Abstract
After publishing every parliament watch dog report
the clash between TIB and the parliament become apparent. The research mainly
searched for the “apple of discord” and a solution to minimize the discord
between this two. As there are some limitations the study is mainly based on
the secondary data. The speeches of both organizations have been taken as data
and the relationship has been analyzed based on the data and actions taken by
the organizations. Some recommendations have been attached in this research to
get a better solution. The
paper includes mainly three parts. The first part explains the research
objectives, questions, literature review and methodology. The second portion
includes the “Parliament watch report on 10th
parliament”, speeches of TIB and the parliament
of Bangladesh. Third section analyses the relationship between TIB and the
government and recommendations.
Key
Words: Discord,
Legal right, reaction, relationship
Introduction
Transparency
International Bangladesh (TIB) is the Bangladesh Chapter of Transparency
International which started its journey on 22 October, 1998 (NGOAB, 2015)[1].
Since then it has been working to develop the corruption problem of Bangladesh.
The main concern of TIB is the government and the government organizations
(TIB, 2016)[2].
Since its birth it has contributed a lot to reduce the corruption level of
Bangladesh. But unfortunately it has to face the government for almost every
report against government, its organizations and actions. This paper will
discuss about the relationship between government and TIB. Here “Parliament watch report on 10th parliament” has been taken as a case study.
Objective of the study
The
study has some specific objectives. The objectives are given bellow.
•
To
identify the apple of discord between TIB and the Parliament
•
To
identify possible solution to reduce the discord between these two.
Research Question
To
complete the study it needs some research questions. The questions are given
bellow.
•
What
kind of reaction has been demonstrated by the MPs?
•
How
TIB responded in response of the MP's reaction?
•
What
is the way to reduce conflict between these two?
Problem statement
For
almost every session of the parliament TIB publish a watch dog report on the
activities and the irregularities of the parliament. After every publication
the parliament shows extreme reaction over the report. It create the following
problems.
1.
Both organizations want to attack each other
2.
Relationship between civil society and MPs becomes worse
3.
It creates a bad image of the parliament and politicians.
Scope and Limitation of the study
The
study has some both scopes and limitations. The scopes and limitations are
given bellow.
Scopes
·
Parliament
(Speeches of the MPs inside and outside of parliament)
·
Speeches
of TIB officials in press conference and TV talk show
·
Actions
taken by both TIB and Parliament against each other
Limitations
·
The
study demands primary information through interview and observation but as time
is constraints it was not possible.
·
The
study demands a huge study comparing other countries but for financials
constraints it was not possible.
Literature Review
No
article has been found on this issue but a several news report have been found.
All these reports narrated the speeches of both sides. Some newspapers
published some editorials which provide some evaluation and criticism. An
editorial by Kamal Ahmed was published on the Daily Prothomalo titled,
"Parliament is not out of monitoring" in this editorial he has mainly
stated the problems of the parliament and criticized the MPs (Prothom-alo,
2016)[3].
Methodology of the study
Type of the research: The research will be a qualitative
one.
Data Collection Method: The research is based on secondary
data. The data will be collected from
1. Newspapers
2. Talk shows
3. TV news
Legal framework
The
legal side of the NGO in Bangladesh is regulated by the NGO affairs Bureau of the
government of Bangladesh (NGOAB, 2016). This organization has some act, rules
and barriers on foreign donation but it has no act or proclamation about speech
or advocacy. No other organization of the government has created any law about
speech or advocacy of any NGO.
The
parliament has some rules and regulation for the MPs, their roles and duties
but these are not sufficient to address the moral ground of the MPs
(Parliament, 2016). [4]TIB
identified some problems of the MPs which are not crime according to the rules
of the parliament but those are against the morality and responsibility (Iftekharuzzaman,
2016). [5]
Findings of the study
Parliament watch report on 10th
parliament: A
ten page “parliament watch dog report on 10th
parliament” was published on 25th October,
2015. The report was made on second to tenth session of the Bangladesh
parliament. This study was supervised by
Md. WaheedAlam, Senior Program Manager, Research & Policy. Key Researchers
for this study were
·
FatemaAfroz,
Deputy Program Manager, Research & Policy
·
MorshedaAktar,
Deputy Program Manager, Research & Policy
·
Juliet
Rossette, Program Manager, Research & Policy
Key points of the report:The key
points have been taken from the main report (TIB, 2015)[6]. The study displays some key points.
These are given bellow.
1.
Total
working days was 112
2.
Total
time spent: 388 hours and 35 minutes
3.
The
average working hours in a working day was around 3 hours and 28 minutes.
4.
Presence
of the MPs: 68%
5.
MPs
were not above their party ideology during session
6.
Walk
out : 6 times
7.
total
time lost due to quorum crisis is estimated to be 48 hours and 41 minutes
8.
total
time lost in these sessions due to quorum crisis is estimated at Tk 326.2
million
9.
In
two budget sessions, 85 MPs (about 24%) did not participate in any of the
budget discussions.
10.
The
MPs praised their own parties and the Government 1,638 times and criticized the
alliance (which has no representation in the present house) 1,416 times.
11.
According
to the Rules of Procedure every committee should sit at least once a month, and
12.
During
the study period, all committees are supposed to hold 17 meetings each.
However, only
13.
Four
committees followed this rule while two committees did not hold any meeting at
all.
14.
The
critics of the alliances or parties which have no representation in the present
house and the failure of other party regime and tribute of their own party and
Government have been dominated throughout the whole motion of thanks giving on
President’s speech.
15.
Opposition
party was recognized as “So called opposition party” by this report for its inactive participation in parliament
and for being a part of the government. TIB termed the Jatiya party as B-team
of the government”.
16.
In
major observation section the study stated that though there are some positive
side of the parliament, the absence of real opposition party made the
parliament unaccountable.
17.
The
leader of the opposition of the 9th parliament, Khaleda Zia was not responsible
to her duty. She has fulfilled only 3% of her duty but took 100% facilities.
18.
In
this study TIB recommended total 12 points for the parliament. The important
points are given bellow.
19.
The
Main Opposition should be more proactive to play their role as the “real opposition”.
20.
MPs
have to be more proactive in participating in legislation business,
question-answer and notices on public importance. The time and scope of the
members’ participation in different motions should be increased.
21.
Provisions
should be included in recognizing the highest attendee and declare the name of
those members who have the minimum attendance in the session.
Government
response on the report
After
publishing this report the parliament and its members showed a strong reaction
against this. In parliament, TV talk show and press conference they expressed
their reactions. Some quotations of some MPs are given bellow.
On
10th November, 2015 a session was held in parliament. In this session the
following MPs participated and talked about the TIB's report.
·
Tofail
Ahmed, Honorable minister, ministry of commerce
Quote: “The
remark of TIB is totally out of its jurisdiction. It has revealed its study at
a time when two foreigners were killed and some foreign missions over-reacted
to this issue. The TIB’s motto is to create obstacles to
country’s progress. TIB has become a sister organization of BNP. I
urge the Speaker to summon TIB immediately before the Privilege Committee so
that we can grill it on the source of its funds and expenditure” (The Daily Sun, 2015)[7]
·
Suranjit
Sen Gupto, MP
Quote:
TIB has to seek apology before the nation within three days for its statement
Otherwise, this parliament will suspend TIB’s
name from the list of NGOs during the passage of Foreign Donations Act in the
House. In that case, the prime minister herself will not be able to do anything
(in favor of TIB). The organization will also have to vow that it will never
ever make any comment on parliament and the country’s constitution. TIB has done a big crime and sedition case
should be filed against this organization (The Daily Sun, 2015).[8]
·
RowshanErshad,
Leader of the opposition
Quote:
The organization is supposed to work for ensuring a corruption-free society,
but it has made the 10th parliament questionable. They demand fresh polls,” she said, asking, “Why
the organization has been running activities beyond its jurisdiction (The Daily
Sun, 2015).[9]
·
Mohammad
Nasim, the spokesperson of ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance
“The
Bangladesh chapter of Transparency International must apologize for its report
on the proceedings of the second to sixth sessions of the 10th parliament.
Otherwise, the anti-graft watchdog will have to face consequences. We
[14-party] have already called upon the foreign ministry to take legal action
against the organization if it does not apologize (Dhaka Tribune, 2015)[10].”
Some
MPs also reacted on this issue (The Daily Prothom-alo, 2015)[11].
The MPs are
1. Sheikh Selim, MP
2. AbulKalam Azad, MP
3. KaziFiroz Rashid, MP
4. Mueen Uddin Khan Badal, MP
5. Rustam Ali Farazi, MP
6. Matiya Chowdhury, Minister, Minstry
of Agriculture
All
of them criticized the report and demanded summon for TIB. They raised question
about their finance and political motive. They expressed their doubt that TIB
is somehow linked with BNP and Jamat-e-Islam and they are functioning according
to the agenda of the opposition parties.
TIB’s
speech
In
response to the reaction of the MPs the president of TIB Dr. Sultana Kamal and
the Executive director of TIB Dr. Iftekharuzzam expressed their reaction in
response to the reaction of the MPs.
Dr. Sultana Kamal:
When
we publish any report and if it goes against any party they react like this.
During BNP regime the then government also showed same reaction against us. BNP
also threatened TIB to close its activities. The then government claimed that
TIB is in the pocket of Awamileague, and now Awamileague is claiming that TIB
is in the pocket of BNP (The Daily Prothom-alo, 2015)[12]. .
Dr. Iftekharuzzama:The
following comments from Iftekharuzzaman has been quoted from a TV talk show
(Maasranga TV, n.d)
- This report did not only criticized
the parliament. It has also praised some activities which were really
good.
- TIB is working to make the
parliament a good one, democratic, responsible and accountable
- TIB does no activities beyond
the law of the government. TIB has the permission of government by itself
to perform its activities independently.
- TIB is not talking against or
favor of any party. It is talking on the basis of facts and research. It
tells only the right things which are the findings of research. Our
purpose is not to facilitate BNP or to help them to come into power.
- Jatiya party is in a serious
identity crisis. No one knows whether they are government or opposition.
Even they don’t know what they are! They should be active opposition party
leaving the government.
6.
As
there is no real opposition in the parliament so it has become a "Stage of
Puppet Show"
Financial
Source
After
this report on parliament many legislative officials raised questions about the
financial source of TIB. Some of the MPs expressed their doubt that, opposition
parties are one of the big donors of TIB and that’s
why TIB was talking like them. TIB attached a clear statement about the
financial source of their funding on their official website (TIB, 2016)[13].
The main sources of their fund are
a)
Trust fund consisting of contributions of Trustees, Members, Staff, project
overheads and sale proceeds.
b)
Funds rose from donor organizations within or outside Bangladesh for
implementing specific projects.
Foreign donor of TIB: In the official website of TIB it
has stated that there are total six foreign donors which provide donation for
their projects. These are:
⦁ Department for International Development (DFID)
⦁ Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)
⦁ Norwegian Government
⦁ Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
⦁ United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
⦁ Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
It
has also stated that this organization only takes fund of those who share its anti-corruption
values. It does not take any fund which may hinder its independence. Yearly
financial reports are also available from 2006 to 2014 in its website (TIB,
2016)[14].
Relationship Analysis between
Government and TIB
The
above statements of both TIB and the parliament shows that the relationship
between these two organizations is not so warm. The most surprising thing is that the government warned that
if TIB would not apologize to the parliament within 72 hours the registration
of TIB would be suspended temporarily. The MPs also suggested the parliament to
call summon for TIB. But TIB did not apologize and government did not take any
action against them. It proves that all the statement of MPs are just diplomatic
statement. Those were given just to defend themselves. Even they know well that
what TIB published all are correct and researched based. There is no wrong and
that's why the government could not dare to take any action against TIB.
Gist
of the findings
Relationship
between these two is not good. They criticize only but don’t take any legal or
political action against each other.
Recommendation
To
reduce conflicts between these two the following steps can be taken.
1. TIB should be careful to its
comments about the parliament and MPs
2. Every parliamentary watch dog
report should be more subjective rather than being objective.
3. MPs should take the reports as
suggestion not as criticism
4. MPs should be careful about their
language and words as they are representing the highest body of the country.
5. Parliament should take the recommendation
of TIB and solve the problems showed by the NGO.
6. Further study is necessary on “The
psychology of the MPs” and “Why MPs don’t take suggestion”
Conclusion
No
doubt that TIB's report is correct, fact based and impartial. But the
organization should keep in mind that the political culture of Bangladesh is
not too good to accept all types of criticism. The language of the report
underestimate the MPs a little bit. It attacked their ego and that's why the
MPs did not accept it. The comments of the Executive Director of TIB was also
attacking. Parliament cannot be "a stage of puppet show". If TIB
publish anything but it is not accepted then it will not add any value without
getting popularity by the NGO only. TIB should be careful about publishing
report and using language. The parliament also has to accept criticism for the
betterment of the organization in future. Both organizations have to be very conscious
about their limit and rights. Especially parliament should be more tolerable
and moderate. MPs should not forget that they are the highest authority of the
country. People do not expect bad words from them.
Reference
Staff
Correspondence (2015, October 10). Demand for Somon, welcomed by TIB.TheDaily
Haq,
Rezwan (Director). (2015).
DolerCheyeDeshBoro (country is greater than party)Dhaka,
Massranga Television
Staff
Correspondence (2015, October 26). TIB neglects constitution, parliament: Chief
whip.The
Staff
Correspondence (2015, October 29). Nasim: TIB must apologise for report on 10th
Staff
Correspondence (2015, November 18). JS body wants end of TIB. The DailyStar,
Staff
Correspondence (2015, November 18). The DailyStar,
Retrieved from
Staff
Correspondence (2015, November 9). MPs: TIB's report on parliament seditious.
The Daily
Staff
Correspondence (2015, October 25). Positive changes in JS, but effectiveness
under
Staff
Correspondence (2015, October 31). TIB official's remark on JS 'audacious':
Deputy
TIB
(2016). Transparency International Bangladesh website. Retrieved 28
February, 2016, from
TIB
(2016). Transparency International Bangladesh website. Retrieved 28
February, 2016, from
TIB
(2016). Transparency International Bangladesh website. Retrieved 28
February, 2016, from
Bangladesh
Parliament (2016). Parliament website. Retrieved 28 February, 2016, from
No comments:
Post a Comment