PMO cites stability, reform drive at five months

Five months into its term, the government has focused its energy on stabilising the economy, rebuilding democratic institutions, and pushing through governance reforms, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Spokesperson Mahdi Amin said on Saturday, presenting what he described as a report card on the administration’s early performance.

Briefing reporters at the Karobi Hall of the PMO in Tejgaon, Mahdi — who also serves as an adviser to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman — said the government led by Tarique Rahman had completed 105 days in office.

While that may not sound like a long stretch, he said, every day in a democratic government carries the weight of promises made to voters.

The press conference, organised by the Prime Minister’s Press Wing, marked five months since the administration took charge.

According to Mahdi, the government’s early priorities have centred on reining in commodity prices, tightening discipline in the financial sector, recovering laundered funds, and pushing for corruption-free, cost-effective reviews of development projects — steps he cited as evidence of the administration’s governance credentials.

He added that the government was simultaneously working to rehabilitate recent flood victims and rebuild health and education infrastructure that had been damaged or plundered under the previous administration.

The spokesperson framed public confidence as central to how the government measures its own performance, saying it saw itself as duty-bound to keep citizens informed of its initiatives, successes, reforms and setbacks alike.

He described the public as the ultimate arbiter of the government’s record, saying that ordinary people’s trust and feedback would continue to guide the administration going forward.

Mahdi credited Tarique Rahman’s leadership with steering the country out of what he called prolonged authoritarian rule and toward rebuilding a state structure he said had collapsed under the previous government.

He pointed to five markers of progress over the past five months: public trust in the leadership, protection of citizens’ interests in line with the election manifesto, the pace at which early challenges were addressed, an emphasis on civil liberties and national sovereignty, and what he called the prime minister’s leadership — together, he argued, opening a new chapter in the country’s political history.

Opening his remarks, Mahdi paid tribute to those killed during the July 2024 movement, recalling how the previous administration had used lethal force against demonstrators demanding their rights.

He named several of those killed, including Abu Sayeed in Rangpur, Wasim Akram in Chattogram and Farhan Faiyaz in Dhaka, alongside what he called countless other students and civilians whose deaths fuelled the movement.

He said the involvement of people across all walks of life and political affiliations eventually turned the protests into a mass uprising that toppled the previous government.

He went on to note that the BNP — which he said had borne the brunt of enforced disappearances, killings, attacks and false cases over the preceding 16 years — subsequently returned to power through what he described as a free and fair election, and offered prayers for those who lost their lives in the movement.

Deputy Press Secretary Jahidul Islam Rony conducted the briefing, which was also attended by Press Secretary AAM Saleh Shibly, Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Ruman, Speech Writer Mahfuzur Rahman, Deputy Press Secretaries Md Suzauddhowla (Sujon Mahmud) and Shahadat Hossain Shadhin, and Assistant Press Secretaries Asrofa Emdad, KM Nazmul Haque and Gazi Shahriar Pamy.

The BNP government under Tarique Rahman took office on February 17 following a landslide win in the February 12 elections.