On Friday, making an oblique reference to the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the party is plotting to create a famine situation in February–March with the support of some foreign countries.
Earlier, in a recent statement AL General Secretary, Obaidul Qauder said that the BNP is relentlessly conspiring to have sanctions imposed against the people of the country with false and fabricated information.
Former President of Communist Party of Bangladesh Mujahiul Islam Selim told New Age that the AL government has no wish for holding inclusive and credible elections and it will be responsible if any sanctions are imposed for undermining the democratic electoral process and violating human rights as well.
The ruling AL and all other political parties and the people as well know that no free, fair and credible general elections can be held under a partisan government, said Selim.
Moreover, the AL also knows that they will invariably lose if a free, fair and credible general election is held, said the senior politician.
For this they became eager to hold a false and farcical general election, Selim added.
The government could still hold an inclusive general election by following the special constitutional clause and convening parliamentary sessions to pass the bill of caretaker government, he said.
Referring to the Prime Minister’s complaint that Bangladesh may face a famine after the general election, Selim said that such a comment can be a foreboding sign for the country and the wrong policies of the government would be responsible for that.
BNP standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan said, “If this were to be true that the BNP is responsible for the Western sanctions imposed on certain Bangladeshis who are undermining a free and fair election process then this would pre-suppose that BNP is running the decision making process of the Western Governments ! The absurdity of such Awami allegations is obvious to everyone and doesn’t deserve any consideration whatsoever.”
“The fact of the matter is, the forthcoming elections have already been rendered into a sham election by way of publicly horse trading the parliament seats not only between their partners but also with their domesticated opposition aspirants well before the actual election has even taken place. Such an election caricature cannot be acceptable to any democracy loving people whether inside or outside the country,” he observed.
Former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder told New Age that if any sanctions are imposed on Bangladesh from the Western countries, alongside economic impact it would be shameful for the nation.
Former diplomat Humayun Kabir said that accusing the opposition for possible sanctions is nothing but a political rhetoric.
The European Union and United States are major markets for Bangladesh’s garment sector. If any sanctions are to be imposed on this sector, it will be dangerous for Bangladesh.
Economists said that the country’s foreign exchange reserve and import payments would be badly affected, if any kinds of economic sanctions are imposed on the country in such a struggling economic situation.
Former World Bank Dhaka office chief economist Zahid Hussain said that any kinds of sanctions or trade penalties would create impact on the country as the economy has already been struggling due to shortage of dollars.
‘If any sanctions affect the country’s export-oriented industries, mainly the readymade garment industry, it would create an adverse impact on the country’s foreign exchange reserve and employment as well,’ he added.
Asked about the risk of famine by March 3 and whether the government has taken adequate measures to tackle such a crisis, he said that the government has to disseminate what kind of measures it has taken to overcome the situation.
Dhaka University economics professor MM Akash said that any kind of economic sanctions or penalties would create dollar shortages to lead to a crisis in the imported goods.
The chance of famine is little if the government takes adequate early measures as the country’s agricultural sector is quite strong. The poor people will not be affected much. But, the middle and higher income groups will suffer the brunt of crisis as they would not be able to use imported goods due to dollar shortages.
On September 22, the US Department of State said that they had started imposing visa restrictions on individuals involved in undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.
Under this policy, the US said that it would be able to restrict the issuance of visas for any Bangladeshi individuals believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.
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