In a seminar on Thursday, Bangladesh's Law Minister Shafique Ahmed announced that the government of Bangladesh was seeking a return to the 1972 Constitution. Referring to the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, Ahmed said that as long as the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the High Court's 2005 ruling that the Amendment was illegal, the Constitution of the country would revert to its originally intended form.
Bangladesh's first Constitution was authored by the renowned lawyer Kamal Hossain in the wake of the 1971 Liberation War, and upheld four key principles: socialism, secularism, nationalism and democracy. It was the founder of the Bangladesh state, Sheikh Mujib Rahman, who first altered it radically when, in 1975, he abolished parliamentary democracy, establishing his own Awami League as the only legitimate party. After his assassination in August of that year, there followed a number of military coups and the words "bismillah rahmanir rahim", commonly translated as "by the grace of God", were introduced as the preamble to the Constitution.
Ziaur Rahman, founder of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) consolidated power in 1977 and, during his tenure in 1979, the Fifth Amendment was passed. This retroactively legitimised all acts of martial law, orders and tribunals that had been passed in the four preceding years, including the granting of indemnity to Sheikh Mujib's murderers. It was under the subsequent regime of General Ershad, who assumed power after Ziaur Rahman's own assassination in 1981, that Islam became the state religion of Bangladesh.
Thus, critics of the Law Minister's speech point out that abolishing the Fifth Amendment will not, in itself, return Bangladesh to the spirit of secularism in which it was born. In order to appease Islamist groups who were criticising the government over the decision, the Law Minister was forced to emphasise in May that the controversial words would not be removed. In his own alterations to the Constitution, Ershad included the stipulation that, even if the amendment to make Bangladesh an Islamic state was overturned by a two-thirds majority in Parliament, such a decision would still be subject to a national referendum.
There is substantial scepticism among members of Bangladesh's civil society that such a referendum, submitted to a population of which 90% is Muslim, would ever return a result that would re-establish secularism as a cornerstone of the Bangladeshi state.
Energy under scrutiny as illegal power lines clipped
Bangladesh's fragile energy sector came under renewed scrutiny this week when, in response to the illegal bleeding of power from the national grid, the Power Development Board (PDB) embarked on a crackdown beginning on 1 July . A special task force severed a total of 3,628 cables illegally connected to the grid nationwide, almost half located in the division of Chittagong.
On Thursday, one of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's advisers, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, told a press briefing that the government is planning to establish a revolving fund to fast-track key, commercially viable energy projects for the current fiscal year. The fund, which will amount to 1,000 crore Taka (equivalent to over 100 million Euros), will supplement existing energy development funds such as the "Gas Development Fund". Chowdhury said that the financial backing for such a fund would primarily come from the Asian Development Bank, nationalised banks, non-resident Bangladeshis and the issuance of bonds.
Bangladesh's energy sector has been in crisis for a number of years. After complete neglect by the last BNP government and the military-backed caretaker administration that succeeded it, Bangladesh's total supply amounts to 3800 MW, with demand averaging 5000 MW. Officials estimate that the total cost for the country's planned energy projects to be in excess of $12 billion dollars.
The government has taken a number of steps. Vitally, the energy sector was a key part of the national budget unveiled in the second week of June. The budget allocation represented a 48% increase compared with the previous year, totalling 4,310 crore Taka. As an additional interim measure, from 16 June the government instituted daylight savings time. Combined with the crackdown on illegal power consumption, the results have been positive, with a decrease in "load shedding" and a corresponding reduction in black outs across the country. However, the main task of financing and completing key projects that will substantially increase Bangladesh's energy output has yet to be accomplished.
Sheikh Hasina elected vice chair of the Non-Aligned Movement
On Thursday, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was elected vice-chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement at the International Organisation's 15th summit, held in Sharm-El-Sheik, Egypt. Another notable appointment was that of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the role of Chairman, replacing Raul Castro. Sheikh Hasina will serve for three years in the post.
The Non-Aligned Movement has 188 members, predominantly from the majority world. Founded principally in response to the bipolar environment of the Cold War, the NAM has found it difficult to redefine its role since the collapse of Communism. The organisation now increasingly champions the reform of development policies, global multilateral organisations and mutual co-operation between countries in the majority world.
Thus Sheikh Hasina's address to the forum on the closing day of the conference highlighted key issues of concern to the majority world. Speaking about climate change, the global recession, and the continuing food crisis, Sheikh Hasina called for increased resources to be made available from the minority world to enable the poorest countries to meet these challenges.