Accountable, democratic govt established through people’s direct votes: PM

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday said that after being freed from one and a half decades of fascist rule and exploitation, an accountable and democratic government has been established in the country through direct votes of the people.

“The people have regained their lost democratic political rights,” he said while inaugurating the e-bail bond system in seven more districts including Bogura at a function at the District and Sessions Judge Court premises in Bogura on Friday morning.

At that time, the Prime Minister also inaugurated the newly constructed building of the Bogura District Bar Association at the court premises.

Tarique Rahman, also the Chairman of ruling BNP, said that it is now the demand of time to ensure that no autocrat or subservient group can ever again snatch away the rights of the people and establish fascist rule in the country.

“With that goal, the present government has taken appropriate steps to strengthen every constitutional institutions of the country,” he added.

Prime Minister's wife Zubaida Rahman and Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman were present at the event, among others.

The Prime Minister said that unless the rule of justice is established in the country through coordination among the three branches—legislative, executive and judiciary— the benefits of democratic rights of the citizens will not be ensured.

Establishing justice to ensure social balance, equality and rights is one of the key elements of a modern state system, he said, adding, it is essentially a fundamental aspect of establishing morality, law and the rightful rights of people.

Tarique Rahman said that the proclaimer of the country’s independence, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman, had opened the door to the independence of judiciary of Bangladesh.

Noting that the role of judges is key in establishing the rule of law, he said therefore, Ziaur Rahman had opened the door to the independence of the country’s judiciary which had been taken away through the fourth amendment of the constitution.

“But during the fascist regime, the judiciary was turned into a partisan court,” the premier added.

Claiming that although the country was ruled in the name of law, he said, there was no justice in the country.

The Prime Minister said in August 2024, the freedom-loving people of the country were freed from the rule of darkness. “Therefore, the present government is committed to establishing the people’s right to justice through establishing the rule of justice in the country.”

If people can firmly believe that the court is not a place of harassment but a safe place to get justice, Tarique Rahman said, then ‘mob violence’ will also be eliminated from society.

“Thus, the present government wants to establish the judiciary as a place of ‘justice and trust’,” he added.

About the ‘e-bail bond’ system, the Prime Minister said that the government is implementing the programme of the ‘e-bail bond’ system to reduce harassment of people in the judicial process by establishing a corruption-free, transparent and independent judicial system, as part of transforming judicial administration and judicial process into a fully electronic system and modernizing the judiciary.

If the ‘e-bail bond’ system can be introduced in all courts across the country, it would help establish justice by removing delays and discrimination in getting justice, he added.

Stating that the rule of law and justice are complement to each other, the BNP chairman said, “I think that the rule of law is not the last word in a state, but the establishment of justice is the most important. That’s why the present government wants to establish justice in the state and society”.

Noting that establishing justice requires upright judges, he said, “I believe that the e-bail bond system in the bail process is a significant step in the journey towards establishing justice for litigants”.

Tarique Rahman said that through the ‘e-bail bond’ system of submitting bail documents online, the bail document reaches the concerned person within a short time, reducing harassment of litigants.

Earlier, to complete a bail document, it had to pass at least 13 steps including lawyers, clerks, magistrates, police and peons from court to prison, he added.

After the introduction of the ‘e-bail bond’ system, now the bail document reaches the concerned person within a short time, the Prime Minister said, adding, that’s why, the present government has decided to bring all courts of the country under the ‘e-bail bond’ system.

As part of that, he said, from today, the ‘e-bail bond’ system has been introduced in court activities in Bogura, Jhenaidah, Jashore, Magura, Rajshahi, Natore and Kushtia districts.

As a result, the premier said, harassment in the release process after getting bail will be reduced, and on the other hand, the opportunity for activities of opposing parties or middlemen or incidents of bail document forgery will also decrease.