Bangladesh’s senior finance official has insisted the military backed caretaker government has the legitimacy to carry out an economic programme and that elections will not be held until 2008.
“There is no question of the legitimacy of the government itself. We take decisions that serve the larger public interest,” Mirza Azizul Islam told Emerging Markets in Kyoto yesterday.
But he said that elections would not be brought forward, because the government, lead by former central banker Fakhruddin Ahmed, needs time to prepare for a free and fair vote.
Islam, who under the civilian administration is constitutionally the de facto finance minister, insisted the government has legitimacy based on its drive against corruption. “People are almost entirely behind the government, for the simple reason that we have mounted measured efforts to bring to book those people responsible for making the country one of the most corrupt in the world”.
The military intervened in Bangladesh’s ailing democracy on 11 January, by forcing the president to declare a state of emergency and to cancel a scheduled election widely believed to be corrupt.
The crisis should serve as a warning that the country’s elite need to change, Islam said. “Political parties now must realize they should not nominate [for office] those who are corrupt ”.
Although the government’s legal mandate is only to prepare for parliamentary elections, Islam explained that he would carry out economic reforms. “Reform measures have been on the cards for a long time, but previous governments, due to pressures from certain groups or fears of not being popular, did not carry them out. I intend to see them through.”
He cited plans including electricity tariff adjustment and the privatization of national banks. “I expect that by next fiscal year, revenue growth by domestic sources shall reach 17%.”
Islam sought to quash fears that martial law would be imposed, but conceded that some members of the military may take office. “The military is simply there to assist the caretaker government [...] but there are some people in the military who may be picked for political consideration”.
On the reversal of a ban imposed by the military on former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Islam admitted: “The government took the decision and immediately realized this was a mistake.”
Islam, believes that Bangladesh will no longer be riven by corruption and political instability with the civilian government’s help: “The very fact that there was a jolt to the traditional political process, it will be an important factor [...] no one with a sane mind would consider going back to ex ante process or status quo.”
Bangladeshi politics has been riven for more than two decades by bitter rivalry between Ms Hasina’s Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist party led by Khaleda Zia, whose last term as prime minister ended in October.