Covid-19 and Governance in Bangladesh

ALI RIAZ Distinguished Professor Department of Politics and Government Illinois State University, USA

While a serious public health crisis warrants substantive response from the government in terms of providing healthcare and social safety, increasing its capacity to deliver to those who are in need, practicing transparency to gain trust of the citizens and combating corruption to ensure the optimum utilization of precious resources, it also provides regime, unfortunately, with the scope to move away from democratic principles and human rights norms, squander precious resources through corruption, engage in partisan practices and to disregard those who are powerless. The latter results in a chasm between the citizens and the government, creating or enhancing a trust deficiency between those who oversee governance and those who are governed. But most

for the business sector have been skewed towards the large business entities rather than the small and medium enterprises. According to press reports, 25 percent of all funds so far has been gobbled up by 15 corporate entities.¹⁶ The government has not established an oversight mechanism to ensure that the most vulnerable and those who are meant to be the beneficiaries are receiving the funds. For example, the RMG sector, which was the first to receive support, has failed to protect its workers. A report by Transparency International Bangladesh, published in mid-November, informs that around 42 percent, or 1.4 million workers did not receive any support.¹⁷ These failures of the incumbents in Covid-19 governance are far from an aberration or inadequacy due to an emergency situation, rather a reflection of the overall poor governance structure of the country. As the incumbent’s in recent years have veered away from the democratic path, and shunned an inclusionary accountable system of governance, it was not unexpected that severe weaknesses in governance would become evident. Covid-19 has made it obvious.

Recommendations

The government should create an oversight mechanism comprising of experts, non-government organizations of the public health sector and members of the civil society to monitor various steps taken and resources available to address the current situation and preparedness for the second wave. Implementation of fund disbursement of stimulus packages and monitoring their effectiveness and necessary recalibration should be prioritized and progress should be reported on a regular basis to an independent supervisory body appointed with the task. The government must end the use of legal and extralegal measures, including the wanton use of the DSA 2018, to silence critical voices. The government must unequivocally express the political will to address corruption by the party loyalists and provide the ACC with the authority and power to act independently.A comprehensive strategy to address the present crisis and the way forward for the next two years should be devised through an inclusive and participatory process.

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