Of the party, by the party, for the party
Mushfique Wadud talks to experts about the possible solutions to stem politicisation of the administration
Following the killing Ibrahim Ahmed, a Juba League leader, in which, ruling party MP Nurunnabi Chowdhury Shaon was allegedly involved, the latter found an unlikely ally speaking out in his defence. 'Nurunnabi Chowdhury Shaon is in no way involved in the murder of Juba League leader Ibrahim Ahmed,' declared Police Commissioner AKM Shahidul Haque, on September 16.
Ibrahim was incidentally shot down by a pistol licensed under Shaon's name and as such, his wife remains adamant as to Shaon's involvement in the killing.
Curiously, this statement was delivered even before the investigation into the possible murder had been concluded and unsurprisingly, it drew widespread criticism from human rights activists and civil society members alike. Shaon himself was somewhat embarrassed by the unwarranted support of the police commissioner. 'I do not understand why he would speak out in my support but I did not ask him to do so,' he reportedly said.
The police commissioner also contradicted the state minister for law, who had previously stated that stern actions would be taken against the accused MP.
The abovementioned incident is a devastating manifestation of the politicisation of the administration according to experts in the field of public administration. This by no means is a unique example and is reminiscent of the partisanship displayed by the actions of the deputy commissioner of police, Kohinoor Miah, during the tenure of the BNP-led alliance government.
Politicisation within the administration has plagued the country for quite a while, with each new government, seemingly determined to outdo its predecessor in these stakes. Upon assuming power, it is the first task of a government to establish control over the administration. In the process, some officials are made officer on special duty (OSD), some get promoted while a number of party loyalists are recruited on a contractual basis. According to various sources, in the 20 months since the Awami League led government assumed office, 242 have been made officer on special duty (OSD) while a further 285 were recruited on the basis of contracts. On the other hand, during the first 20 months of the BNP led government, 300 officers were made officers on special duty, and 144 officers were recruited.
Section 25 of the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules states that 'No Government servant shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political party or, any organization affiliated to any political party, or shall take part, or assist, in any manner, in any political activity in Bangladesh or abroad.' However, many officials not only violate the rules, but also assume the role of political activists. With the apparent prevalence of partisanship in the administration, ruling party activists seemingly feel entitled to a degree of loyalty from officials as exemplified by the recent Pabna incident.
Experts, public administration teachers and former bureaucrats believe that such politicisation of the administration is destroying the system as a whole. They also opine that a merit based administration is being compromised as such. In an unskilled administrative system, the officials are naturally unlikely to be able to preserve the best interest of the country be it at a national scale or in international forums. As such, various reforms to the administration have been suggested.
'Such politicisation of administration is totally unconstitutional and no government should endorse it,' says Dr Akbar Ali Khan, a former bureaucrat and adviser to the caretaker government. 'As a result, not a great deal of store can be placed on promotions as a succeeding government is likely to determine a different outcome,' he adds.
'There must be a merit-based administration. There is no alternative to it,' opines Dr Akhter Hossain, professor of public administration at the University of Dhaka.
According to some observers, the seeds of politicisation of the administration were planted following the country's independence, during which time, many officials were recruited without having to sit through any formal examinations. These officials were known as the '73 batch'. There has been much scrutiny and discussion about this particular batch of recruitments. Although the recruitment process was initiated on the basis of examinations, this trend of politicisation nonetheless prevailed during the tenures of both Zia and Ershad.
After the restoration of democracy, there were several allegations levelled at the then BNP government, with a great deal of contention surrounding the recruitment of police officer Kohinoor Miah which was purportedly carried out under dubious circumstances. The government's decision to promote 654 officials on February 8, 1992 sparked huge controversy at the time. According to a study conducted by Ferdous Jahan of the public administration department at the University of Dhaka, titled 'Public Administration in Bangladesh', from 1991 to 1996, the government issued orders of forced retirement of at least 51 civil servants; most of them were never shown any reason for this order.
In 1996, the much discussed movement, titled the 'Jonotar Moncho' in which a number of senior civil servants were directly involved in an attempt to remove a democratically elected government added a new dimension to the politicisation process. When the Awami League formed the government in 1996, it promptly rewarded those civil servants by including one member in a ministry while the others received promotions. According to Ferdous Jahan's study, in 2001, the government, without much regard for seniority, decided to promote as many as 355 officials, depriving many competent officials of promotion in the process, as the government was unsure as to where their loyalties lay. She also observes that during this time, the amount of contractual recruitments increased significantly as 174 civil servants were recruited on a contractual basis.
As per the same study, in 2001, the then Bangladesh Nationalist Party government created a new record by appointing 978 OSDs. Many unusual promotions and contractual recruitments followed. It – the politicisation of the administration - was one of the reasons why the Awami League did not want to contest the January 22 elections.
Leading up to the 2007 elections, the situation was so complex that a number of civil servants were directly involved in political activities, seeking nominations to participate in the elections.
Nevertheless, many experts believe that the present scenario is worse than that during the tenure of the BNP led government.
'It is the unconstitutional government that started the politicisation of the administration,' says Dr Akhter Hossain, professor of public administration at the University of Dhaka. 'Irrespective of which party forms government, this politicisation continues,' says Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah of the department of public administration at the University of Dhaka.
BNP leader and former bureaucrat MK Anwar believes that the Awami League started the process. 'Through "Jonotar Moncho", Awami League started this process of politicisation,' he says. He believes that his party's tenure, the actions taken were corrective. 'We promoted those who were deprived of promotions during the administration of the previous government,' he adds.
'But I do not deny that some sporadic incidents might have taken shape in our time but the irregularities transpiring at present surpasses anything that took place then,' he adds.
Kalimullah opines that in the existing administration system, the policy makers are always in fear of losing control of the administration. 'As such, they try to control the administration, from which result the politicisation,' he says. Both Kalimullah and Ferdous Jahan believe that our administration is still bearing the colonial legacy.
'In the colonial era, the administration was made to serve the lord. This mentality continues even now. On the other hand, the administrations have the mentality to rule the people rather than being the people's friend,' he adds.
'Bangladesh bears a colonial legacy in its entire public administration system. A colonial imprint persists in Bangladesh especially in political and administrative arrangements. In a country like Bangladesh, where global pressure is eminent and the domestic political institutions are ill-structured, the colonial legacy places the bureaucracy in a difficult position,' Ferdous observes in her study.
According to Ferdous, politicisation infiltrated the bureaucracy following the restoration of democracy when its autonomy was challenged. 'Eventually, the bureaucracy found out a new strategy to overcome this "problem". It was done in two ways. First, after retirement, senior bureaucrats began "infiltrating the ranks of politicians". Second, the bureaucracy allowed itself to be politicised. The political parties did not prevent this, as the bureaucracy's support was necessary to run and manage the country,' she explains.
in the administration, politicisation prevails mainly in two ways. During the process of recruitment, party-affiliations to a large extent, take precedence as is the case with promotions, contractual recruitments as well as the provision of other benefits in the administration. 'When people are recruited on the basis of lists, you cannot expect a neutral administration,' says Rezaul Karim, a researcher at Transparency International Bangladesh, who conducted the study titled 'Restoring the Credibility of Bangladesh Public Service Commission: Major Challenges and Policy Recommendations'. In his study, he cites several cases where recruitment is influenced by the political forces and in many cases, the influential people ensure the recruitment of people from whom they take a good amount in bribes. 'Without a good recruitment system, you cannot ensure a non-partisan administration,' he adds. 'Since 1972, the Commission has been considerably used as a convenient tool for serving the interest of the ruling party and corrupt people as well,' observes Rezaul.
According to experts, the prevalent politicised system of administration at the expense of a merit-based one, will hinder development in the country. The unskilled administration naturally will not be able to resolve the problems in the country while in different international forums, the officials cannot represent Bangladesh properly, they opine. A water resource expert believes that because of certain clauses, we are getting less water while because of these clauses, India is getting the better deal. People also are not getting proper services from the administration. According to a report by the World Bank in 1996, on an ascending five point scale, the level of public satisfaction with health care is 3.1 for the public health system; 3.5 for government schools. In urban areas, 60 per cent of people are dissatisfied with electricity supplies whereas in rural areas, it amounts to 40 per cent.
In case of the telecommunication system, the rate of faults per 100 telephone lines per month is about 49. 'Without a merit-based administration, the country's interest cannot be served in different international forums. Unskilled administration cannot succeed in dealing with other countries,' says Rezaul. 'With more unskilled people taking up posts in administration, it will only result in producing an ineffective administration,' says Akhter.
A
fter independence, discussions over reforms to the administration took place. Subsequently, many committees were formed to carry out reforms, which eventually went unimplemented. Seventeen administration reform committees were formed at different times. 'Every government after assuming office, makes a reform committee but eventually it fails to implement the reform proposals,' says Mahbubur.
'The government should seriously consider the reform proposals,' he adds. 'With the existing system, it is possible to ensure a non-partisan administration if the policy-makers are sincere,' says Akhter. He believes that there should be a national consensus to ensure a merit-based administration.
'If the government has the political will, it is possible to redress the matter in a very short span of time. But if there is no political will, as has been apparent with all governments in the last 20 years, nothing will happen with the reforms,' Akbar adds.
Kalimullah advocates a number of reforms to the administration, among which, he highlights the spoils system practice in the United States of America. 'I personally think that the American spoils system can be introduced in Bangladesh in which, the key posts will be reserved for people from the ruling-party while the post of deputy secretary will be the limit for career administrators,' he concludes.
http://www.newagebd.com/2010/oct/15/oct15/xtra_cover.html
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