Politicians, economists and analysts on Saturday said that
the ruling Awami League (AL) will be responsible mainly if any Western
sanctions or restrictions are imposed on Bangladesh as the government remains
largely indifferent to their repeated calls for upholding democracy and human
rights.
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.