A
significant number of high-ranking government officials played a pivotal role
in keeping the Awami League in power for an extended period. Most of these officials
came from the administrative cadre. During the previous government’s tenure,
they reportedly played a direct role in extending authoritarian rule through
the politicization of the field administration. Many of these officials later
joined the Awami League after retirement, and some even secured seats in the
National Parliament as candidates nominated by the party.
Political
analysts say that the Awami League rewarded these bureaucrats with party
nominations as a recognition of their efforts in prolonging the previous
government’s authoritarian regime. This allowed the party to maintain control
over the administration. However, it also resulted in a professional decline
within the bureaucracy and other institutions.
Md.
Abul Kalam Azad, was elected In the 12th National Parliamentary Election as a
Member of Parliament from Jamalpur Sadar constituency, representing the Awami
League. He was a former Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Azad, an official of the 1982 administrative cadre, was later appointed as the
chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Government Institutions.
Abul
Kalam Azad served as Secretary of the Power Division from 2009 to 2012. He then
held the position of Secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) for two
years. In 2014, he joined the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) as Senior
Secretary. The following year, he was appointed Principal Secretary. He also
served as the Coordinator for SDG-related matters at the PMO. His role as Power
Secretary has been largely blamed for the current mismanagement and financial
strain in the power sector. Many believe that under his leadership, the sector
became increasingly dependent on private entrepreneurs (IPPs).
Former
Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Mohammad Sadiq, was elected as
a Member of Parliament from the Sunamganj-4 constituency, representing the
Awami League in the 12th National Parliamentary Election. He was later
appointed as the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Administration.
Sadiq, an official of the 1982 batch, also held prominent positions such as
Director General of the Bangladesh Institute of Administration and Management
(BIAM) Foundation, and Director and Acting Director General of the Bangladesh
Civil Service Administration Academy. He also served as the founding Secretary
of the Nazrul Institute under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, as well as
Education Secretary and Secretary of the Bangladesh Election Commission
Secretariat. Additionally, he held the position of First Secretary and
Counselor at the Bangladesh Embassy in Sweden. Sadiq joined the Public Service
Commission as its Chairman on May 2, 2016, after serving as a member of the commission
since November 3, 2014.
Both
Abul Kalam Azad and Mohammad Sadiq belong to the 1982 batch. A large portion of
the new appointments in various ministries and divisions by the current interim
government also comes from this batch.
Dr.
Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh
(TIB), believes that not only the bureaucracy but all state institutions have
become politicized. He told Bonik Barta, “It would be inaccurate to claim that
politicization only occurred during the tenure of the recently ousted
authoritarian government. It has been happening for a long time, but it reached
its peak during the last government. As a result, professional degradation has
occurred in the bureaucracy and all other institutions. This has been a prolonged
process in our country.”
Sajjadul
Hassan, a former official of the 1985 batch, became a Member of Parliament from
the Netrakona-4 (Madan-Mohongonj-Khaliajuri) constituency in a by-election on
July 31, 2023, as the Awami League’s nominee. He was re-elected from the same
constituency in the 12th National Parliamentary Election.
On
February 25, 2015, Sajjadul Hassan was appointed as Personal Secretary-1 to
then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, after serving as Sylhet Divisional
Commissioner. On January 26, 2018, he was appointed Acting Secretary of the
Prime Minister’s Office. On December 25, 2019, he became Senior Secretary.
After retiring from this position, he visited the Awami League’s Dhanmondi
office on January 9, 2020, and met with the party’s General Secretary, Obaidul
Quader, and other central leaders. He was honored in a grand event in his
hometown of Mohongonj on February 16, 2020, shortly after receiving another
honor from the district Awami League.
Kabir
Bin Anwar is a former Cabinet Secretary and one of the most trusted officials
of the previous Awami League government. He joined the Awami League on January
3, 2023, nearly a year after his retirement. Shortly after his retirement, he
took a seat in the Awami League’s election steering committee, previously held
by the late HT Imam. There was speculation at the time that he might replace HT
Imam in the future.
Kabir
Bin Anwar held various significant positions in the government for many years.
This 1988 batch officer of the BCS Administration Cadre served as a deputy secretary
in the Ministry of Home Affairs and later as Additional Secretary in the Prime
Minister’s Office. In 2018, he took on the role of Senior Secretary at the
Ministry of Water Resources. He retired later as the Cabinet Secretary.
In
the 12th National Parliament elections, the Awami League nominated former
Senior Secretary Sourendra Nath Chakraborty for the Naogaon-3
(Badalgachi-Mahadevpur) constituency. Prior to the elections, he was known as a
close associate of the previous government.
Sourendra
Nath Chakraborty, an officer of the 1985 batch (7th batch) of the Bangladesh
Civil Service (Administration), was promoted to Senior Secretary of the
Statistics and Information Management Division on May 18, 2020. Earlier, on
March 30, 2018, he was appointed Secretary of the Statistics and Information
Management Division. Prior to that, he served as Additional Secretary under the
Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives.
In
the same election, former Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports,
Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury, collected the party nomination to contest the
Bhola-4 (Charfesson-Monpura) seat for the Awami League. He belongs to the 1993
batch of the BCS Administration Cadre. He served as District Commissioner in
Khulna for two years and in Chattogram for three years. In 2016, he was named
the ‘Best District Commissioner’ of the country. He held the positions of Joint
Secretary and Additional Secretary for nearly five years. He joined the
Ministry of Youth and Sports as Secretary on January 12, 2023, and retired the
following year.
Dr.
Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh
(TIB), said, “From the moment they enter government service, officials often
engage in politics. Their appointments, promotions, and transfers are usually
made based on party considerations. Therefore, authoritarian efforts are
apparent from the start to keep them in a party-oriented environment. Thus, I
don’t consider a significant change occurring only after retirement to join
politics as a major shift. These activities are indeed examples of
politicization within the administration or bureaucracy, but the more
detrimental issue is the systemic politicization from the outset. This has
intensified the crisis. We need to find ways to overcome this.”
Dr.
Iftekharuzzaman added, “The politicization of bureaucratic and other state
institutions has become evident. This issue is most pronounced in the civil
administration and law enforcement agencies. As a result, some individuals are
directly joining politics. They have been conditioned in this way. From the
very beginning, they are appointed based on political considerations, and
promotions and transfers follow the same pattern. Many former bureaucrats or
police officers who were elected as members of Parliament with the support of
the administration held positions of even greater power within the
administration. Many of them have abused their power while in office. This is
how these issues should be viewed. The ultimate form of politicization in the
administration or bureaucracy is the transition to politics after a career in
public service.”
Additionally,
in the context of the 12th National Parliament elections, former bureaucrats
who collected party nomination forms included former Secretary Prashanta Kumar
Ray for the Khulna-1 constituency and former Secretary Mihir Kanti Majumdar for
Barisal-1. However, they did not participate in the elections as they did not
receive nominations from their party.
Badiul
Alam Majumdar, Secretary of Citizens for Good Governance (SHUJAN), recently
told Bonik Barta, “The behavior of government employees aligning with political
loyalty or serving party interests is entirely contradictory to the code of
conduct. They have often acted as instruments of the government on their own accord.
In most cases, they have worked to take advantage of opportunities and benefits
on their own initiative.”