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How much is enough?

Anam A. Choudhury
Never before has
Bangladesh been so well poised to embark on growth strategy and realise the long held dreams of the people of this countrya peaceful and prosperous Bangladesh. But our chronic political instability and our political leaders' failure, whether by design or incompetence, to accommodate the concerns of the opposition parties to help create peaceful political environment make Bangladesh a difficult destination for investment.
Bangladesh has sophisticated elite, a well educated middleclass, and a strong sense of national pride. These are good grounds for believing that it can emerge out of this political deadlock, but unfortunately our politics is rolling on wheels of inevitability. As long as the eye for an eye mentality dominates the thoughts and behaviour of our politicians, there is little hope for a peaceful solution to our problems. An offer of compromise by the government would not necessarily be a sign of weakness. The stronger a leader is the more of a duty he or she has to make the first move.
In Western countries, most problems are solvable, as they sincerely believe that “politics is the art of compromise." When Obama became president of the United States of America, he invited Robert Gates to stay on in the Pentagon, and Gates agreed to work for the new administration. Republican Gates was the most important player on the Democratic national security team
for a couple of years.
President Obama also appointed his arch-rival Hillary Clinton as the secretary of state. It was a remarkable gesture. “That tells you most of what you need to know about President Obama's political savvy and his ability to bring others to the table to solve problems." We know from experience that in our country no political problem has a final solution. For most of our leaders, every solution is an admission to defeat. For us history is always a living reality.
Critics claim that, as part of a carefully laid plot to win reelection, the government has very shrewdly dismantled the system of
caretaker government. Surely Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will do everything to win a second term in power and naturally try to do so from a position of strength. Personal stakes are high — not a single serving prime minister of this country has ever won a reelection bid. BNP's primary objective is to deny her a second term at any cost.
Our political leaders are not ignorant of each other's political manners, habits, thoughts and feelings. Unfortunately, Sheikh Hasina does not like the very sound of the term "caretaker government” any more, yet she has not offered any alternative. The
electorate is still puzzling over her decision. Maybe some politicians don't want to understand what the electorate is feeling.
If democracy is to flourish in Bangladesh, a fruitful dialogue is a must, and the alternative to democracy is a dead-end. As we all know the best guarantor of political stability is democracy. If there is one quality both the parties have shown so far, it is stubbornness. Amid growing popular frustration with the usual confrontational politics, angry voters are wondering if our political leaders really believe what they say or if they just stake out a position that suits them politically.
The prime minister is yet to say what she actually thinks about the BNP's demands. Perhaps she is in a tricky position. Refusing the demand risks election boycott by the BNP; concessions might give a wrong signal to the voters that the game is up for the Awami League, since the language of victory and defeat seems to be the only thing our leaders understand.
On the other hand, the BNP's conduct is bizarre and indefensible because most of the time it boycotted Parliament, allowing the ruling party to single-handedly draft new legislations on a host of controversial issues concerning the country's economic and political
future. Now BNP is trying to stoke the fires in the streets, endangering peoples' lives and livelihood to realise its demand for restoration of caretaker system, but it scarcely talks about the difficult choices that lie ahead, like how to achieve economic growth and how to tackle climate change.
Our future growth will have to come from new industries that create new products and processes, and we must employ modern technologies to make our factories and offices more efficient. Global trade and technology lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty in many poor countriesand we have to defeat poverty as well. We need to think both regionally and globally, which will require a wide range of policy changes and cross-party agreements on important issues.
Our country is gradually turning into a remittance dependent economy like the Philippines. Changes in the earnings of people start from fundamental changes in the supply of and demand for certain kinds of labour. Our policymakers should adapt their policies to these structural shifts and train our low-wage low-skill workforce into high- wage high-skill workforce. If we can build more technical and vocational schools and colleges, increase investment in science and technology and reform our education and training system, this country could be the one of the largest contributors to the global workforce. Everyone wants that the leaders of both the major parties should change their tune and refashion their policies and politics to adjust to this new reality.
The writer is a former investment banker.