Bangladesh - Belgium

Citizens’ Voice and Accountability Evaluation – Bangladesh Country Case Study
cultural groups, there is a risk of reducing the possibility of enhancing healthy
pluralism.
Recent developments
The range of interviewees met during the Inception Phase, (October, 2007) concur
on the view that Bangladesh is currently experiencing “uncertain times”. It is
presently governed by a transition Caretaker Government which intends to stand
down for national elections to take place by December 2008. This arrangement
commenced in January 2007 as a response to months of violent protests by
opposition parties over the electoral system and, in particular, the national elections
which were to have been held in late 2006.
The Caretaker Government initially enjoyed popular support as it vowed to “clean up”
politics, in particular, taking tough action against insidious corruption. However, the
imposition of a state of emergency which included banning all kinds of political
activities, protests and rallies as well as curtailment of freedom of speech was
increasingly criticised amidst allegations of abuse of power. These criticisms came to
a head in August, 2007 with a series of violent student protests. On September 10th,
2007 the Caretaker Government lifted the ban on indoor political meetings to pave
the way for crucial negotiations between the Election Commission and the political
parties on electoral reforms, planned over the following two months. As a
consequence of the state of emergency all meetings regardless of the purpose or the
convenor (NGO, Trade Union, CSO or Government Department) required police
authorization, which included prior approval of all participants as well as the agenda.
The impact of this continues to be felt and even government–led consultation
processes have been curtailed 19 .
The Caretaker Government is determined to stem corruption before the elections.
Over 200,000 people have been arrested including 160 high-profile political leaders
and the leaders of the two main parties, both former Prime Ministers who ruled the
country for 16 years until October, 2006.
There is much speculation regarding the future. It is feared that despite the efforts to
prepare for elections at the end of 2008 including the preparation of a new voters list
and ID cards and instigation of new qualifying regulations for candidates, the two
main parties will boycott the election. The two year transition period is regarded as
too short for the establishment of and mobilization of support for alternative political
parties. Other scenarios suggest the possibility of an institutionalised and expanded
version of the current Caretaker Government arrangement of advisors or further
infiltration by the military.
In principle, the Caretaker Government claims to support not only enhancing
accountability (where the main opportunities appear to currently lie) but also voice. It
has publicly endorsed the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) which remains the key
document for alignment of development aid. Under the title “Unlocking the Potential;
National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction, 2005-7”, the document spells
out a commitment to poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals.
Along with growth and human development, governance is one of the three key
elements of the policy triangle used in the PRS to determine priorities. The
consultations leading up to development of the PRS gave high priority to improving
governance and suggested a concentration on the local governance agenda, which
is described in the PRS as “central to the critical issues of decentralized servicedelivery,
grass-root accountability and the newer focus on regeneration of local
19 e.g. Local Government Engineering Department has suspended its customary village
consultation process on small infrastructure priorities and feels that its credibility as
participatory agency is being undermined.
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