People's opportunity of access to public representatives declines

The people are facing difficulties to find an appropriate medium to express their needs to the government.

Although can speak up about their needs to candidates before the election but after it they hardly get that chance.

This information was brought up during a Citizen’s Conference arranged by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at a hotel in the capital on Saturday.

In the event, research organisation CPD published the results of its “Commitment to National Development: Education, Decent Employment, Gender Equality” project. Under this project, the promises made by Awami League relating to education, decent employment and gender equality in its election manifesto for the 2018 general elections was analysed.

To learn about the people’s opinions about the manifesto, CPD arranged 90 courtyard meetings in 15 districts. A total of 918 people participated in the meetings. Moreover, CPD also held regional conferences in Rangpur, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal and Chattogram.

CPD revealed that majority of the people in those meetings said that they couldn’t directly inform the candidates about their wants or needs in spoken or written form. But some were able to directly speak with their parliament representatives about the problems in their locality.

The people also spoke about ridding the education sector of corruption and politics, creating employment opportunities, encouraging people to become entrepreneurs by reducing complications in taking loans, ending the pay disparity between men and women and making child care centres in rural and urban areas to make it easier for women to work.

The chief guest of the conference planning minister MA Mannan said that the findings of CPD didn’t match with what he experienced in his area. In his experience, the people ask most for social allowance cards, drinking water, sanitation, good roads and an opportunity for a good job.

Local government specialist Tofail Ahmed said, if the election manifestos of political parties are just empty words, then there is no point in making them. Election manifestos get published just three days before voting. But these manifestos should be a result of year-long discussions. But such processes don’t exist in Bangladesh.

Co-coordinator of NGO ‘Nijera Kori’ Khushi Kabir said, the representatives are accountable to the people, the masses have to be made aware of that. "We have to change the mentality of enduring everything."

According to the CPD report, in Awami League’s election manifesto in 2018, they had set the goal of turning Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021, achieving ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ by 2020 among other things.

CPD executive director Fahmida Khatun said, political parties give the people an idea about their political commitments. Manifestos are not legally binding documents, but it holds importance. The political parties could use this CPD report as directives for the 2023 election.

CPD’s research director Khondaker Golam Moazzem resented the keynote address.