The good, the bad and the ugly!

As we step into April, it is time to assess things. In the last two months, Bangladesh seems to have travelled a long way from the dark, violence-filled days and nights of the waning months of 2013 and the first two months of 2014.There is relative peace now. People are able to go about their work at will. There are no hartals and aborodhs. Not only are the people travelling, but are also doing their routine work at will. Suddenly, Bangladesh seems to be back in business.
To what do we owe this state of affairs? Analysts are at a loss to point out specifically the reasons behind this great relief.
Politics has indeed something to do. The opposition BNP programme of using strong-arm tactics with government did not work. Also its political misjudgment not to participate in national polls gave the government a sweeping opportunity to capture 127 national assembly seats uncontested and get another 105 seats to declare itself a majority party in parliament with 232 seats out of 300. BNP lost its opportunity to remain in the opposition too. The troublemakers in politics also lost ground to the brute force of the security forces. Now they have to wait for another day.
Economics has also contributed. Look at all the macro-economic indicators. Bangladesh is doing well as it never did before. We have over $ 19 billion in foreign exchange reserves and accumulating. Inflation has flattened much below two digits. The fiscal deficit is also below 5%. Exports are growing well and are being diversified. There is RMG exports, leather, IT products, pharmaceuticals,etc. Cereal production has increased manifold and we had never had such high stocks. In two sectors Bangladesh seems to be surging. They are education and health. Whatever may be the quality of either, but in a short time these two are priming the economy.
But are these really moving the country? Then why there is so much despondency among a large section of the population. What are they worried about? Why are people still jittery? Most of them are not confident about the future. First, they have worries about the last national elections. More than half of the electorate were deprived of exercising their right to vote. Second, the recent local elections, in spite of the government's alleged rigging, showed BNP-supported candidates doing much better.
The London-based Business Monitor International said that “political instability would emerge and is a great risk to the economy.” Accepting that the intense political violence has recently abated, stability will be hard to come by due to ongoing security crackdown on opposition activists and the War Crimes Tribunals against Islamist leaders. Hence the country's short term political risk rating was downgraded from 65.8% to 62.1%.
Two other factors seem to have increased the risk to our economy besides political instability. These are corruption and poor infrastructure. The business environment still is among the worst in the world and is 118th worldwide. The country's rating in infrastructure is abysmally low, ranking 115th worldwide. Definitely, all this adds to the worries of the public and therefore their continued discomfort.
The ugly aspect in everything is the creation of some sickening new non-issues in the national context, and the two major political parties devoting all their energies and resources to pursue them in order to prove a non-existing point. Take the matter of whether President Zia was the first president of Bangladesh. In fact, does this generation care! Also how does it matter who made the first call for independence. Other than a few archivists and historians, it is so inconsequential in the present context of our daily lives. The BNP leader should now seriously concern herself with substantive issues that affect the lives of the common man and not peripheral matters. So also should the government, in its pursuit of good governance.
In the ultimate analysis, in Bangladesh today we have the good at play also. Remember the Asia Cup Cricket Championship and the ongoing T20 cricket extravaganza. Also, the inspiring 300,000 voices singing our beloved national anthem, seeking to create a world record and enter the Guinness Book of World Records. The bad is spiced with the good now. Yet our country has two big lacunae. First, when we can afford to practice true democracy with free and all-inclusive elections we are unable to do it. The other is of course widespread corruption. Why should our people suffer this ignominy when we know we can get rid of it if we have political will and an efficient machinery to do so?
Khaleda Zia has to note that she need not get wild about non-issues. She has a historic role to play in building consensus in the country on substantive issues. She has also to rebuild her party from scratch and win the next election. Prime Minister Sheikh  Hasina should also stop berating the opposition BNP on all issues. She has widespread popularity and also has to win the next election. If she keeps her cadres on hold, it is a distinct possibility.
We need both these leaders to hold the hands of our people and take us through a new era of peace and prosperity. They have shown that both can join hands to keep the peace after the January 5 elections.

The writer is a former Ambassador and a commentator on issues.
E-mail: ashfaque303@gmail.com