Jamaat-led long march contrary to people’s aspirations: Swapon

Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Zahir Uddin Swapon has said Parliament is now functioning effectively, while the long march from Dhaka to Chattogram by the 11-party alliance led by opposition Jamaat-e-Islami to press its six-point demand is contrary to the people’s aspirations.

He made the remarks while addressing a roundtable at the Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA) auditorium in the capital on Saturday.

Swapon said it was the opposition’s responsibility to keep parliamentary democracy dynamic and meaningful. However, he urged the country’s conscious citizens to remain alert against unnecessarily shifting parliamentary debates to the streets and announcing programmes such as long marches.

“It is beyond understanding why opposition political parties are organising such programmes, as various vested interests usually wait to capitalise on such unstable situations,” he said.

Assessing the government’s first 180 days in office, Swapon said it had paved the way for taking the country in the right direction after a period marked by repeated authoritarian practices, a fragile social system and economic difficulties.

He, however, said the crisis was so deep that it was impossible to bring about an overnight change, but the government had already taken concrete policy measures to ensure long-term sustainable growth.

Swapon said the country was suffering immensely from problems in the power and energy sector due to long-term dependence on imports and faulty policies pursued over the years.

“No sustainable policy was taken to explore natural gas,” he said, describing the situation as “not only corruption but also a long fraud against the nation”.

Regarding the government’s initiatives to overcome the situation, the adviser said the prime minister had expressed sincere regret over the crisis and was exploring alternative sources of energy while taking initiatives to extract domestic gas.

To restore good governance and economic stability, he said, the government was exploring new import opportunities and seeking to minimise import costs.

Calling on the opposition to engage in constructive criticism in Parliament, Swapon said a blame game and focusing only on the government’s failures without offering constructive ideas could not be considered good parliamentary practice.

“The opposition should not only criticise the government superficially but also provide concrete and pragmatic advice that would play a positive role in taking the country forward,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance launched the long march on Saturday to press home a series of demands, including implementation of the referendum result, justice for those killed in July, measures to address energy and fertiliser shortages, action against extortion and corruption, improvement of law and order, and an end to partisan politics.

The alliance has announced plans for further long marches from Dhaka to Rangpur on 19 September, Khulna on 10 October and Sylhet by rail on 24 October. It will also hold a mass rally in Dhaka on 14 November.