BNP Chairman’s Advisory Council member and Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Zahir Uddin Swapon has accused the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance of trying to create instability through street programmes such as its long march.
Speaking at a roundtable in Dhaka on Saturday, he urged people to remain alert to attempts to shift parliamentary debates to the streets.
“Political parties may not fully understand what they are doing. But various domestic and foreign forces remain ready to exploit any unstable situation,” he said.
Swapon said programmes such as long marches were not in line with public expectations while Parliament was functioning properly.
“I believe such a programme in the name of movement, when the National Parliament is functioning satisfactorily, goes against the aspirations of the people,” he said.
He said opposition parties have a responsibility to hold the government accountable through Parliament and help strengthen the country’s democratic culture.
“Although parliamentary politics provides an opportunity to hold the government accountable through checks and balances, the tendency to quickly take parliamentary debates to the streets hinders democratic culture,” he said.
Reviewing the government’s first 180 days, Swapon said it had begun setting a new direction after the country emerged from what he described as a prolonged crisis caused by two decades of authoritarian rule, social fragility and economic difficulties.
He said the challenges were too deep to be resolved overnight, but the government had already taken policy measures aimed at ensuring sustainable growth.
On the energy crisis, Swapon blamed long-term dependence on imports and what he called flawed policies in the power and energy sectors.
He said the failure to take sustainable steps to explore domestic natural resources over the years was not only an issue of corruption but also a long-term betrayal of the country.
Swapon said the government was taking responsibility for the crisis rather than avoiding it.
“The Prime Minister has sincerely apologised to people and is implementing initiatives to explore alternative sources and extract our own gas,” he said.
He also said the government was working to diversify import sources beyond China and India, reduce import costs and expand export products to improve governance and ease economic pressure.
The roundtable, titled “Review of the First 180 Days of Bangladesh’s Democratic Government: The Context of Governance, Accountability and Development,” was organised by Citizen Forum Bangladesh and Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Initiatives (BCAI) at the Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA) auditorium.
UGC Chairman Professor Dr Mamun Ahmed chaired the discussion, moderated by Dr Shakhawat Hossain Sayantha.
Former Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Chowdhury, Jahangirnagar University Vice-Chancellor Professor Kamrul Ahsan, human rights activist Shirin Huq, and politicians, academics and researchers also spoke at the event.
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