Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said, “The trade agreement with the United States is undermining the country’s sovereignty over energy security. The current government says it will not pursue country-specific foreign policies. Yet that is exactly what is happening in the trade deal—we now need permission regarding whom we can buy oil from.”

He made these remarks on Saturday at a pre-budget “shadow parliament” debate competition on ensuring energy security in the national budget, organised by Debate for Democracy.  

The debate competition was chaired by Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury, Chairman of Debate for Democracy.

Debapriya Bhattacharya, also the convener of the Citizens’ Platform, addressed reform issues, raising several questions, “Why is the International Monetary Fund (IMF) not releasing loan installments? Why could we not implement the reform proposals made at the end of the interim government’s tenure? A white paper on the economy has been prepared, along with reform documents for various sectors. It now seems these proposals are destined for museums.”

He questioned the current government’s stance on reform-related ordinances issued during the interim period, adding that early signals from the government have not been encouraging. Although the election manifesto mentioned forming a reform commission, it has not been established even after two months. He urged that such a commission be formed without delay.