Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman Tarique Rahman on Sunday urged the interim government to recover stolen wealth and take quick action against the ‘unprecedented scale of corruption’ under the Sheikh Hasina government.
‘The government must act immediately to recover the stolen wealth and prosecute those responsible for these crimes and justice must be swift and uncompromising to restore the people’s faith in governance and to ensure that such abuse of power will never recur,’ said Tarique in a Facebook post.
Referring to the findings from a recent report by the White Paper preparation committee on the state of Bangladesh economy, he also said that the findings painted a grim picture, exposing then prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration as a kleptocracy defined by systematic looting of public resources.
Tarique said that the White Paper revealed an unprecedented scale of corruption under Sheikh Hasina regime, underscoring the dire state of the nation’s financial health.
The BNP leader further said that over the past 15 years, an estimated $240 billion was siphoned off from Bangladesh mentioning that among the most glaring examples of this plunder were 29 megaprojects from which $8 billion was misappropriated through inflated budgets.
The so-called ‘quick rental’ energy projects promoted as solutions to infrastructure challenges, proved to be schemes for rapid profiteering at the expense of the public, he said.
The BNP acting chairman also referred to a warning of the analysts that a deeper investigation into the banking sector would likely uncover an even darker reality.
‘These revelations reaffirm the urgent need for sweeping reforms to address corruption and rebuild the economy. Our party, the BNP, along with our allies, has proposed a 31-point reform agenda to tackle these systemic failures,’ he said.
‘Central to this agenda is the establishment of an effective Anti-Corruption Commission, as outlined in the 13th point. If this point is implemented this institution will play a critical role in ending the rampant misappropriation of public funds and ensure accountability across all sectors.’
‘The 15th point of our proposal advocates for the creation of an Economic Reform Commission to bring transparency to the economic governance, strengthen public institutions, and foster a corruption-free administration led by competent and accountable leaders,’ he added.
‘The BNP remains committed to building a transparent, accountable, and equitable system for all Bangladeshis. The time for change is now—our nation cannot afford further mismanagement,’ Tarique Rahman said.
