Honeymoon Is Over; Government Must Work Now

When the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led government assumed office in February 2026 following a decisive electoral victory, it inherited an economy on life support and a society looking for systemic change in the state machinery. Six months have passed since the Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s administration took the reins. The initial euphoria has evaporated, the political honeymoon is officially over, and the newly elected government is facing an unforgiving reality: a deepening youth employment crisis and a deteriorating internal security landscape.

The macroeconomic indicators seem to be bleak. In a recent evaluation, Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), warned that the country’s greatest resource has morphed from a potential asset into a stark demographic challenge. Significantly, she pointed out that the nation is no longer reaping a demographic “dividend” precisely because the job market has completely stalled. While the post-uprising interim government attempted structural adjustments in revenue and banking, it lacked the political mandate to jumpstart the real economy. It left behind an inactive job market, and unfortunately, the elected BNP administration has yet to break the cycle of “jobless growth”.

The primary engine of employment – private sector investment – has ground to a near-halt. Both local and foreign investors are withholding capital due to a severe and persistent shortage of industrial fuel, namely gas and electricity. Factories are running below capacity, production costs are soaring, and massive hiring freezes have become the norm across the manufacturing and IT sectors.

Yet the banking sector remains choked by severe irregularities, characterised by a mountain of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) and a powerful class of wilful defaulters who continue to operate with impunity. To restore liquidity and trust, Bangladesh Bank must step up as an independent regulator to ruthlessly reign in the partisan political governance that has plagued commercial bank boards for over a decade. Simultaneously, the central bank and the government must establish an institutional, international process to trace and bring back the billions of dollars looted or siphoned off overseas. Reclaiming these stolen assets is vital to easing the country’s dollar and liquidity shortages.

For the country’s youth, this economic stagnation has manifested as profound frustration and existential despair. Millions of highly educated university graduates are trapped in a cycle of unemployment, feeling betrayed by a system that promises upward mobility but delivers empty pockets. This economic anxiety is further compounded by a visible and alarming breakdown of the law-and-order situation across major urban centres. Petty crimes are rising, and women face severe insecurity on the streets, with public spaces becoming increasingly hostile.

Perhaps the most alarming situation is that political violence is back to our public universities. Campus politics, rather than fostering academic debate or leadership and intellectual discussion centring positive reforms in state machinery, has degenerated into a battlefield for territorial control, party-backed feuds, and student factions. This resurgence of campus violence is now disrupting academic calendars and making higher education institutions dangerous for students who are already anxious about their bleak career prospects.

The first six months of the BNP administration have revealed a critical governance deficit. While the government has successfully claimed political legitimacy, its performance has been reactive rather than proactive. It has focused intensely on consolidating power and managing deep-rooted partisan rivalries across the country, letting crucial economic and structural reforms fall by the wayside. Dealing with the fallout of political feuds has consumed administrative energy that should have been spent on fixing supply chains, lowering inflation and building investor confidence.

To steer the country away from absolute economic and social chaos, the government must pivot immediately. Firstly, resolving the energy and power crisis must be treated as a serious matter of national security. The government must secure stable gas and fuel imports through diversified channels and repair domestic infrastructure to assure investors that factories will not remain closed for an indefinite period. Economic stability is impossible without energy predictability and availability. 

Secondly, the government must address the rising educated unemployment rate through targeted public-private partnerships. Dr Fahmida Khatun has repeatedly emphasised shifting away from a reliance on low-cost labour towards a competitive and diversified economy. The administration should introduce immediate tax incentives for companies that hire fresh local graduates and establish rapid-response technical retraining funds to fix the persistent skills mismatch between university curricula and corporate needs.

Thirdly, the government must adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards campus violence and partisan factionalism. Public universities must be completely depoliticised. Law enforcement agencies must act independently to arrest instigators of campus violence, regardless of their political alignment. Restoring safety and order to the residential halls of public universities is paramount to maintaining social stability.

Finally, restoring basic public safety is non-negotiable. The Ministry of Home Affairs must deploy visible, accountable policing to curb the deteriorating law-and-order situation, with a specific focus on protecting women’s mobility on the streets. Economic productivity relies directly on a safe environment where citizens can travel and work without fear and insecurity.

The Tarique Rahman administration cannot afford to hide behind the failures of past regimes or blame the transition process indefinitely. Political legitimacy is not a blank check; it must be continuously earned through an efficient accountable governance and economic stability. If the government fails to address youth joblessness, curb street insecurity, and halt campus violence, the very demographic energy that brought about a new political era will inevitably turn against the existing system. The clock is ticking, and the time for rhetoric has already passed!
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The writer is an Associate Professor of the department of English at Stamford University Bangladesh. He can be contacted at [email protected]