A government that failed to take off

It has been observed that a government's grip gradually weakens towards the end of its term. In its previous term (1991-1996) the BNP government did fairly well till the debacle of Magura by-election. It was, in fact, the defining point that heralded the beginning of its fall. But during the current term, one might find in retrospect that the BNP led coalition failed to hold firm grip over the events from day one of its taking power. Here efforts will be made to focus on events that were unfurled in the first one hundred days of the government which ominously influenced all actions in subsequent years of the term.

But one finds a piece of clean slate of BNP government's achievement at this stage. No splendid achievement to mention

in its first hundred days that could herald a glorious takeoff. Rather, there appeared certain events which bewildered people, shattered hopes of even some BNP well-wishers and paved way for chain of outlandish and ugly events that were to be perpetrated in subsequent years. As the BNP led alliance is now about to quit after five years one can identify three glaring actions unleashed in its take off period that deprived this government of the momentum that was so critically needed for a jump start.

The first decision that a new government takes is the formation of a new cabinet. The cabinet was sworn in with 60 plus ministers. As if it was not enough, the late night news announced that yet another advisor with status of full minister has been appointed. This first act of the government, formation of an unwieldy cabinet, frustrated many and betrayed political sagacity of the PM. Soon gossips began to echo that many were inducted into the cabinet in exchange of material incentives and the PM was some what helpless when the pressure came from hitherto obscure quarter in her backyard. Many of these ministerial level appointees had virtually no work, simply grazing in the political pasture and enjoying government perks. This callous act robbed the new government of any business like character and delivered the first shock wave to the people who were yearning for a change. Its cockpit seemed too heavy to takeoff, least to speak of spreading its wings. If the morning was any indicator, it signalled a gloomy day.

Secondly, the very essence of a government is its authority to make decisions. The authority may reside in the secretariat, the bastion of power where ministers are top policy makers and responsible for running their ministries or as it quite frequently happened in Bangladesh, in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) that arrogates power of line ministries. People look at the management technique of the government with rapt attention and accordingly try to identify the centre of gravity of power and authority.

People observed with wonder how an obscure house at Banani emerged as the most powerful citadel of the country that holds ultimate power and authority. Be it in matters of inducting members in the cabinet, awarding tenders allegedly after inflating costs of gigantic national projects, or in matters of postings, promotion and dismissal of civil servants and sundry others.

This alternate powerhouse perhaps began to intervene in all major decisions of the government including the ignominious departure of former president of the country. The existence of an omnipotent centre of power outside the government's outfit undermined the authority of the government. The ministers and civil servants were shaken and they began to seek instructions and guidance from that powerhouse. In the private sector, before initiating any new venture one would be asked by his well wishers and friends whether it has been "lined up." This was hitherto an unknown phenomenon with which people had to come to terms. Opposition political parties had been talking about it, media had brought the issue to surface and it was so widely known and discussed that there was no reason to believe that it remained beyond the knowledge of the PM. Then what prevents her from dealing firmly with the menace that marred her credibility?

This erosion of authority resulting from the emergence of an alternate powerhouse was the second drag that sabotaged the government's take off and paved the way for widespread corruption.

The third stumbling block that stalled the government from making any impressive start was politicisation and maiming of the civil service to an incomprehensible dimension. The notion of "our men" and "not our men" divided the whole administration and alienated vast majority of civil servants. There were indiscriminate super-cession, premature retirements and making of OSD purely on political consideration. Conversely, persons with inadequate experience, greed and poor professional knowledge were given galloping promotions while also several hundred contractual appointments were made on purely political consideration. With people of such calibre and mental make up in the helm of affairs, the administration soon came to a virtual grinding halt.

The blatant politicisation of civil administration had far reaching consequences. The victims could not take initiatives lest they were misunderstood or subjected to further persecution and loss of livelihood while the beneficiaries could not care less for their responsibilities since maintaining political liaison was all the more important for meteoric rise to higher positions. This political divide had snowballing effect that quickly turned the civil administration to frigidity. As time passed, the beneficiaries, both deserving ones and politically patronised ones, developed agony from the fear that they might be the targets of reprisal if the government changes. A sense of uneasiness now prevails in the minds of senior officials whether working in the secretariat, field administration or other government establishments. With such commotion, fear and uncertainty no administration could deliver services to the people. The result is widespread inefficiency, corruption and tendency to shrug off responsibility. It was the vindictive attitude of the government towards the civil servants in its formative stage that deprived it of any impressive take off.

BNP had earned a name for indecisiveness in its previous term. As working civil servants we never found it pro-active, rather it only reacted to an event and that too belatedly. During this term, in the absence of a singular clear cut authority, lack of vision and prevalence of predatory political instinct the nation suffered from tyranny of events like the havocs inflicted by religious militants, politicisation of civil administration and the judiciary, acute power crisis, widespread corruption and exorbitant rise in cost of living affecting every household of the country. There were temporary successes of the government in areas like macroeconomic management, building foreign exchange reserves banning of polythene shopping bags and two-stroke three wheelers and anti-adulteration drive. But these achievements in the fringes were outshined by massive failures in cardinal aspects of good governance since the early days of its tenure.

Corruption is not new in this country. But what is striking this time is that the epicentre of the all-pervasive corruption is located in the backyard of country's Chief Executive. Those who have watched the "Kingdom of Heaven" might remember that the benevolent king of Jerusalem tells the young Barron about the burden of responsibility that goes together with power. He says, "If you are a king or man of power… when you stand before God you cannot say that I was not told by others to do that or virtue was not convenient at that time. This will not suffice. Remember that…" When the entire country talks about this menace there cannot be an excuse that the PM did not know of it or that no body brought this to her notice. The voters may like to know this in not too distant a future.

The nation is anxiously waiting for peaceful transition of power through a credible election. But beyond that, one wonders how the new government will behave because by now, the incumbent government has taught us a lot about corruption, techniques of manipulation and ingenious tricks in the past five years. These lessons have to be unlearnt first before we can expect good governance from future leadership. It is an earnest hope that the next government will regard those lessons learnt as lessons of how not to run a government.

Ahmad Mahmudur Raza Chowdhury is a former Additional Secretary.