-Corruption free office
-Making global relations
-Reform important issues
-Major economic reform
-Justice for the massacre
-Timely management of unrests
-A new influence in foreign policy
-Cultural reawakening
After the regime change, the Bangladeshi mass people enjoyed some benefits from government sectors which had stopped for a long time. Morning shows the day, so we have a short term to get an analysis here.
The Interim Government (IG) took oath on August 08, 2024. Today, 100 days of this new government will filled up. So it is time to examine what the nation gets from this new government.
There are huge changes in the judicial sector in this period. Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and five other judges of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court stepped down on August 10. Not only Supreme Court, but also there were enough changes in the High Court, International Crime Tribunal (ICT) and Judge Court to reshuffle the whole frame of the fascist government. Now people can feel free to file in court to ensure justice. Within 100 days, many pending and sensational cases were dismissed, deprived people get back trust of the Judicial system now.
There were several fears about the transition of power transfer, as Bangladesh Awami League (AL) general secretary, Obaidul Quader once said that if Hasina is ousted from power, hundreds of thousands of people would be killed. The IG, the political parties and the Bangladeshi society got their acts together and helped restore order in the first few weeks of August when police was largely missing in action. Monthly crime figures show the law and order situation has stabilised. Ousted Al supporters have gain confidence to call movement and program.
The new government has suspended all kinds of Mayors of Municipality, Chairman of District Council, and Dhaka City Corporation mayors who were not elected by the people's vote. This kind of initiative will help to protect the future vote rigging.
International Finance Investment and Commerce (IFIC) Bank, Al Arahah Islami Bank, Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Basic Bank, National Bank, Sonali Bank, Rupali Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, BDBL Bank executive committee are reshuffle by Bangladesh Bank. This step will help to return trust on the depositors.
The remittance amount of the August month of this year is $2215.8 million which was $1599.4 in August'23 and $1913.7 in July'24. So it is very impressive amount whereas the county was in gridlock in first eight days of August month.
The IG has invited an UN-led fact finding mission to probe the massacres of July-August. It will be completely independent. The first report is expected early next month. The UN report will hopefully shed light on the brutalities -- maybe we will know who ordered the massacres.
Separately, the domestic ICT (International Crimes Tribunal) is investigating the murders. Hasina and her killing machines have been charged with murders. The big task will be to make the trial truly international standards so that international rights groups can't raise questions on the quality of its verdicts -- the way they did after the ICT verdicts in 2013-2016.
The IG has ensured free treatment for the injured, announced 30 lakh Taka each for the families of the martyrs and created a foundation to look after the victims and families of martyrs for foreseeable future.
Economy was on the verge of collapse when the Interim Government took over. In 100 days, foreign exchange reserve has made a comeback. Billions of dollars of international payment obligations were made without touching reserves. Exports rebounded with September shipments growing by seven percent and October shipments by more than 20 percent. Banking sector has been stabilised. The country's best economic team has been assembled to rescue a sinking boat. And it did an admirable job.
Well, ten reform commissions have been constituted. The most significant ones will submit their reports by December 31. The Interim Government will hold consultations with the political parties on those reports. Once consensus is reached on the kind of the reforms the country needs, the IG will announce the date for election. Separately, the ball for the election has been rolled out. A search committee is constituted to find the new and acceptable CEC (chief election commissioner) and ECs (election commissioners).
Once the election commission is formed, it will start work for preparing voter list.
Professor Yunus got unprecedented support from almost all countries for the Interim Government and his reform initiatives. The multilateral agencies and bilateral donors have promised to lend more than eight billion dollars. There has been massive amount of disinformation emanating from some places. But the world knows the truth and truth has so far prevailed.
The biggest challenge of the IG was to manage expectations. Scores of groups have hit the streets with demands and sudden burst of angers. The IG has so far managed the protests with consultations. Rarely any force was used to suppress the protests.
Garment sector has been hit by localised unrests. Some politically linked factory owners disappeared, forcing the IG to manage the crises day to day basis. The IG has shown maximum restraint to end the unrest. A few pockets of troubles are still there. But they haven't impacted our export performances.
The IG also managed several devastating floods and a price hike of essential foods, mostly linked with the natural disasters. Ansar protests were peacefully managed without any troubles. A major new Rohingya crisis was managed without anyone realising it.
Chattogram Port gets pace by this new government which plays a crucial role in Bangladesh's trade, handling 92% of the country's total import and export activities. According to data from the Port Authority, the number of vessels waiting at the port's outer anchorage has significantly decreased. In early August, over 18 ships were queued up at the outer anchorage, but by 1 September, this number has halved to nine. Export-import sector mostly depend on the speedy transmission of Chattogram Port.
All kind of bribes on transport ways like highway and waterway are stopped by new government. So the transport traders and commodity products supplier are enjoying hassle free destination. Transport traders suffered a lot in every street, terminal, districts entry and exit point by law enforcement teams and so called Bus, Truck owners and staff unions.
Professor Yunus has repeatedly made calls for the revival of SAARC. He also launched aggressive move for a membership in ASEAN. He said Bangladesh wants good relations with India, but it must be based on fairness and equity.
Third country resettlement of the Rohingyas has been fast-tracked to ease burden on the camps.
He has called a new UN-led conference on the Rohingya crisis for a new direction on the issue.
The last 100 days saw unprecedented debates in our society. From the madrasa students to urban elites, feminists to rightists everyone took part in the debates. Everyday, we see new seminars and talks. History is seen from different perspectives.
Ideas are shared and debated threadbare. Young stars have announced their arrivals on the national stage. Old stars have struggled for relevance.
Come February, you will see some of the finest books on the kind of society we want to be.
ZH
