Dhaka, April 25 The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government has allowed several structural legal reforms to be diluted, dismantled, or left vulnerable to the same fate since assuming power.
Ordinances intended to address enforced disappearance, improve human rights conditions, and strengthen judicial independence have stalled amid political inertia, a report said on Saturday.
According to an editorial report in Bangladesh's leading newspaper, The Daily Star, Bangladesh’s civil society now stands unsettled, at times even paralysed, by the conduct of the political class.
Initiatives aimed at state reform and institutional renewal have faltered, with the new parliament indicating that the reformist demands of civil society will neither be easily fulfilled nor addressed without a clear roadmap.
The report stated that members of the ruling BNP, despite campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum, have yet to take an oath as members of a Constitution Reform Assembly.
It added that the gap between political commitment and action, further exemplified by the dilution, expiration, or repeal of key ordinances passed during the interim period, has left civil society largely disillusioned.
More than 20 months after the uprising, it noted, civil society finds itself with diminishing agency, unable to either advance the reform agenda it once championed or meaningfully process the trauma of the uprising.
The report stressed that meaningful reform hinges on transforming political culture, shedding entrenched hierarchies and colonial legacies while being driven by an “undiluted commitment” to change.
It stated that recent parliamentary experience suggests that Bangladesh remains trapped within its old structures and tendencies.
The report added that political parties themselves do not appear ready for genuine transformation.
It observed that when one party holds an absolute majority in parliament, the opposition can do little beyond protests and walkouts to affect outcomes.
However, it noted that after decades of bitter experience, people no longer wish to see the parliament reduced to a platform for rhetorical speeches without effect.
The report stated that meaningful reform legislation with bipartisan support, the result of discussions between the government and the opposition, has yet to be seen.
Instead, it added, there are growing signs that the aspirations of July are being sidelined.
If civil society in Bangladesh appears wary about reforms, the report said, it is because it has witnessed repeated cycles of hope turning into betrayal before.
Since 1972, it has awaited the realisation of the ideals of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
Since 1991, it has awaited the implementation of the ten-point programme proposed by pro-democracy students and protesters following the overthrow of military rule.
For the past 21 months, it has also awaited delivery on the promise of 'Red July'.
The report warned that this prolonged uncertainty risks pushing society towards extremism on one hand, while allowing entrenched power structures to continually reproduce themselves on the other.
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