প্রকাশ: 15/01/2023
The Awami League retains a “significant level of support” and there is still a lot for the government in Bangladesh to point to as a success story amid current challenges, says Michael Kugelman, director of the newly created South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.
“We have
to keep in mind that the ruling party Awami League has been in power since 2009
and it retains a significant level of support,” he said, noting that the party
has been able to bring success stories on the economic front and in countering
terrorism.
Kugelman
said that even if someone talks about all the bad things happening in
Bangladesh, the bottom line is that there is still a lot for the government in
Bangladesh which helps it sustain a significant level of success and there are
people who see reasons to support it.
Mark
Goldberg recently sat down with Kugelman to discuss the recent protests in
Bangladesh. The Foreign Policy magazine published the podcast recently.
Responding
to a question, Kugelman said Bangladesh has been a regional success story for
its economic growth. “It's a global success story.”
He
described what had happened over the last few months, including consequences of
the Russia-Ukraine war, high level of inflation, rising fuel cost and responses
from the government like rationing electricity amid power shortages.
Kugelman
said disruption in electricity supply was a major strain on the economy and
sudden fall in economic productivity was an opportunity for the opposition to
take to the street.
Corruption,
one of the realities in Bangladesh, scandals in the financial sector could be
another trigger for the opposition, he said, adding that economic problems and
corruption gave the opposition opportunity to draw more attention.
Kugelman,
however, said the protests launched by the opposition parties “was not a mass
protest” but a partisan protest.
The
foreign affairs expert said the government had the opportunity to explain the
“temporary consequences” of external factors.
Kugelman
said Bangladesh has demonstrated success in the area of counterterrorism and
noted that there was a period when it was a significant problem in the country
which had experienced series of deadly attacks.
He said
the Awami League government took initiatives to crackdown really hard on the
militants, and terrorism has not been a problem in Bangladesh over the last few
years. “That’s another success story.”
Bangladesh
has become a much bigger player on the global stage, including its role in
peacekeeping operations and with its non-aligned and balanced foreign policy,
he observed.
Responding
to a question on “democratic backsliding” he said it is important to look back
at the broader history of Bangladesh.
In the
past, he said, BNP (when it was in power) was resorting to similar types of
tactics and there were crackdowns as well as reports of enforced
disappearances.
Kugelman
said many things that are happening today were also happening when BNP was in
power.
He said
“undemocratic tactics” happen in many countries, including Bangladesh and
elsewhere in South Asia, and described them as “hybrid democracy”.
Responding
to another question, he said he does not think that there will be a Sri
Lanka-like situation in Bangladesh as there are safety measures in the latter.
Kugelman
said Bangladesh's economy is much more resilient than Sri Lanka’s has
been.
He also
responded to questions on Bangladesh’s next national election which he hoped
will be held as per the constitution.
-
UNB
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