Great expectations from PM's fourth term

We congratulate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as she begins her fourth term as the premier of the country, with three consecutive terms running to her credit. While we set aside for the moment our questions about the election process, it is  still a remarkable achievement to be in power for two decades (including the current term); along with this unique position comes an extra set of responsibilities and challenges.

The fact that her party will continue to rule also places an obligation on this government to successfully complete much of the work that was started in the last term. This is in tune with the Awami League's manifesto pledge for "continued development". The numerous "mega projects" initiated by the last government, for instance, must now be fast-tracked and receive highest priority in terms of timely completion. Many of these and other projects have been plagued by bureaucratic delays and cost overruns—bottlenecks that have to be seriously addressed in this term. Corruption, that plagues almost all public institutions, has to be fought vigorously and sincerely as it is one of the biggest obstacles to development and leads to irrevocable loss of time and money. In the wake of Bangladesh being ranked as the second largest economy in South Asia, the government is even more obligated to keep up this growth by making sure that there is a healthy environment for doing business and investing in the country.

The AL's previous term is lauded for maintaining stable economic growth but reducing inequality will be one of the biggest challenges to take on.

Although development is going to be of primary focus for this government, it must also be concerned about protecting and upholding the rights of the people. This translates to addressing serious human rights violations that have occurred during the AL's last term and that have cast a shadow on the country's image internationally. These include enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, heavy-handedness of law enforcement agencies on civilian protests and indiscriminate arrests and incarceration of people considered opponents of the ruling regime.

We also expect that the newly formed government led by the PM will scrap the draconian laws passed in the last parliament such as the Digital Security Act that seriously hinders freedom of expression and independent journalism without which a democracy becomes crippled and weak.

The new term of Sheikh Hasina and her party, therefore, has multiplied the expectations of the people. The citizens of this country hope for a mature, restrained government that will take the country's progress in terms of human development and upholding democratic values, to an unprecedented level.