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So Near and Yet So Far

PROSPERITY FOR BANGLADESH

REFLECTIONS
IT may seem like naive optimism to talk about prosperity at a time when the country seems to spiraling into chaos. Politics Is at a stalemate, most of the country's major educational Institutions are closed due to clashes between opposing armed student groups economic activity is severely constrained with the endless cycle of hartals and blockades, street violence is on the rise — have I left anything out? Bangladesh seems destined to forever perpetuate its international image of Impending doom. And yet. It we can get past our genius for never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity", there is so much potential here, that it makes you cry out in frustration.
The crux of this problem is of course the current political stalemate. As our politicians keep dancing their minutes, the country sinks deeper into chaos and uncertainty. We are treated to an endless litany of blame, recriminations. and finger pointing. No one is willing to take any responsibility, it is always the other person or
party's faults. Of course, these are the rules of the political game in every society, propaganda over unpalatable truths. image over substance I fear, however, that we have reached a stage, where in order to avert disaster, we must stop playing this particular game. It is time to confront reality — bleak as it may be.
The other day. the Economist. In a widely publicized article, wrote that each day of hartal costs Bangladesh 30 million dollars in lost output. But greater than the lost output is the impact on long term foreign investment. Foreign Investors who not too long ago saw Bangladesh as a potentially attractive place for investment, are apparently having second thoughts. The political instability has given them pause. This is a message which has been echoed in recent BBC television coverage as well. There is of course, a certain irony that these dire pronouncements about Bangladesh are
only taken seriously within the country, when they come from outside the country
Be that as it may, it Is time that we in Bangladesh come to grips with the harsh realities of the new global economy. where we are one of many potential suitors for investments. a very minor actor
on a huge stage. What we essentially have to offer is cheap hard-working labour. But the advantages of lower wages has to be balanced with the ability to get the Job done, the work completed. If deadlines cannot be met due to political instability, than investors/manufacturers will look elsewhere. In an increasingly competitive world, with everyone scrambling to undercut others, to offer a
better deal, we may get shut out. There is only so much patience out there. Other countries will take up our slack, we will have once again lost the window of opportunity. There is ample historical precedence for this hap-penlng.Sri-Lanka had a flourishing export-driven garment
industry. The civil war and accompanying chaos in the 1980's completely finished their garment industry. One of the major beneficiaries was Bangladesh. From then on we have moved from strength to strength, with garments now becoming one of the primary sources of revenue for the country. Other export-driven industries have also started flourishing — we are now inextricably linked with the
world economy with all Its benefits and Its disadvantages. Investors all over the world are fickle, they are looking for the highest return on their investment, if Bangladesh cannot provide an appropriate climate for investment. they will desert us in the blink of an eye and go elsewhere. No one cares about our internal problems — they just want to get the job done as efficiently as possible.
It is time now for the grand political gesture, to go beyond petty partisan concerns. A workable compromise on the peaceful transition of power must be arrived at. If democracy is to survive and the country to prosper, this next election is crucial. What we need is a credible, orderly, transition of power from one elected government to the next. Credibility is the key here. There must be a general consensus that elections are fair and non-partisan and that all major political actors have participated.
There have been some encouraging signs about political compromise in recent days, but as of yet no consensus has been reached. Let us not get bogged down in details and ego. let us have the courage to forge an agreement, Imperfect as It may be. for. In the final analysis, even an imperfect agreement Is better than not having one at all.
An important corollary to any kind of political understanding and agreement about the upcoming elections is that all participants must agree to play by the rules. What most Bangladeshis fear is that whoever loses the elections will refuse to accept the results and will go out into the street and yet another cycle of hartals and blockades will ensure. We must prevent this scenario — we must learn to deal with our differences within the framework of dialogue.
Time is running out for Bangladesh, and if no solution is found for the current political crisis, we may find that the world has passed us by, written us off as yet another third world country that can't get its act together.