Govt ‘effectively surrendered to bureaucracy’: TIB

Staff Reporter :

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has alleged that the interim government has failed to carry out meaningful reforms and has instead “effectively surrendered to the bureaucracy,” rising concerns over eight reform-related ordinances enacted by the administration.

“Whatever initiatives have been taken in the name of reform have, in almost all cases, missed the mark at the implementation stage.

The interim government has effectively surrendered to the bureaucracy,” TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said at a press conference on Monday.

The media briefing, titled “Reform aversion in the interim government’s ordinance-making,” was held at the organisation’s Dhanmondi office in Dhaka.

Questioning the reasons behind what he described as surrender to bureaucracy, Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the source of the weakness remains unclear.

“Why this surrender happened, and where the weakness lies, are the key questions. But I do not have a definitive answer, as I have no direct experience of how decisions are made inside the government,” he added.

At the briefing, TIB shared its observations on eight ordinances, including those related to amendments to the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, the Police Commission, the National Human Rights Commission, government audit, revenue policy and management, cyber security, personal data protection and national data governance.

In its overall assessment, the anti-graft watchdog said there was no clear or coherent strategy behind the selection of sectors or institutions for reform.

It noted that several key areas, such as education, agriculture and private enterprise, had been excluded without any explanation.

TIB also pointed out that apart from the decision to hold a referendum, no concrete roadmap had been prepared to implement the recommendations of various reform commissions.