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Mission complete?

Anam A. Choudhury
***The residual effect of this is a sense of resentment, which means that the electorate will not fail to take revenge against the incumbent government should it fail to deliver on electoral promises. In places like Bangladesh errors have enormous political consequences.***
”T I 1 HE taste of victory is the burden
I of responsibility," said Dalia
-A- Grybanskaite, the first woman elected as president of Lithuania. If anyone thinks that the Awami League's mission is complete, having won the election so overwhelmingly, he/she must be living in fool’s paradise. Make no mistake; the people of Bangladesh may appear politically polarised, but they are always united in their power to choose who governs them.
If the Awami League wants to keep its popularity then its top policy makers need to switch their focus onto the economy. They must realise that the stale "political" arguments no longer apply; but, as usual, those have begun all over again. The politicking seems to be utterly unconcerned with substantive issues. After nearly four decades as an independent nation, the answers to Bangladesh's deepest problems appear as far away as ever.
It is indeed a tragedy that more than half of our population is still plagued by the worst forms of poverty, hunger and disease. For decades, the growth process has paid
spamjittentlotito^ allegation of the miseries and sufferingsTif the large number of people living on the edge of despair and insecurity. Bangladesh made some progress economically, but has made much less than other countries in terms of its human development.
We have laws, regulations and standard operational procedures, but we lack the commitment and will to implement them or to penalise violations. This is because of our demonstrated inability to spend the available funds efficiently and honestly. Drastic changes are needed in the institutional mechanisms of the administrative system for this purpose.
Strange are the ways of Bangladeshi politics. The government appointed a number of chairmen and directors for most of the public sector banks. Many appointees are former Chhatra League leaders. As we all know, the collapse of Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008 sparked global recession. The obvious lesson from the events of September 2008 is that we need smart regulators, goal-oriented professionals and qualified accountants for the boards of our big high
street banks to take conservative approach to lending and to keep these banks highly un-leveraged.
Only well-trained personnel can grasp the depths of the financial problems and foster transparency and efficiency. They should be able to revamp financial rules and impose higher professional standards, and readjust risk models as a cushion against lossfes. Unchecked excesses and the feckless behaviour of some of the top brass in public^ertorbinks-arrTnairrty responsible for such huge non-performing loans and accumulated bad debts on their books. There is little evidence that policy makers are learning from the crisis.
Unsurprisingly, the long thesis of the conspiracy of foreign powers against Bangladesh is deeply ingrained in the popular imagination of a section of our society. We should realise that the modern world is interconnected, that each country's challenges are similar and that they can only be tackled by nations acting in unison, not in isolation. The global nature of the financial crisis, climate change, terrorism and pandemic threats have convinced just about everyone across this region that no country can stick to a "go it alone" policy any more. We must convince our people that our challenges need global solution. Bangladesh is a country that depends on international trade and investment. We cannot have an isolationist policy7 and maintain the status quo indefinitely.
It is, however, pleasant to think that our foreign minister is trying to develop creative diplomacy, that is friends of all and enemy of none, and reset our closer ties
with India. The global geopolitical order has been undergoing a transformation in recent years. Transition heralds the emergence of new centres of power in Asia with both China and India benefiting from the prospect of greater influence on global affairs. The planned Asian Highway will connect Bangladesh with most Asian capitals, open new avenues of business and greatly help our small, isolated economy to integrate deeply into Asian commerce and -improve-our economic competrffveness.
Failure to join the Asian Highway will surely leave our economy at risk.
However, one major difficulty is that the BNP might call it a sign of weakness and a threat to our national security and sovereignty. This is a desperate attempt to shore up a failing party and repackage its narrow nationalist message to unite the different factions ofthe party.
If this year's election is any indication to go by, the Awami League government shouldn't get too comfortable either. Cable television networks and cheaper cell phones not only brought commercial advertising to rural Bangladesh but also new aspirations for, and a more acute awareness of, the lavish lifestyle of the privileged elements of society. The residual effect of this is a sense of resentment, which means that the electorate will not fail to take revenge against the incumbent government should it fail to deliver on electoral promises. In places like Bangladesh errors have enormous political consequences.
Anam A Choudhury ts a former investment banker