State reform held hostage by power politics, bureaucracy: TIB

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has said that the opportunity created by the July mass uprising to establish an accountable system of governance and initiate state reform has been held hostage by collusion between power politics and the bureaucracy.
“The desired foundations for state reform have not been laid because of the reluctance of political forces, bureaucratic influence and the interim government's inherent tendency to compromise,” reads a statement issued by the anti-graft watchdog on Friday.
TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said MPs from the ruling party had created uncertainty over state reform by refusing to take the oath as members of the proposed Constitutional Reform Council.
He said the government had passed only those of the 133 ordinances issued by the interim government that helped consolidate its power, while suspending or repealing those that would ensure accountability. 
Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the apparent adoption of the slogan “Now it is our turn” by the leading political party had made state reform and the implementation of the July National Charter virtually impossible.
He criticised the government's move to repeal the Supreme Court Secretariat (Amendment) Ordinance and the Supreme Court Judges Appointment Ordinance. “Despite consensus among all political parties, the government's decision to revert to the previous 2004 law instead of enacting the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Amendment Ordinance with the necessary revisions has closed off the path to overcoming the crisis of public trust that has plagued the ACC since its inception,” the TIB chief said.
He alleged that the recently enacted law replacing the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance ran counter to the longstanding public aspiration for a genuinely independent and effective commission and conflicted with international standards.

He also criticised the government for repealing the Prevention and Remedy of Enforced Disappearance Ordinance, saying that the replacement legislation would shield the agencies most responsible for enforced disappearances and related human rights violations. The TIB executive director alleged that the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) had been further empowered under a new name instead of being dissolved.
He also criticised the government's inaction on establishing an independent Police Commission and requiring elected lawmakers to make regular declarations of their assets. Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the government was moving towards an executive power structure devoid of accountability by pursuing a course that ran counter to the public aspirations underpinning the July Movement. He questioned how the government and political parties could so quickly forget the consequences of turning all constitutional and statutory institutions into partisan bodies under the authoritarian regime, despite having suffered those consequences themselves. He said the ruling party has taken a path that runs counter to the lessons learned during the authoritarian rule, while the opposition alliance remains largely engaged in pursuing partisan political gains.
TIB called on all political parties to demonstrate the same goodwill and wisdom in achieving the objectives of state reform as they had shown in reaching an unprecedented political consensus.