Poll not beneficial to people is useless
Staff Reporter :
“Elections come and go. If they do not benefit the people, they are not useful,” Citizens’ Platform Coordinator Debapriya Bhattacharya said yesterday while expressing concern about the current state of the national politics and economy facing the future headwinds.
“We hoped this election would not be like the ones in 2018 or 2014. We expected to see a national unity.
But that did not happen, “Debapriya said at a media briefing titled “Inclusive Development and the Goal of Justice: A Citizens’ Agenda” at the BRAC Centre on Saturday.
Observing numerous elections, including those in 1988 and 1996, where outcomes went against the vast public opinion.
Such elections undermine sustainable development and shrink the space for accountability, he added.
He stressed the need for Bangladesh to combat corruption and enhance accountability across all state institutions to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dr Bhattacharya criticized the lack of competitiveness in elections and the overwhelming majority of a single party in parliament, leading to negligence of legal compliance and citizens’ rights.
Debapriya Bhattacharya also said the more times someone has been elected in past elections, the more exponentially their wealth has increased. Dr Bhattacharya highlighted the discrepancies evident in the affidavits of MP candidates contesting the upcoming national election.
During the briefing, Debapriya, also a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), questioned whether the elected ministers’ tax payments increased proportionally to their wealth, which has multiplied several times.
He pointed out that these affidavits reveal a pattern of occupying state money, thereby depriving citizens of rightful ownership in state assets.
“All candidates seem to have become farmers and fish farmers,” he said while talking about the electoral candidates’ sources of income.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and a core member of the Citizen’s Platform, expressed concerns about the intentions behind politicians’ repeated elections.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman also noted the weakening of state regulatory bodies, unable to scrutinize the sources of income of candidates, which, in some cases, have increased exponentially.
“This issue stems from MPs’ indifference to the people’s right to elect them, leading to uncontested elections or lack of competition,” he opined.
The event, moderated by Prof Mustafizur Rahman, another distinguished CPD fellow, marked the release of research reports on various social achievements in line with SDGs targets.
These reports covered topics like gender-based violence, discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities, and ways to amplify the voices of marginalized communities.
The research was supported by various development partners and international aid agencies, including UK Aid, ActionAid, Concern, and WaterAid.
Representatives from over a dozen non-governmental organizations, who contributed to the ground-level research for the report, attended the briefing.
