Inherited crises cannot be an excuse, says PM Tarique Rahman

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has said that his government does not want to use the problems it inherited—including the gas and electricity crises—as an excuse. He said the government is working according to a plan to resolve these problems, with the goal of ensuring peace, relief and security in people’s daily lives.

The prime minister and Leader of the House made the remarks in his concluding speech at the third session of the 13th Parliament yesterday, Thursday. The session began on 27 August.

In his closing remarks, he spoke about the gas and electricity crises and the government’s efforts to address them, irregularities and corruption in various sectors, and relations between the government and the opposition.

Describing the circumstances in which his government took office, Tarique Rahman said there was a mountain of irregularities and corruption in every sector, including gas, electricity, industry, education and banking. The people of the country are well aware of these problems, he said.

Criticising quick-rental power plants, Tarique Rahman said the state had been burdened with debt by providing benefits to certain people in the name of such projects. Yet the previous government failed to find a lasting solution to the power crisis.

The prime minister said his government did not want to use the problems inherited from the fascist rule as an excuse. Instead, it wanted to develop and implement plans to resolve them so that peace, relief and security could be ensured in people’s lives. The government is working tirelessly toward that goal, he said.

Criticising the previous government’s efforts to extract gas from domestic sources, Leader of the House Tarique Rahman said, “Our neighbouring countries on both sides of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal are extracting gas from the sea. Yet, as if at some invisible signal, no attempt was made to extract gas from the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh’s own maritime area.”

Without naming any country, Tarique Rahman said, “Some people say that gas wells were not drilled in Bangladesh’s part of the Bay of Bengal so that a particular country would not be harmed and could continue to take gas without any obstacles.” He said the Middle East had been Bangladesh’s main source of imported gas and that the country had been made completely dependent on imports.

Explaining the reasons behind the current crisis, the prime minister said the war situation in the Middle East began within 10–12 days of the BNP government taking office. This created difficulties in importing oil and gas from the region. Meanwhile, one of the country’s two floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) suffered an accident. Its shutdown further aggravated the crisis.

The prime minister said the government had hoped for the opposition’s cooperation in resolving the gas and electricity crises. He said, “We saw a huge long march of vehicles being organised. People outside are asking whether an attempt was being made to unnecessarily agitate the public for some other purpose. If a long march of vehicles could solve the gas or electricity problem, we would have organised one first.”

Referring to some measures taken by the government of the time in 2022 after the Russia-Ukraine war began, the prime minister said those who had held on to power for years since 2009 and deprived people of their right to speak and vote had also been forced to take special measures to deal with the power crisis.

Tarique Rahman said the Russia-Ukraine war was still continuing. Meanwhile, there was a war situation in the Middle East and an accident at an LNG terminal in Bangladesh. Even so, the government was trying to resolve the problems, he said.

The PM said it was the responsibility of every MP to present the realities facing the country to the people. He said the government’s measures to address the electricity crisis had been discussed in detail during this session. The government had already taken a number of measures and was firmly hopeful that it would be able to resolve the gas and electricity problems over time.

Tarique Rahman said that every time the BNP had taken responsibility for running the country, it had succeeded in bringing Bangladesh out of disastrous circumstances. He also highlighted various contributions of former president Ziaur Rahman and former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

The prime minister said the fascist forces had made Bangladesh the champion of corruption in June 2001 before leaving state power in July that year. He claimed that the BNP government had succeeded in bringing Bangladesh out of the stigma of corruption between 2001 and 2006 by establishing good governance.

Criticising the misrule, corruption, looting and money laundering during the previous Awami League government, Tarique Rahman said Bangladesh had been forced to bear the stigma of being a defaulter because of their actions until they fled the country on 5 August, 2024. The responsibility of freeing the country from this curse now rests with the BNP, he said.

The prime minister said the government had taken initiatives to overcome the situation after assuming office. As a result of various measures, the ratio of non-performing loans has now declined and the situation is improving, he said.

The prime minister called for restraint and civility in exercising freedom of speech. He said, “Under fascist rule, all democratic rights of the people were taken away. Freedom of speech was also taken away. Today, there is a democratic environment in the country and freedom of speech is unrestricted. But we must remember that freedom of speech should not cross the bounds of civility.”

Tarique Rahman called for a united effort against the culture of abusive language in politics. He urged everyone, regardless of political affiliation, to play a responsible role in this regard.

Calling on the government and opposition to work together to build a welfare state, the prime minister said divisions and conflicts among pro-democracy forces could ultimately revive the ousted fascist forces and pave the way for their return. No one should forget this, he said.

Tarique Rahman said differences of opinion and political competition would exist under a democratic system of government. They exist everywhere in the world, and are part of democratic practice. However, he cautioned that differences of opinion must not turn into hostility.

The Leader of the House said many issues and possibilities had been discussed during the current session. He said he would not claim that every discussion had been effective. However, there had been no lack of good intentions, which had been demonstrated. They wanted to make parliament the centre for protecting national interests and resolving problems, he said.

Tarique Rahman said he had no doubt that both sides were working in the interests of the country and its people, engaging in discussions and trying to take effective initiatives.

The prime minister said the people had voted in favour of the BNP’s election manifesto and entrusted the party with running the country. In an effective parliamentary political system, the opposition is also part of the government, he said. Therefore, they wanted to work with the opposition for the welfare of the country and its people. The BNP was working to fulfil, step by step, every commitment it had made to the people.