MPs under PM scanner

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina informed the AL parliamentary party meeting on Sunday that she has collected 300 reports from as many parliamentary constituencies on the activities of MPs representing them.
The criteria for her evaluation of the report cards include strengthening the party, specifically their performance in 'drumming up support for AL', carrying out development work and their conduct with local people as well as party activists.
Clearly, two major parameters are left out. First, their financial records including declaration of assets and their status on corruptibility and abuse of power. To our knowledge, the AL has failed to enforce its commitments in the electoral manifesto to annualised declaration of assets by MPs and ministers. Since the MPs handle considerable sums of money in lump and development allocations they are liable for regular auditing. Honesty and integrity should have been the first element of the criteria.
Secondly, their performance in the parliament as legislators, the quality of representation of their constituency and role in the parliamentary committees should be put under the prism.
Going by media reports MPs barring some exceptions have been indulging in corruption and abuse of power. The government does not investigate the allegations which shows how the PM is moving away from her prime electoral agenda for eradicating corruption.
At the local government levels the MPs have been given such decisive roles that this has on the one hand created tussle between two sets of elected representatives and on the other turned the MPs into virtual development agents. True, the MPs cannot be entirely divorced from a developmental role; yet, the more involved they are in the field development the more they veer away from their legitimate and primary functions.
The PM's emphasis on the MPs drumming up support for the party militates against their working for their constituencies comprising ssupporters and loyalists of other parties as well. They cannot be left unrepresented just because the winner MP is from AL. This is illustrative of the same blurring of line between the government and the party which we have often expressed our disquiet over.