The first 100 days
We accept that one hundred days is too short a time to make any definitive judgment on the performance of a government, but certainly there are preliminary observations that can legitimately be made, both positive and negative. We hope that the government will continue its good work, but also that it will take stock and make adjustments where warranted.
On the plus side of the ledger, the economy has held, in spite of a global melt-down, and the government has done a creditable job of keeping the prices of essentials down. We see serious attention given to issues such as power supply and the provision of fertiliser, diesel, and electricity for the boro harvest, that gives us confidence that in these difficult times there is a serious hand on the tiller.
The government has other achievements to boast of, beyond the economy. Parliament is functioning as it should, though we would have felt better if some acrimony and some foul language had been avoided. The parliamentary committees have already been set up. Key reforms such as the right to information have been enacted into law. It remains the opinion of this newspaper that the government handled the siege at BDR headquarters adroitly, given the gravity of the crisis, though questions remain on some issues, especially the escape of so many jawans.
But there have also been worrying signs as well during these first one hundred days of AL-led government. The fracas over the allocation of seats in parliament and the issue of the leader of the opposition's house in the cantonment, it seems to us, could both have been handled with more sensitivity and prudence.
More troublingly, we see tell-tale signs that many of the reforms which we had hoped to see made permanent look in danger of being rolled back. The government has already reneged on commitments to establish a human rights commission, separate the judiciary from the executive, and devolve power to the local government level. The resignations of some high-profile individuals has been regrettable. It is too soon to draw any conclusion as to the future of the anti-corruption drive, but there are already concerns that it is losing steam.
Other concerns are the unnecessary tensions that have been created within the administration, the unsatisfactory law and order situation, and the violence of the ruling party's student cadres. We certainly hope that meaningfully addressing all three of these concerns are top of the government's to-do list.
What the nation would like to see is an entirely different tone set by this government. The worrisome signs are those we are familiar with from the past: a tendency towards majoritarianism (we do not want to call it parliamentary authoritarianism yet), an intolerance of dissent and opposition, apparent disinclination to listen to critics. These are the same problems that plagued the last AL government, and, indeed, every government we have had in the past. The promised change from the past would be welcome.
We fully believe that the government has it within its power to make the necessary adjustments, which will be a good thing, not just for the people, but for the government itself.
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