***The first session of the Parliament was explosive but entertaining to many. The law givers were at their worst and fell just short of assaulting one another physically on the floors of the Parliament. The budget session spent more time on matters other than budget. The opposition claims that they were gagged and denied the right to be heard***

AN assessment of the achievements or otherwise of the first hundred days of a new government in a democratic system is carried out as a matter of convention in the United States. This practice is also being followed in many other countries assiduously.

The exercise in our country may not be as objective as one would like It to be Firstly, the period ol assessment Is short and. therefore, it Is fraught with the concomitant risk of miscalculation Secondly. In the absence of absolutely reliable statistics a set of Information is more often challenged by the opposing party than not

Nevertheless a good deal of analysis has already been un dertaken tn different quarters. Besides morning showing the day. people can also surmise and bring out some common el ements

The ruling party of Bangladesh promised a lot before the election The party manifesto is replaced with those Pre-election speeches added some more. TV statement. pari passu Included solemn pledges not to repeal past tollies oi the party, beseeching voters to give them a try again The people forgetful and forgiving as they generally are. complied

The first and foremost prior fty of the ruling party re sounded repeatedly was to es tablish law and order and to control terrorism Numerous speeches were made, meetings of high and subordinate off! rials look place, but no Im provement ensued On the contrary. law and order situation

deteriorated. Some alleged terrorists were arrested and. by a strange coincidence, they generally belonged to the principal opposition party

The Dhaka University campus turned into a battleground and the residential halls were forcibly occupied by the ruling party s student wing The law enforcing agencies did not find any armed intruders but shot the top opposition student leader at point blank range with a tear gas shell Medical Colleges were off and on closed Campuses of other educational institutions in and outside Dhaka witnessed similar gun battles from time to time ft is unbelievable but true that male member of the Parliament went in disguise to the Eden Girls College to instigate riots among Inmates.

Also came the demand for gow-rnance by consensus In that bed. support from the third largest political party In the Parliament as well as from the lone MP from the JSD was so-llcit-’d and received In return. Iwo Ministerships had to tie dispensed with for the two politic d parties The mainstream opposition stayed away from what it regarded as a coalition government To them, consensus evolves mainly on specific Issues among political parties, who thereafter generally follow their own paths and pro-

grammes.

The first session of the Par liament was explosive but en tert.lining to many The law givers were at their worst and fell just short of assaulting one another physically on the floors of the Parliament The budget session spent more time on matters other than budget. The opposition claims that they wen gagged and denied the right to be heard The Speaker was

even visually found to be blatantly partisan, causing walk out by the opposition ana severe criticism against him person ally

The pledge of transparency and accountability was met only by the standards set by the pledge givers themselves The rampant transfer of govern merit officials in such a short period of time was unprece dented Tills was done as a rnea sun of reward or chastisement The policy of partisanship has been witnessed In dispensing

with the services or many in various sectors whose only crime having been appointed to their office by the former regime They- were promptly re placed by lellow-partisans or party sympathisers

The by elections hold under the government spark volumes about the nature of impartiality. The opposition accused massive rigging in two constituencies. Luxmlpur 2 and

Chlttagong I Consequently, they boycotted the last one In Hablganj 2 and raised serious questions about government s credibility and opposition s participation In future

The promise of making the principal government media, the radio and the TV non par Haan has been fulfilled In so far as a Commission to work for this purpose has been const! luted In practice, these have been lurried Into ruling party's mouthpiece The initiative of holding TV Interview of the

Prime Minister after 100 days of assumption of office is laudable. But the vain attempt to bolster image by set-up questions and undaunted praise by questioners rendered It both farcical and counter-productive This reinforces BNP's claim about lack of credibility erf such pre-election TV exer cases and also casts doubt about the opposition leader's partici pation in a similar post-election exercise

On the economic front also, stagnation than progress marked the epoch. The business is almost at a standstill: banks are shy in advancing loans. Inflation is raising its hydrahead. Taka has been devalued four times in three months, the same number of times In the previous five years. Foreign exchange reserves are hardly growing. Capital market is un healthily soaring too high too fast through stock market, causing grave apprehension to many Exports are growing but at a mails pace Ine garment and other export-oriented industries are yet to come out of the logjam they -found themselves in during the past regime on account of the then opposl tion s destructive movement of continuous non cooperation. Prices of essentials are going up rendering greater plight for the common people

The aid consortium pledged

similar funds for the nt art year in fact, a bit more by « >.04 bil lion. The Finance 1'linlster boasted to have wrest ed non conditionality by donors. Or the contrary, the I: itter de manded continuing re‘ form programmes and refen' less privatisation. The Prime Minister on the other hand made a commendable appea 1 in Hong Kong, urging more ! foreign Investment in Banglad< ah.

The achievements . of the present government ma y be somewhat discernible in the domain of foreign affairs P rime Minis ter s visit to Saudi Arabia and China are steps in right direr tion and reflect bi- partisan nature of country's ioreign reia tions in some arenas. The endeavour to main tain cordial neghbourly relati ons with India is also sharer I by the BNP. but not by sacrif icing vital national interests. If the present government is ab Ie to secure legitimate share of Ganges water, it would no do ubt be in the overall public interest in Bangladesh. Orie has to wait and see.

Finally, the Tiling party is yet to redeem i ' s out repealed assurance for I ding returns of income, assets and relevant information by n i inisters. If such returns are me, de applicable to MPs also and are held them safely with pul >lic access. as in many countr ies. the nation would be saved to a great extent, irom the scou r ge of corruption

Democracy w «uld then flourish and the Awa ml League would wear a laur el again after a quarter of cer itury.