59pc of MPs-elect are businesspersons

Most of the candidates who won the 13th national parliamentary election are businesspersons. Eighty-three per cent are highly educated. Seventy-three per cent are above 50 years of age.

Voting to 299 of the 300 constituencies were held on Thursday. Voting in Sherpur-3 was cancelled following the death of a candidate from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. A court injunction prevents declaration of the results of two BNP winners from two constituencies in Chattogram due to loan default cases. Therefore, data of 297 candidates could be analysed.

Information on elected MPs was taken from affidavits they submitted to returning officers. Submission of affidavits has been mandatory since the ninth parliamentary election in 2008. In this election, candidates were required to provide 10 types of information including age, education, profession, case records, income and assets.

Among the winners, 174 listed business as their profession. Some mentioned multiple professions. In those cases, the first listed profession was considered the main one for calculation.

BNP alone secured 209 seats in the parliament. Among its winners, 145 listed business as their profession, which is 69 per cent of the party’s elected candidates. Among Jamaat’s 68 winners, 20 listed business as their profession, which is 29 per cent of the party’s elected candidates.

Six MP candidates from the National Citizen Party were elected. Two of them mentioned business as their profession in the affidavits they had submitted. Among seven independent winners, five are businesspersons. They were all former BNP leaders. Two others are also businesspeople.

In the first parliamentary election held in 1973 after independence, 18 per cent of winners were businesspeople. The rate increased over time. It rose to 38 per cent in 1991. At that time parliament still had a balance of politicians, lawyers and people from other professions. But the number of businesspeople in the parliament kept rising over the years.

In the most recent 2024 twelfth parliamentary election, 67 per cent of elected MPs were businesspersons. BNP, Jamaat and several parties boycotted that election. The contest was mainly between Awami League candidates and independents from the same party. Businesspersons dominated nominations from Awami League. The Awami League government fell on 5 August 2024 in the face of July mass uprising.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) executive director Iftekharuzzaman told Prothom Alo that greater influence of businesspeople in parliament merges business and politics and turns politics into a source of profit. He said legal and policy frameworks become captured by vested business interests and public procurement falls under collusive control of the powerful.

He added that greater influence of businesspersons in the parliament harms a fair competitive environment and fuels plunder, tax evasion and trade misinvoicing in sectors such as energy, power, banking and finance, leading to uncontrollable capital flight and criminalisation of both business and politics.

Iftekharuzzaman also highlighted other harmful aspects of rising business influence in parliament. He said it gradually concentrates state power in the hands of influential groups and encourages kleptocracy. The new government, meaning BNP, was a victim of the past kleptocracy. How it tackles business dominance in parliament remains to be seen.

Further analysis shows 36 of the 297 winners are lawyers. Among them, 24 belong to BNP and 8 to Jamaat. Two lawyers belong to the National Citizen Party. Two others belong to other parties and independents.

Four BNP, 23 Jamaat and one National Citizen Party winner listed teaching as their profession. Ten listed politics as their profession, seven from BNP and three from Jamaat. Twelve listed medical practice, nine from BNP and three from Jamaat. Agriculture was listed by ten BNP, five Jamaat and two independent winners.

Among the 297 elected MPs, 247 are highly educated. They hold graduate, postgraduate or PhD degrees.

Among the 247 highly educated MPs, 171 belong to BNP, 61 to Jamaat-e-Islami, 3 to other parties in the BNP-led alliance, 7 to the Jamaat-led alliance and 5 are independent.

Fifteen winners studied up to SSC level. Seventeen passed HSC. Nine have education below secondary level. Among them, one described himself as self-educated and literate in the affidavit.

Among the 297 winners, 216 or 73 per cent are above 50 years of age. One hundred forty-five are above 60. Among BNP’s 209 winners, 21 are below 50. Forty-seven are aged 70 or above. Others are between 51 and 69.

The oldest BNP MP is Mushfiqur Rahman. He was 85 years 11 months at the time of filing nomination paper and was elected from Brahmanbaria-4. Others include former education minister Muhammad Osman Faruk, 85, from Kishoreganj-3, former home minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, 82, from Patuakhali-1 and former water resources minister and freedom fighter Major (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, 81, from Bhola-3.

Tarique Rahman is 57 years old and is set to become the next prime minister. The youngest BNP winner is Mohammad Shamim Qaiser from Gaibandha-4, aged 35.

Among Jamaat, 19 are below 50. Seven are aged 70 or above. Others are between 51 and 69. The oldest Jamaat candidate is ATM Azharul Islam (73), elected from Rangpur-2. Abdul Warech (73) from Gaibandha-5 is also 73. The youngest Jamaat candidate is Amir Hamza from Kushtia-3, aged 33. Jamaat amir Shafiqur Rahman is 67.

All six National Citizen Party MPs are young. Five are in their 30s. One is 33 years old, Atikur Rahman Mujahid from Kurigram-2. The youngest MP overall is Abdul Hannan Masud (25) of the National Citizen Party from Noakhali-6. Convenor Nahid Islam is 27 and was elected from Dhaka-11.

No BNP or Jamaat winner is below 30. Outside the National Citizen Party, only one MP is under 30, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis candidate Saeed Uddin Ahmad Hanzala from Madaripur-1.