THE call by Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, deputy leader of parliament and senior presidium member of the ruling Awami League, for the prime minister's intervention in removing supporters of the opposition political camps from the administration tends to betray, once again, the tyrannical tendencies of the ruling quarters. According to a report published in New Age on Sunday, Sajeda Chowdhury, while speaking on Saturday at a discussion to mark the second anniversary of the prime minister's release from jail, alleged that the BNP-led government had 'filled different tiers of the administration with their people' and that 'the government's efforts are not succeeding because of them.' She also urged the prime minister not 'to show kindness', but 'to be strong and remove them.' Simply put, she seemingly wants a relentless cleansing operation until the administration is completely rid of civil servants who are perceived to be either supporters or sympathisers of the opposition camps.
The sentiment that her statement betrays is indeed shocking, as it runs counter to the very concept of pluralism. A democratic society is supposed to accommodate people of divergent political views. It is only expected that bureaucrats will have their own ideological and political inclination. What needs to be ensured is that they do not allow their political and ideological inclination to get in the way of discharging their responsibilities as per their service rules. However, the ruling quarters seem to want the bureaucracy populated with only those who are loyal to them. Such tendencies of the ruling quarters are, needless to say, not quite surprising.
Ever since the AL-led political camp rode to power on the back of a resounding victory in the December 2009 general elections, the ruling party and its associate organisations, especially the Bangladesh Chhatra League, have been on a 'cleansing mission'. While they systematically drove away their political opponents from the campuses of different educational institutions, markets, bus and truck terminals, and what have you, the government went after the pro-opposition officials and employees, real or perceived, in the civil administration. Scores of bureaucrats were either handed down punishment postings and transfers, so to speak, or forced into retirement. At the same time, bureaucrats who are deemed loyal to the ruling party were rewarded with promotion in excess of available vacancies. In the process, while some meritorious civil servants fell by the wayside, their infinitely inferior colleagues got promotions to posts that they neither deserve nor have competence for.
The question is when such partisan tinkering with the civil administration will end. It is true that the BNP-led government did carry out its own 'cleansing operation', but the AL-led government seems to have taken the practice to an altogether different level, both in terms of frequency and ferocity. So much for its promise for change in politics and governance. What it has seemingly failed to understand is that it was gifted a golden chance by the people, to really make a difference and restore merit, competence and skill as the yardstick, instead of favouritism and cronyism, for reward in the administration. Not only does it seem to have spurned the chance but it has also infused unprecedented vengeance into the pernicious practice. In doing so, it may have created the 'justification' for the next government, whichever party it is led by, to push the practice even further.
In the end, the country stands to suffer the most because it needs a competent bureaucracy, the strength of which will lie in the personal and professional integrity as well as competence and performance of its officials. The government needs to realise that the path it has set the bureaucracy on will only hurtle it down to its doom.
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