Editorial
Two years of AL-led government
In year three, it will be under severe scrutiny
The honeymoon period for the Awami League-led Mohajote government is truly over now that it has stepped into its third year in office. These past two years have been time enough for the government to fulfill the expectations it had aroused in the people through its promise of change. Before we go into the business of dwelling on whether or not the government has indeed made a difference in the lives of citizens, we need to make it clear to the prime minister and her colleagues that in this third year in power, judgement on their administration will be solely based on how they perform from here on and until the next election. The government will henceforth be under the most rigorous scrutiny and public support or disapproval of it will depend on how it goes about conducting business in this third year.
At the outset, let us be fair in our assessment of where the Awami League-led government has made a difference. There are certain areas where palpable degrees of difference can be noticed. Obviously the most significant area where the government has acted with a firm hand is in handling religious extremists. It has demonstrated, by its firmness here, its difference with its predecessor and a clear determination to press ahead with the job of keeping up the pressure on the extremists. That apart, the government has done well in agriculture, through an uninterrupted supply of fertilizer and a happy flow in the production of foodgrains. Its policy on education certainly deserves commendation because of the universality upon which it is based and accepted by the nation at large. In the last two years, regional connectivity has happily been a special focus of the government. Alongside that, exports of Bangladeshi goods have maintained a satisfactory pattern. In foreign policy, a proactive pursuit of diplomacy has seemed to redefine Bangladesh's place in the global community.
Notwithstanding its successes, however, the government has clearly fallen behind in some core areas where it ought to have made a difference. For all its vaunted pledge of bringing about change in the country, it has been unable or unwilling to reach out to the political opposition. Where the opposition has repeatedly been adamant in its refusal to cooperate with the ruling party, the government has sadly been abrasive in its attitude toward the opposition. The feeling among government circles that it needed to match the behaviour of the opposition in equal measure has done it little good. The result has been a dysfunctional Jatiyo Sangsad. Where positive change was the expectation, the government only left the nation feeling disturbed over the way in which it clipped the wings of the Anti-Corruption Commission. Likewise, local government, one area where this government could have deepened democratic roots further, has sadly been diluted through the pressure exerted on the ruling party by lawmakers.
In this third year, we must remind ourselves that in the past two years prices have played havoc with citizens' lives. The government is yet to come to grips with gas and power, issues that it inherited from its predecessor. Additionally, rule of law has taken a beating, basically because of the recklessness of the Chhatra League and Jubo League and with no sign of firm action against such elements. One of the more regrettable acts of this government has been a politicisation of the administration on a scale that has affected the civil administration structure.
Our overview of the state of things, as the government steps into its third year, is that it is beginning to fall prey to an arrogance of power which has effectively held it back from reaching out to the nation as a whole. Worse, a growing tendency to regard all dissent as mischief is a sign of he government's intolerance of criticism.
In this third year, such attitudes call for change.
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