THE interim government, which assumed office on August 8, 2024 after the fall of the Awami League regime and initiated various reforms in state governance in the changed political context, is viewed to have largely failed, and rightly so, to implement the reforms proposals that the 11 commissions came up with. The government on October 3, 2024, set up six commissions on electoral reforms, police administrative reforms, judiciary reforms, anti-corruption reforms, public administration reforms and constitutional reforms. The commissions submitted their recommendations between January 15 and February 5. The government on November 18, 2024, formed five more commissions on reforms in the health sector, local government, labour issues, women’s affairs and the media. The commissions submitted their recommendations between February 22 and May 4. The government on February 13 also formed a commission to forge a national consensus on the recommendations, mainly constitutional and political, with several rounds of dialogue with political parties. In such a situation, Transparency International Bangladesh has now said that the implementation of only a handful of recommendations, putting most of them on ice, has failed to ensure institutional independence and accountability. And, the way the recommendations have been dealt with has, however, reinforced executive and bureaucratic control.
Transparency International Bangladesh in its assessment of the ordinances promulgated in 2025 has found flaws in the legislation especially on the Anti-Corruption Commission, the National Human Rights Commission, the revenue administration, cyber security and data protection. The organisation’s chief says that justified recommendations on governance and accountability were ignored in the legislation. He also notes that the government could not keep off the influence of the bureaucracy, in which a ‘powerful’ section has made the decisions on the ordinances. He also alleges that stakeholder consultation was minimal when the ordinances were drafted although the interim government assumed office by promising a country that would be transparent, accountable and free of discrimination. The legislation on the Anti-Corruption Commission has excluded opposition parties from the selection of the agency’s chair and commissioners and the proposal for a review committee to hold the commission accountable has been ignored. The legislation on police administrative reforms could allow government influence on the force. The inclusion of the cabinet secretary in the selection of Human Rights Commission members could weaken impartiality. The public audit legislation has left the National Board of Revenue vulnerable to political control and the audit reforms have weakened the role of the comptroller and auditor general.
All this, with the national elections scheduled for February 12, suggests that the interim government has almost failed to properly execute state reforms, leaving the burden on the next elected government, which should step up efforts to implement the reforms towards a democratic transition, which was the spirit of the July uprising.
