Says Dr Akbar Ali Khan
Former adviser to a caretaker government Dr Akbar Ali Khan yesterday said the country was not enjoying the benefits of democracy due to a lack of the rule of law and democratic values.
“There is a shell of democracy in Bangladesh, it has no life,” he told Dhaka YES Conference 2013 at the Dhaka University senate building. “Due to a lack of the scope of people’s participation, the democratisation of democracy hasn’t happened here.” Pointing out some barriers to the flourishing of democracy, Akbar said although the lawmakers elected the president, he/she did not have any power to give any right decision on anything, while the lawmakers did what they were asked to do by their superiors.
He also said many corrupt incidents happened in the country but only a few of those were tried. In his speech on “Democracy, governance and youth” on the last day of the two-day youth conference, Dr Akbar cited the centralisation of governance as another barrier.
Around 500 young people from different parts of the country participated in the conference organised by Transparency International, Bangladesh.
The ex-adviser said the elected representatives did not deliver on their pledges and forgot their obligations to the people by whom they were elected. There are some weaknesses in the constitutional system, for which the rulers ignore people’s rights, he added. Akbar also highlighted the contributions of expatriate workers, garment workers and farmers to the national economy.
Dhaka University’s Prof Syed Manzoorul Islam moderated the programme, while TIB Chairperson Sultana Kamal greeted the participants through a video conference.
-With The Daily Star input
