Bangladesh not going back to chaos

Commerce Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman has said the caretaker government has not moved away from its goal to establish a sustainable democracy through holding a free, fair and credible election before the end of 2008.
“The caretaker government is only pursuing a pragmatic strategy keeping the goal intact,” he said while delivering a lecture on “Bangladesh Transition to Democracy” at the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC on Friday, according to a message received in Dhaka yesterday.
“…As recourse to political transition, the government has intensified the process of involving the people from all walks of life in the decision-making process and thereby is trying to ensure good governance and accountability in public administration,” the adviser said.
He, however, acknowledged that the government had to adjust their strategies with a view to facilitating the process of bridging the goals of political parties and the aspirations of the common people of Bangladesh.
The adviser informed the audience about the economic potentials of Bangladesh, as the country has been maintaining a healthy growth rate of over 6 percent and narrated the reform initiatives taken by the government to exploit these economic opportunities.
During the question-answer session, the adviser said, ”By any measure, today's Bangladesh is different from what it was before 1/11.”
Referring to recent political incidents in Bangladesh, Zillur said Bangladesh is not going back to the chaos that led to 1/11.
He also described the government's ongoing initiatives for dialogue with the political parties and hoped that a broader understanding could be reached so that the reform initiatives taken by the government could continue after the elections.
About lifting emergency before the elections, the adviser said the government is willing to relax the provisions of the emergency rules as much as possible in the interest of holding a free, fair and credible election.
Participating in the discussion, Sameer Sahgal of Boeing endorsed the fact that many positive changes have indeed taken place in Bangladesh during the last two years and requested fellow-Americans to visit Bangladesh to see for themselves the changes on the ground.
The programme was attended by State Department officials, academics and scholars, congressional staff members, members of the media and the business community.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA M Humayun Kabir and officials of Bangladesh Embassy in Washington were also present.
Earlier, the Adviser attended the Global Education Summit 2008 organised by the US Department of Education at Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington DC.