Prof Yunus should have invested his authority in reforms: Rehman Sobhan
Eminent economist Prof Rehman Sobhan yesterday said Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus should have invested his authority behind a set of reforms that he could realistically initiate and bequeath to his successor government.
The Nobel laureate is personally recognised in the global community, which gives him significant authority to carry out reforms, said Sobhan, chairman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), while speaking at an online discussion titled "Political Economy of Economic Reforms in Bangladesh: Promises, Obstacles and Realities."
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The CPD chairman said Prof Yunus "has not done that, and his government has not done that."
The task has instead been left to a small group of civil society members, who have been given the extraordinary challenge of distilling reform proposals coming from 10 commissions, said Sobhan.
He said the commissions were given no terms of reference. "So, there was really no coordination or cohesion in that reform, nor an underlying set of priorities or even an ideological premise to what you want to carry on."
Each commission was working out its own ideas in its own sector, he said.
The small group of civil society members was then handed the major political task of bringing together 100 political parties to reach a settlement on what reforms they would commit to, he added.
"We are now operating in a very specific context of a caretaker government, which has probably another six months left before they are committed to holding elections and transferring power to an elected government."
"So, the discussion should relate to what they are going to do and what outcomes may emerge over the next six months."
In realistic terms, Sobhan said, reforms that have not already been initiated and made operational are unlikely to be legislated or implemented.
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