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Quite the reformists, aren’t we? Factions at-least, from three of the four major parties, have now come out with reform proposals for party governance and structure over the past few days. The JP and BNP proposals would mean the end for Khaleda Zia, while the AL proposal, while more wide-ranging in scope and perhaps by dint of this, carefully skirts the leadership issue. At-least in the initial reports. The AL proposal has not been made public as yet. Party members have merely discussed some of its most important facets with the media. In any case, what cannot be doubted is that these events have the potential of ushering in a new era in Bangladeshi politics.
Some have raised their voices to question whether the reformists can be trusted, being as they are of the same ilk that ran amok over the last so many years. I believe the answer to that can only be found by giving them the opportunity to go forward with their initiative by lifting the ban on indoor politics. Yes, they never pushed for these reforms when they were running the system, but conditions then were not the most conducive to change. The system’s ills had become institutionalized, decaying it systematically. Extreme measures were needed to recall our polity from the altar of corruption and moral atrophy to the more noble path the profession idealizes. The State of Emergency is quite an appropriate moniker for what is really a critical juncture in this nation’s history. What is propagated now may stand for many more years to come, setting the scene for the nation’s struggle to break out of its shell and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the Asian countries to have shown the most vigour.
It is bound to be a wide-ranging process, and under it will fall more than just the political parties, but wherever it may be, let the work of reform begin !
My inner economist finds a strange beauty in the ingenuity of people noticing and availing themselves of this kind of arbitrage opportunity.
”Our one rupee coin is in fact worth 35 rupees, because we make five to seven blades out of them,” the grocer allegedly told the police. “Bangladeshi smugglers take delivery of the blades at regular intervals.”
Some readers might be aghast at such open admiration of what is essentially a smuggling operation. I understand the moral objections to smuggling. I might even share them. I say “might” because there will probably be a “depends” somewhere in my response to questions about my moral views of smuggling.
While wondering if Lutfozzaman Babar’s statements to his interrogators are peppered with malaproprisms in English and catching up on the Bangladeshi news from the weekend, a couple of articles caught my eye:
Why do the words “anti-trust” and ”price-fixing” come to the mind of this erstwhile student of economics?
In other news:
AL runs on subscription, not extortion
Says Hasina
Pot-ay-to, po-tah-to. Tom-ay-to, to-mah-to… The article continues:
They quoted Hasina as saying that many mills and factories in the public sector were in operation during the five-year rule of the AL government when workers and employees of these mills used to pay subscriptions voluntarily to the party fund.
“Voluntarily” is a nice rubber-band word. How about some audited statements now? What’s there to fear?
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