Certain advisers and special assistants were actually corporate lobbyists: Anu Muhammad

Economist Professor Anu Muhammad stated that Bangladesh’s power and energy ministry for long has not been under the country’s control. He said it was instead controlled by multinational companies.

Anu Muhammad stated that in the agreements that were made, people from the same side are present on both sides of the table. These deals are carried out through representatives of those companies, whether large local firms or foreign corporations. As a result, Bangladesh has incurred massive expenditures one after another and is becoming increasingly trapped in a state of dependency.

The former Jahangirnagar University professor also said that people had expected the interim government to carry out some tasks and implement certain democratic reforms. However, during the interim government’s tenure, there has been increased activity by lobbyists in facilitating agreements with various foreign companies. Several advisers and special assistants, he said, were advisers and assistants in name, but in practice they acted as corporate lobbyists.

Professor Anu Muhammad was speaking today (Tuesday) around 11 am at a roundtable discussion titled “Reforms in the Energy Sector and CAB’s 13-Point Demand” held at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital. The roundtable was organised by the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) to establish good governance in the power and energy sector and ensure energy justice. Politicians, economists, energy experts, and rights activists took part in the event.

Professor Anu Muhammad said that the crisis emerging in the energy sector is the result of policy decisions. He explained that the import-dependent, foreign loan-dependent, and foreign company–oriented agreements made in the past, and the international institutions behind them, have created a situation from which it will be difficult to emerge. In this context, he mentioned the World Bank, IMF, ADB, and JICA.

Professor Anu Muhammad believes that the import-oriented structure of the power sector has been developed under a grand master plan. This was not done suddenly by any minister, prime minister, chief adviser, or advisers. He said that this master plan was formulated by JICA.

Blaming the interim government, Anu Muhammad said, “The government was so spineless and lacking in responsibility that it did not rely on its own people to formulate an energy policy. Instead, its priority was to keep foreign companies satisfied.”

During the discussion, Professor Anu Muhammad recalled the crisis created in the country due to the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. He said that just one month after an elected government came to power, a similar situation is emerging. To avoid such crises, he suggested thinking about ways to move away from the “VIP culture.” He stated that the VIP class is the main problem in Bangladesh, as their excessive consumption exacerbates crises, and the country must move away from this.

Others who spoke at the roundtable included Ashraf Uddin Bokul, Member of Parliament from Narsingdi-5; Farida Akhter, former adviser to the interim government; Ruhin Hossain Prince, former general secretary of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB); Saiful Haque, general secretary of the Biplobi Workers Party; and labour rights activist Taslima Akhter, among others. At the beginning of the discussion, CAB presented its 13-point demands to ensure good governance and energy justice in the power and energy sector.