Can Bangladesh enjoy better governance?

One of the biggest slums of Dhaka is built on the Mirpur embankment, and consists of kutcha (temporary) houses which have been constructed on what is officially classified as government land. Others are living in rented chhapras (shanties) built by influential landowners of the area. The inhabitants of the slum provide a telling insight into the indifference of the ruling class in Bangladesh to their living conditions.

I met one Afsar, a rickshaw-puller, who lives in a kutcha house at the slum. Every day he has to buy two pitchers of water for his family. Each pitcher costs him one taka. A landlord, who lives in the aristocrat area of Gulshan, sells the water to him. Another tenanat, Moni Begum, who runs a tea-stall there, works as the manager of the landlord.

Slum dwellers and day labourers like Afsar are paying cash to buy this water which essentially is stolen from the government and sold to them by corrupt middlemen. ANH Akhter Hossain, an ex-managing director of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) of Dhaka says that while it is difficult to find reliable figures, it is estimated that approximately Taka 300 million worth of water is stolen each year by corrupt officials and middlemen.

While this money is being siphoned off, the slum dwellers have to cope with no sewerage system. Instead, bamboo platforms placed above the river and covered by plastic sheets are used as latrines.

The picture in rural areas is no different from urban ones. The experience of a landless day-labourer, Mohammed Raihan Ali, of Pabna district, 250 kms away from Dhaka, is typical. Mr Ali wanted to acquire a hygienic latrine, but could not procure one. The reason, he says, is because the chairman of the union parishad would not provide latrines to anyone who was not an active supporter of his party. It is this kind of petty corruption which will make it hard for the government's stated objective of providing hygienic latrines to everyone before 2015 realised.

Harassed by the administration?
It has been alleged that there are many examples of poverty alleviation initiatives which have been impeded due to inefficiency and corruption at various levels of government. For last few years, the government has been making its highest budget allocation towards the development of education, in the light of the recommendations made by experts.

They suggested that lack of education is one of the main causes of poverty. But teachers and other educationalists queue up to complain of the inefficiencies of the Education Directorate.

In an August morning, at the head office of Education Department, some educationists almost mobbed the BBC people to vent their grievances against some officials. One of them was AKM Ruhul Amin, principal of Mir Mosharraf Hossain College of Rajbari, who openly stated that he could not get anything done for his college without paying a bribe to the Directorate officials.

"We are totally in their hands," he said. "It is frustrating because we have great ambitions for this college which are being thwarted by the greed of a small number of people in powerful positions."

Development experts suggest that regular monitoring of government administration might result in a better quality of service and less corruption. That is why the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) came up with the idea to create a yearly "index on harassment" in government offices.

Complaints of bribery in the government sector are nothing new in Bangladesh and both the main political parties stand accused. Development workers claim that irrespective of which party is in power, the general public -- and especially the poor -- have been suffering for too long.

However the government claims that it is sincerely working to improve things. Law Minister Moudud Ahmed agrees that what he calls "narrow minded partisan attitudes" do occur, and are condemnable. But, he says, "The government does not build roads and bridges only for the use of its party members".

The challenges ahead
Like any democratic country the effectiveness of the rule of law in Bangladesh depends on the capacity of the parliament to function properly. It is essential for the accountability of the government and administration. Moreover, parliament should function to make, amend and update laws so that a transparent and accessible judicial system exists.

But complaints persist that the national parliament -- when it is not being boycotted by the opposition -- is failing to fulfil the expectations of the people. Some MPs despair at the hopelessness of the situation.

Abdul Mannan is an MP for three terms representing a Dhaka constituency and a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He served as a minister and has experience of sitting on the opposition benches also. He says that ordinary MPs are frustrated that they do not have enough opportunities to express their opinions independently and have only a limited role in making new laws.

He identifies article 70 of the constitution as a key reason behind this. Because, it states that if any member votes against his party's decision, s/he will lose his/her membership of the party. He has submitted a bill in parliament to amend article 70.

But he says that he was unsuccessful in his attempt and in 20 other bills which he submitted in parliament. These included an amendment to the section within the Criminal Procedure Code which allows police to arrest anyone on the basis of mere suspicion.

Mr Mannan says that this law is a legacy from the by-gone colonial era, and has not been at all altered since it was introduced in 1898. Today, he says, it is misused by the police to harass political activists rather than criminals. Mr Mannan maintains that although his amendment was approved by the bills committee of the parliament, it was never placed before the house.

"A few months after I introduced it, the Speaker of the house gave a notice that if any MP from the government party wants to place a bill then s/he has to take permission from the prime minister," he said.

"I officially objected to this, but my efforts were in vain."

However, there are some ruling party MPs, who are happy that they have a significant voice or role in the development process in their respective districts.

One of them is Ali Newaz Mahmud Khaiyam. After serving as chairman of the Rajbari Municipality for three consecutive terms he has become a member of parliament for the first time. He says that while voters have little expectation that local government can deliver, more is expected from MPs in the country's parliament.

"We have a duty to deliver in spite of the difficulties," Mr Mannan said, "even though I concede that article 70 of the constitution is a big barrier to the free expression of MPs."

MPs of the main opposition Awami League agree that voters' expectations in regard to MPs have increased.

However, the chief whip of Awami League, Abdus Shahid, says that development initiatives are frequently stifled by what he calls the "brute majority of the governing party" in the parliament combined with the difficulties created by article 70.

But Law Minister Moudud Ahmed says that article 70 must remain, because the government's first duty is to provide "stability and consistency" and the clause plays a key role in ensuring that the functioning of parliament is not destroyed by parliamentary rebellions which undermine democracy.

Mr Ahmed also claims that the article 70 is required on historical grounds too, because if politicians frequently change parties the government is effectively held to ransom.

However, it seems that most people in civil society disagree with the minister, arguing that it is impossible to make parliament effective without amendment to article 70.

They argue that parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh has reached a stage whereby the winner takes all and becomes an "elected dictatorship" with strong powers over all aspects of law making.

Some experts also point out that three criteria required for a successful democracy -- a free and sovereign parliament, a neutral and independent judiciary and a neutral administration -- are all being whittled away.

One of the ex-Chief Justices of Bangladesh, Mostafa Kamal, says that the arrogance of power of the ruling class has created such an environment whereby none of the key instruments of state is able to function properly.

Justice Kamal points out that whenever a court rules against any member of the ruling class, implementation of the judgement is so protracted that it eventually becomes meaningless.

Ultimately, any improvement in the governance of Bangladesh depends on the two main parties. It is up to them to ensure that power and influence do not forever remain centralised around a few people and their families,

Those of an optimistic nature argue that the fact that such discussions are taking place at all is a good sign, and bodes well for reforms of the parliamentary system and judiciary.

But the crucial question is how long it will take political leaders to take the first step in the right direction.

Bangladesh Sanglap 8: "What is the status of governance in Bangladesh?" will be broadcast today (Thursday) at 8 pm after the BBC's Bengali programme 'Probaho', in shortwave metre band of 31 and 41 (at 9395 and 7520 KHz) and in Dhaka at FM 100 MHz. The programme will be televised in Channel I television on Sunday at 8pm.

The Daily Star is the BBC's print media partner for the programme.