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Posts Tagged ‘AL’

The Political System of BD

Saturday, February 27th, 2010 by uddin

The political system of Bangladesh is going back to squire no 1 that is division, non co-operation, mudslinging, vindictive and yes…Hartal. What people envisioned after the election of 2008 is almost gone and the political retribution is coming back with brute force. The killing of political leaders, contract snatching by ruling Awami League party, Campus violence, corruption, mugging and hijacking are turning out to be the day to day affairs of Bangladesh. No matter which political party comes to power in Bangladesh, they tend to get to back to the same principal of violence. The naming of Zia International Airport and subsequent admission by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh needs to merit. During the BNP rule the name changing game was widespread everywhere.

So far, during the last 15 years or more, these two ladies ruled the country with iron fist and had no substitute for their positions. May be that’s why the country could not proceed as expected. The Parliament system of Bangladesh is not working. There is no scope for new leaders to come out and the same old back biting leaders are coming to power year after year. To fix the problem the country need to fix the fundamental problem that is the Parliament system of governance. The AL went ahead with Parliament system because India had it and they wanted to mimic their success. However to their dismay and peoples, the system is not working. The change that was expected is not going to come from these two leaders. Their thinking, ideas are stagnant and the country needs new blood with new ideas. There needs to be a new revolution in the country that will be based on Patriotism, principals of democracy, tolerance, for the people, by the people, and economic need. The whole world is going ahead in two steps and Bangladesh is still leaping from its wounds inflicted by these so called leaders.

Tags: AL, BNP, corruption
Posted in Personal, Politics | No Comments »

AL or BNP, Who is better?

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 by alexh51

AL and BNP, the largest political party of Bangladesh is ruled by two rival ladies who does nothing but fight each other. Throughout their existence these two ladies hated each other like no other and in the process damaged the reputation and progress of the country to a great extend. Their rivalry is so much that if one goes to any party (except the Armed forces day party of course) the other avoids the same.
Leaders are suppose to show qualities that make them far apart from others by being compassionate, far reaching, thoughtful, patriotic and above all visionary. What we got in Bangladesh is nothing of this sort. Our two ladies are not thoughtful, patriotic only when it comes for the vote and not at all visionary. They only follow others but failed to provide any guidance for others to follow.
BNP is leaned towards Pakistan and AL is leaned towards India and their relations with these two countries take precedence over Bangladesh. If one takes a positive idea then the other will completely cancel that even if that is meant well for the country. One example is the community clinic of AL, when BNP came to power it completely cancelled the project even though it was meant good for this country. AL on the other hand started the name game approach and started changing various named institutions that was named after Zia out of sheer jealousy. They are slowed down the Old home project for elderly that was initiated by BNP. Upazila was another project that was cancelled by BNP that was initiated by Ershad of Jatio Party.
BNP when comes to power always gives importance to the Defense forces and tries to strengthen them, AL on the other hand by virtue of its Indian leniency tries to slow the progress and make it more dependent on India. AL also recently stopped Oil and Gas exploration right to multinational companies in the Bay of Bengal blocks to satisfy its master India.
Both of these leaders failed to nurture any democratic norms in their own party even though they talk about democracy with their loud speaker. AL leader Hasina is autocratic in its own party and makes all the major decisions without any accountability or challenge. BNP leader Khaleda is supreme in her own party. She chooses all the presidium members without any challenge and consent. Both of these leaders have no future leadership opportunity for others except their own son’s and family members. It’s all about family business to them. Hasina has Joy who is as ignorant as a mule when comes to politics and BNP has Tareq who some say is the most corrupt person in Bangladesh. So who is going to lead this country when they are gone…..after all they are not immortal!
In the end Bangladesh needs a visionary and patriotic leader who can lead this country to the twentieth century. These two leaders failed in all extend to lead this country. We need new leaders and new people with different thought process. It’s about time they retire and let others lead. Otherwise the people will someday take matters in their own hand and deposed them completely.

Tags: AL, BNP, Hasina, Khaleda, Leader, leadership, Politics
Posted in Personal, Politics | No Comments »

Opportunities for AL party

Monday, September 21st, 2009 by admin

Al came to power with a large mandate. But their actions are not in par with their works. Below are some of the possible opportunities that it can do to help peoples impression about it. There are also other areas that AL can improve but if it can concentrate on these areas than their comeback for the next election will be very smooth.

General:

1. Establish a National Security Council as the CTG has envisioned. Their 3-4 tier plan was an excellent one to begin with.

2. Make the Police Department independent with their own budget. Also create regional local Police post that will be voted by the people. In USA the people vote for the Sheriff of their local county Police Department. AL can also start a post like that. The criteria will be they can not be affiliated with any political parties and can be ex army or police officers.

3. Increase the salary of the Police officers to counter the reason for corruption.

4. Create development Czars in the field of IT, Telecommunication, Road & Transportation, Energy and Defense. They will be responsible for leading the development effort on these areas including their planning and implementation. If needed they can also authorize financial transactions with respective committee recommendations.

5. Establish expert recommendation committees in USA, Britain and Japan who can recommend and show best practices from all over the world and recommend solutions that Bangladesh can use. I like the idea of NRB Seminar on the COAL policy. There should be more of those seminars.

6. Promote more family planning. The country has limited resources and can not feed so many people with so many limited resources.

Economy/Infrastructure:

1. Establish a bilateral Trade Agreement with Malaysia and South Korea. It will bring a lot of expertise and FDI (Foreign Direct Investment).

2. Implement Capital Intensive Projects Like Padma Bridge, Deep Sea Port in Kutubdia and Ganga Barrage on priority basis. Japan was interested to build the deep sea port on built, own and operate model. If that is the case, let them do it and it will fast pace the construction of the port.

3. Implement Business Forum recommendation as soon as possible and computerize the business registration in Bangladesh.

Energy:

1. Immediate approval of the COAL Policy with ample opportunity for local participation and compensation. It has to be Open Pit for maximum COAL extraction for our country. If you can provide a very reasonable compensation then the people will support the venture. Give them accommodations that will rival that of western standards. I like the idea of Hasina to compensate the affected persons greatly so that they are supportive of this venture.

2. Besides planning with Russia also plan for constructing more Nuclear power plants with China and Korea’s help. In that case you can have 4-5 nuclear power plants in 5 years time or at least 2 that you can show as a serious effort by AL. Money will not be a problem if the government decides to go to the Stock market for raising the funds. They are also approve on Build, own and operate basis for 10/15 years and the government will buy electricity from them. COAL and Nuclear power alone can satisfy the energy needs of this country for the next 50 years if properly utilized. If needed sit with BNP and other political parties for negotiation of the COAL policy.

Politics:

1. Make a direction change for the party for economic and infrastructure development. People want less talk and more actions. If AL can show the progress then people will be helpful towards them.

2. Remove article 70 from the constitution. If AL is really serious about freedom, they should without any delay curtail the restrictions that was imposed on the MP’s by this article.

3. Remove MP recommendation in the Upazila day to day activities. Its hampering the real development of the local areas.

4. Stop tendering hijacking by starting online tendering process. This could be a good start for the digital initiative of AL to start with.

5. Computerize the Land Registration system on priority basis.

6. Implement government wide Computerized Work Assessment system for employees. It will help genuine promotions and stop politicizing the government employees. IBM has a good solid system that AL can look at.

7. Make a law that will safeguard the Government officials for implementing a government decision. This will bring almost complete adherence and fast work from the government officials. But put in place anti-corruption initiatives so that they can not feel, they are immune to corruption punishment.

8. Reinstate Hasan Mashdud Chowdhury for the ACC chairman post and let the people know that AL is serious about fighting graft and will even enroll people who are not a party supporter. This will be a very turning point to the people and they will understand that AL is really talking about change, not fantasizing.

Telecommunication/Transportation/Airlines:

Send a communication satellite for better communication through out of Bangladesh and establish a space technology center. NASA made an offer to send communication satellite for Bangladesh for 100 million dollars in the year 2008. We can take that offer and send one within 3 years. It will increase the image of the AL government to a great extend.
Establish a National highway Development plan for Bangladesh to move traffic faster, even if it is a toll plan.
Establish a computerized ticketing system for Motorists that will be hassle free and can generate more revenues for the government. Also upgrade the state licensing system by implementing a point system.
Do a comprehensive plan for the Railway and if Japan is interested give them complete control of the Railway for better management and planning. I am sure with in 3-4 years time; railway will be a better transportation medium.
Make urgent decision on resuming the flights to NY with more procurement of Aircrafts and possibly extending that to DC/VA.
Make sure the Hatirjheel and other Dhaka transport projects finish on time and if possible ahead of schedule.

Environment:

Create river parks along the Buriganga, Sitalakkha and other rivers to save the rivers.
Stop those industries that pollute the water now instead of waiting. We need to save surface water now even if our industries are closed down. That danger is more vital than some petty crook industrialists who does nothing to help our environment.
Wasa is unable to make use of its resources and planning. Privatize WASA for better water resource management and save the people from taking dirty water.
Emphasis on more waste management systems and even contract out to Japanese investors the generation of electricity from waste.

Medical/Patient:

Implement a patient protection bill and institute a licensing system for doctors for the practice. The license will be revoked or there should be monetary punishments for patient neglect.
Close all unauthorized Clinics in Bangladesh and create an institution like CDC of USA for better management of important illnesses and coordination.
Establish a hospital standard for Bangladesh that will follow Apollo or Square hospital as a model.

Defense:

Construct a coastal defense system for Bangladesh and procure more Frigates and possible submarines on priority basiss due to Myanmar situation and to protect our natural resources. You can ask South Korea to build for of those Frigates and also procure from other sources. Korean Frigates were cheap and very useful as well. USA made a proposal for joint patrol that we can make use of for couple of years till our navy is strong enough.
Procure SAMS and other fighter aircrafts for the defense of the country.
Build one or two Frigates with Transfer of technology offer that can be build in our shipyards. It will promote technology and standard of our naval architects and engineers.

Tags: AL, energy, Infrastructure
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Policies by AL

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 by uddin

Its almost 4 months that Awami League came to power in Bangladesh and since then they are taking mostly wrong decisions and delaying the positive decisions that was taken during the Caretaker Government. Sometimes we have to wonder what this government is representing? Is it the people of Bangladesh or some other country? Its a given truth that AL always leans towards India and have a very friendly relation with them. After the death of the founding father of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina and her family was sheltered in India and her son and daughters were initially educated in India. But we hope that relation should not interfere the security and well being of our beloved country.

The country is reeling from acute energy crisis. Thousands of industries are not working, people are unemployed due to the energy crisis. Still the government is sitting on the COAL, Oil & gas exploration issues. The decision by Port Authority of Chittagong to stop building shipyards in the vicinity of the western or eastern side of the port is another policy decision that is going to hurt our bulging new export earning Ship building industry.

First lets talk about the COAL policy. The coal policy has been debated for the last couple of years. The self interest people of Oil and Gas action committee in the name of representing the people tried to stop the approval of the Coal policy and was largely successful in getting the approval stopped and the citizen of Bangladesh get killed. It is during the Caretaker Government that it was finalized and decided to be approved. But the Caretaker Government with best interest left the final decision on the elected representatives of Bangladesh. However without approving the policy now the new government is delaying the approval and harming the energy security of Bangladesh. While everyear we are importing substandard Indian Coals valued at millions of dollars, our Coal is sitting beneth the earth.

Secondly the Upazila act of 2009. It was approved by the caretaker government and was praised from all walks of political life. The act put the onus of development to the Upazila chairmans and curtailed the undue influence of the MP’s and their musclemen. The act also made it simplified for the Upazila chairman’s to go ahead and do the necessary work for their constituents with solicitations from its people, there by had more merit than anything else. However after coming to power the AL changed the Upazila policy and made it mandatory for the Upazila chairmans to take permission from the MP’s and thereby holding off the necessary changes and improvement that would have been happened before. By enacting this rule the AL government essentially destroyed the local tier of government with undue influence by the elected MP’s.

The reputed Daily Star notes:

On top this, we now have the freshly announced operational guideline for the upazila parishads which, for all practical purposes, goes to disempower the elected vice-chairmen. As per rules, upazila chairmen can delegate their responsibilities, both financial and administrative, to Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNOs), but in the event that the upazila vice-chairman becomes an acting chairman, he/she cannot exercise financial authority except by approval from ’specified authorities’. Inexplicably though, where the vice-chairman would seek the approval from remains unspecified.

Thirdly, the changes in the ACC rule proposed by the AL government clearly goes against the true spirit of stoping the Corruption crimes. Removal of Hasan Mashdud Chowdhury was by far the most careless work done by this AL government. Mr. Hasan was the most couragious, fearless, respected ACC chairman and was praised abroad and in the country everywhere for his actions against corruption. Subsequently the summon to appear before the parliamentarian commitee was a disgraceful act which ultimately the ACC rejected. Under the ACC act the commission can take all decisions and is also independent in making all expenditures from the allotted budget under section 24 of the act, ACC sources said. As per section 3, 10 (3), and 24 of the ACC Act, the commission enjoys independence, self-governance and neutrality while the commissioners are of the status of Supreme Court judges. Ironically the people who summoned the ACC to appear before the commitee was itself accused by the ACC of corruption and they are on trial by the ACC for corruption. Imagine appearing before your corruption suspect for explaining why you filed a case against him.

Fourthly, the scraping of the mobile ID plan for stolen sets is only going to help the extortionists, murderers, and hijakers. International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers are used to track down stolen and lost sets. Mobile set is one of the lucrative items for the city muggers as there is big grey market for the second hand sets. Almost everyday law enforcers receive complaints of mobile set theft. Most of the stolen Mobile phones are also used to harrass people and business people by demanding money and using for various crimes.

Fifthly, The stoping of the award for the hydrocarbon exploration before the winter season is not helping the country a bit. While the country is reeling from acute energy crisis, not awarding the contract for exploration on mere ground of talking to India is a sheer neglect for the well being of our beloved country. India asked for a bid on their part of the Bay of Bengal and they have also put bids on our demarkated boundaries with out consulting us. India awarded contracts before without even consulting us, so why should we hold our energy hostage for their content. India asked for bid in June, 2009 for its oil and gas exploration,so if we award our contract before, then most of the companies that bid in Bangladesh will not even consider bidding for India. Is thats the motive to stop awarding the contract to Connoco and Tullow? Why the AL is putting our energy on hostage on India’s account?

Sixth on the list, The policy of political vengeance was suppose to be stopped by the AL government as per their election manifesto of Changes for Good of 2009 but the notice to evict the house of Khaleda Zia, the opposition political party chief bores ills to this effect. Anyone with a right mind will know it was done only to humiliate her and jeopardize her well being. I am no BNP supporter but even I am appalled by this act by a state government.

Seventh, the nature of politicizing the radical Islam and branding Bangladesh as one is not helping the image of this country. It only is helping the people against Islam and their propaganda’s. While the country has some disgruntled Islamist who are almost destroyed by the Caretaker government and this government, nevertheless politicizing is not not helping the country in anyway. Why we are branding ourselves such? Is it for our own good or for someone else?

Lastly and the most important, is the butched BDR mutiny and its report. The government dilly delaying and leaking of the Mutiny report is putting a sad picture of the truthfulness of this trial and punishment of the real culprits. There was some involvement of AL politicians who has if not instigated but had some kind of hand in this mutiny. But the hiding of their name is giving an impression that this government is not willing to mend the true justice for these fallen soldiers, not to mention the inaction during the Mutiny.

While the government tried to take steps as per the Caretaker government like fast tracking the Padma bridge construction, communication plan and others, they are clearly not upto mark to make a real difference to the lot of the people of Bangladesh. Most of their decisions and steps were done by following the Caretaker steps. I am not seeing anything tangible except the BDR mutiny and talk of trial of war criminals. Is it true what people say “We are getting the same wine but in a new bottle”? Where is the real change that AL talked about? I hope the AL government will come to their senses and act accordingly, otherwise the fate of the people will be harmed and hopes of change will go no where. Unlike BNP people expect good from AL and its their (AL) chance to show good on their promise of change.

About Author: Mr.Uddin is a political analyst for Alap Bangladesh.

Tags: AL, bdr, Caretaker Government, COAL, communication, Economy, Mutiny, Politics
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First 90 days of AL rule in Bangladesh

Monday, April 13th, 2009 by admin

AL came to power with a very big margin during the Dec 2008 election. The people from all walks of life lend a big hand to this surprise win by a big margin and they were expecting a big change that they can be proud of. Instead the happening of the last 90 days are a bit disappointing and deserves a closer look. Mostly AL’s methods of governing and accountability are at stake and needs to change.

The Upazila election during the month of January had a very low participation rate. May be its because the government was not supportive of the idea of the Upazila system. Upazila system that was initiated by the Ershad government, truly was a remarkable achievement and helped to grow the enthusiasm of the ordinary people of Bangladesh.
Handling of the BDR Massacre was a mess and full of controversy. The government stood by and let the mutiny suspects kill more than 60 of the best Army officers of Bangladesh. What is worse, there was no recourse of actions or even firing of the people who were suppose to handle the situation maturely. Even the junior state minister Taj who was in Washington DC to cater to his Subway restaurant was not even reprimanded and removed for this carelessness and lack of responsibility.
Passage of the Upazila Parishad bill which was a complete disappointment for the people. Giving the MP’s the say into everything what the Upazila chairman does and will do is a complete opposite to the spirit of the bill and will hamper the sovereign activities of the Upazila chairmans, not to mention the hold ups.
Removal of the eminent VC Prof Nazrul Islam of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), was very much done to satisfy the pro-Awami League doctors’ association Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad. Prof. Nazrul Islam was installed by the last caretaker government of Fakhruddin and was a very able body personal and respected widely.
Force Removal of the ACC chairman Hasan Mashud Chowdhury is a disgrace for the AL lead government and its pledge to fight corruption and nepotism in the Government. What is striking is comments by some ministers who were branded as corrupt by the same ACC they are going after now. I guess the corrupt triumphs again.
Cabinet decision to remove Khaleda Zia from her residence was an act of vengeance and cruelty. Removing any person specially an opposition leader of the house is wrong and done not for the good of the nation but for pure vengeance.
Dilly delaying of the award of Off Shore oil block to Conoco Phillips and others. In the mean time, India has called for its tender to award off shore blocks for exploration. The question remains was it done to give India more time, so that they can encroach more of our areas and bid as their own? The visit by Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon right after their floating of tender is rather suspicious.
Closing of various education institutions by the AL student terrorist activities are becoming a norm of the nation. Session jams are increasing as a matter of fact and hampering the real growth of the education system of Bangladesh.
Continuous branding of Bangladesh as a Islamic fundamentalist heaven is self destructive and bears no good for Bangladesh. It only tarnishes the image of Bangladesh to the world. I am not sure how it helps AL by branding Bangladesh a terrorist country.
Relying heavily on Russia to build our first Nuclear power plant to augment our electricity generation. While there are other options and chance to have similar agreements to construct more Nuclear Power plants with the assistance of China and South Korea, the government of AL is only looking a viable deal with Russia. Russia has a bad reputation about completion of their projects and we should not rely only on one source for our energy rather have multiple sources.
The transit deal and water transport deal was done hastily with India without any opinion from public.
Daily shuffle of Administrative officials are becoming a major stumbling block for progress and enthusiasm of secretariat officials are at an all time low. There should be some kind of a rule about their shuffle and reshuffle without hampering the day to day activities of the officials and their state activities.

Now some positive outcomes:

The much anticipated go ahead for Padma Bridge design.It will undoubtedly be the biggest project of this government.
The go ahead to implement Rooppur Nuclear Power plant is another milestone in AL’s time.
Pledge to hold war crimes trial through special tribunal courts.
Pledge to dredge major rivers of Bangladesh to mitigate the sufferings of people and safeguard the river system of Bangladesh.
Pledge to go ahead with the caretaker government plan to construct multiple roads and transport system in and around Dhaka to fix the traffic problem.
Pledge to set up a performance based system for Government employees.
Pledge to construct Deep sea port at Sonadia and subsequent expansion of the port facilities.
The jails of JMB activists and their arrests.
The passage of the CrPC bill.
The passage of the Biman Bangladesh, Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board, and Dhaka Electricity Supply Authority bill that was promulgated by the Caretaker government
Finally the legality of the caretaker government by the AL lead parliament.
Instruction to not to go overboard with the founding father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a strategic move.

I might have left some other details and lists. But most of all, the people of the country will decide what AL or its partners did in the last 90 days. If I was, I would have been more careful and taken into account the emotions of the people of Bangladesh and judge from their perspective. After all, they are the true judges of our activities. Leaders come and go but their legacy stays and haunt others. Election pledges are easy to say but harder to do.

Tags: AL, democracy, Election
Posted in Personal, Politics | 1 Comment »

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