Political participation becoming a power-centred business model, says TIB

Internal conflict is growing in influential political parties because of abuse of power, black money and political criminalisation, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman has said. For these reasons, political participation or party position is in many cases turning into a power-centred business model, he said.

He made the remarks at a press conference at TIB's office in Dhanmondi in the capital on Sunday afternoon. The press conference was organised to release a research report titled Institutional Good Governance of Political Parties in Bangladesh.

In reply to a question, Iftekharuzzaman said the July movement had raised expectations that the practice of power politics would end. In reality there has been no change. Because of power politics, party feuds and internal conflict continue, and people even lose their lives. It is more developed at the local level than the national level, which is worrying, he said.

He said the absence of effective preventive measures against irregularities, corruption and abuse of power, along with a lack of accountability, leads to the use of money and muscle power in large political parties. As a result, political violence is becoming normalised.

He also spoke about political party financing. In the existing political culture, parties need huge amounts of money to run their activities. That money is managed through informal processes, which are mostly person-dependent. Transparency is therefore lacking, and there is a huge gap between parties' formal income-expenditure accounts and reality, he said.

Iftekharuzzaman said there is a wide governance deficit in every area of parties' internal and institutional activities. Despite laws and rules, there is a lack of a strong legal framework to ensure internal democratic practice and transparency and accountability in political financing.

He also raised the dominance of family rule and elitism in party leadership. Because of a lack of participation by grassroots workers, diverse people and women, family rule or elitism dominates leadership development. Qualified ordinary people at the local level are deprived of opportunities, which cannot be positive for democratic practice, he said.

The TIB executive director stressed internal reform to ensure institutional good governance in political parties. The responsibility for reform must be taken by the parties themselves. Leaders must stand before the mirror as a precondition for the future of democracy and for earning public trust, he said.

The research report was presented at the press conference by TIB Senior Research Fellow Md Zulkarnain and Research Associates Kawsar Ahmed and Kazi Aminul Hasan. TIB Adviser-Executive Management Professor Sumaiya Khair, Research and Policy Director Muhammad Badiuzzaman and Outreach and Communication Director Mohammad Touhidul Islam were also present.