big weakness, it said.
“Excessive politicisation in financial decision-making process and management of financial institutions has made the problem grave.
“To achieve a growth rate of 7.5 percent, required share of investment in GDP should be 28 to 32 percent whereas the current rate is on average 22 percent,” it added.
SOCIAL ASPECTS
Indicators on education have improved in terms of pass rate, enrolment, higher scores in public exams and lower drop-out rates.
The share of trained teachers in primary and secondary education increased over time, but the student-teacher-ratio still shows a serious inadequacy of teachers.
The utilisation of ADP allocations at all levels reaches its peak in June every year, reflecting inefficient management of resources, the report said.
Frequent changes in books, curricula, examination and grading systems are likely to affect the quality and performance of schools, it said.
Though Bangladesh made significant achievements in child and maternal mortality, medical education and high tuition fees in private sector remain a matter of concern.
The mushrooming of private medical colleges, their expensive tuition fee structure and questionable quality of education are major problems, said the report.
Besides, improving healthcare in hospitals, especially in public ones in both rural and urban areas, remains a serious challenge.
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