Editorial
Submission of wealth report
Basic prerequisite for transparency
The Awami League government has at long last decided to fulfil the party's election pledge to submit wealth statement with sources of income indicated by cabinet ministers and lawmakers.
Though it has taken about two years for the government to come to a firm position on the matter, the present move is commendable, as it would at is least be a beginning of what has been long overdue. Once implemented in full, the measure hopefully will go some way in ensuring accountability and transparency in the governance. And such a step from the topmost echelon of the administration will definitely create the instance for all senior government officials to be respectful to the obligation.
The immediate past ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), too, had made in its party manifesto a similar promise to submit wealth statement by ministers and lawmakers. But after assuming office they conveniently forgot their pledge. Though it is a standard practice in democracies, our past elected governments failed to introduce it during their terms in office. The ministers of the present government, too, were not so much in favour of the idea with the excuse that they had already submitted their wealth statements to the Election Commission (EC). But good sense has prevailed.
Now that the process is finally set to start, it is hoped that all public office holders, both elected and unelected, should abide by the formalities.
We would like to remind the government that the ruling party's manifesto further states that the wealth report to be submitted by the ministers and lawmakers would be made public. But the finance minister AMA Muhith's disclosure Wednesday did not mention it. So it is expected that the reports will be made public through the Jatiya Sangsad (JS).
The authorities need to note that the wealth report placement by high government functionaries does not become purely mechanical and ritualistic. That calls for making it verifiable. Only a well-thought-out and self-contained mechanism designed for the purpose can fulfil such criteria. Hopefully, this aspect of the wealth reports would be well looked into.
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