We excel at ousting dictators, yet remain incapable of building democratic institutions: Mahfuz Anam

The ability to overthrow autocratic rulers is a unique characteristic of the people of Bangladesh, The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam said on Sunday.

“We have almost an enviable capacity to dismantle dictatorship. But unfortunately, we have again almost an inexhaustible capacity not to be able to build a democracy after we dismantle a dictatorship... The fundamental reason is excessive politicisation of every institution,” he observed.

The remarks came on the second day of the three-day Bay of Bengal Conversation 2026, organised by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Karwan Bazar, Dhaka, today, Sunday.

Mahfuz Anam was a panellist at a session titled ‘Do We Know How to Govern?’, held in the afternoon.

At the beginning of his remarks, Mahfuz Anam highlighted the failures of governance at the global level. He said the world was witnessing an unprecedented number of wars, with more conflicts taking place simultaneously than at any time since the Second World War.

Noting the vulnerability of smaller countries in a world where powerful states can bomb other countries at will, he said more resources should be devoted to tackling climate change, the effects of El Niño and rising sea temperatures. Yet, at a time when such resources were desperately needed, the world was spending more and more on armaments.

“The whole notion of sovereignty is now attached to armaments building and I think it is suicidal that we are spending and diverting our very meagre resources globally on armaments, not climate change,” he said.

Bangladesh was born out of a struggle against a brutal military dictatorship, yet the country has failed to establish an effective democracy, Mahfuz Anam stated.

Referring to Bangladesh’s return to democracy in 1991 following a military coup and the eventual fall of the military regime, he said, they genuinely hoped that this would lead to the rebirth of democracy; held several elections under caretaker governments. But instead of institutionalising the electoral system, Bangladesh gradually moved towards conflict and destruction.

“The reason, I feel, we failed is because we really don't know how to run our country; we really don't know what governance is; we really don't know that how would you bring people together with all the energy, all the innovation, all the resilience and turn that into resource for national development.”

Mahfuz Anam identified excessive politicisation of every institution as the main reason for the failure to establish democracy.

“One of the reasons, my view is that when dismantling dictatorship the nation unites, but once the dictatorship is dismantled, the nation divides. The very groups that worked unitedly to dismantle the dictatorship then become each other’s enemies. And, that is where, repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, we have failed to institutionalise the structures of democracy in Bangladesh,” he said.

He said people in different professions, including physicians, were divided according to their political affiliations.

“Doctors are divided in terms of which political party you belong to. Many other professions are divided, including journalism. You have pro-BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) journalists, pro-Awami League journalists and pro-Jamaat journalists.

“You can have your own personal preferences, and, of course, free to vote. But in a profession where credibility is your life-blood, how can you openly side of a political party and, at still expect that you will enjoy credibility?”

The Daily Star editor also highlighted the reality of politicisation and political use of the bureaucracy, police and intelligence agencies, as well as constitutional and independent institutions.

“When a party gets elected through a democratic process, we celebrate it as an expression of the public will. But soon enough, we realsie that the outcome of the election result—outcome of that public’s will—is transformed into a political reality rather than in public interest.

“…Of course, there will be some partisanship but to turn your whole governance system into an extension of your own party is where the collapse begins. And, one of the first results of this is corruption, one of the first results of this partisanship is cronyism, one of the first results of this is favouritism. In this way, one day, after months or years, our whole system of governance collapses,” he said.

Mahfuz Anam said technology could help create an efficient bureaucracy and a competent and equitable system of governance.

“Technology can give us a very efficient bureaucracy and efficient police, and at the same time, a just police. This is where Bangladesh now faces its severest challenge. If we are to make advancement, this is extremely important.

“By definition, Bangladesh is a country which is not easy to govern. We have a small land area, a huge population. It also faces various natural challenges. But, we also have an enormous potential if we can turn our human resources into a valuable and productive assets. This can be achieved through technology, education and good governance,” he stated.