Politics-business mix coming home to roost

Amid speculations about the new cabinet which will be sworn in this evening, it is worrying to know that at least 199, or two-thirds, of all members of the soon-to-be-formed parliament are going to be businesspersons, mostly from Awami League. This marks a record rise in the number of businesspersons joining a parliament. In the 11th parliament, there were 182 businesspersons in 300 seats. While the increase is not surprising—since Bangladesh's independence, the count of businesspersons in each parliament has risen continuously, barring a few exceptions—its implications are quite grave.

Over the years, we have seen how the interplay of business and politics has affected the course of politics, policymaking and governance in the country. The rise of businessmen-turned-MPs has also changed the fundamental character of our parliament. While, ideally, parliament should be open to public representatives from any background, the dominance of businessmen emerging out of questionable elections represents a threat—a conflict of interest—that can hurt public interests. We have seen how collusive deals were inked, dubious banking policies were preferred over much-needed reforms, and market syndicates were allowed in order to protect business interests of the political elite and maintain the status quo.

That the new parliament would be filled with businessmen was a foregone conclusion when a review by Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) revealed in early January that 58.71 percent of all candidates for the election were businessmen. Analysing their affidavits, Shujan also said that at least 246 of the 265 Awami League-nominated candidates had wealth over Tk 1 crore while 177 of them had at least Tk 5 crore. Overall, AL nominees had an accumulated wealth of Tk 7,561 crore. There is an apprehension that so many businessmen-turned-MPs joining the parliament—with little prior grassroots engagement and having won largely uncontested—may not feel beholden to their constituents, especially those in the lower income brackets.

If the astronomical increases that many of them witnessed in their wealth over the past few years are any indication, the same trend may continue, raising critical concerns about corruption, misgovernance and widening economic disparity in the coming days. We urge the newly elected MPs, regardless of their background and likely role in the government, to make an active effort to prevent this scenario. As the prime minister has rightly highlighted, their greatest responsibility is to the people.