I'm against character assassination

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the government does not believe in character assassination, when asked if the World Bank reports on the Padma bridge graft would be made public.
“All my life I have been against character assassination,” he told The Daily Star on the sidelines of a conference at a hotel in the capital.
The minister, however, did not say whether he fears character assassination of individuals mentioned in the WB reports as involved in the graft.
He made the remark, evading a direct reply, in response to a query made by this correspondent whether the government would disclose the World Bank reports containing “evidence of corruption” in the Padma bridge project.
In an email interview with The Daily Star, published yesterday, the World Bank Country Director Ellen Goldstein said the government may disclose the Bank's reports containing “evidence of corruption” in the project for the sake of transparency and public interest.
But the WB cannot itself disclose the reports because it has an obligation to each of its member countries including Bangladesh to maintain all referral reports confidential, said Goldstein.
Her observation puts the government in a position that demands making the WB reports and letters public.
The finance minister said he had gone through the Goldstein interview and he would come up with a reaction a few days later.
Earlier, disclosing what the government wrote to the WB, Muhith had said Bangladesh would not release the bank's reports as a mark of respect for the global lender.