Will shutting everything down solve the problems?

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has completed 15 years in her current role – an unprecedented feat by a head of government or state in our country.

These 15 years can be evaluated in many ways. There could be many criticisms, as well as discussions on corruption and irregularities.

We can see a lot of visible achievements, especially in the infrastructure sector. From the Padma Bridge to the third terminal of the capital's sole international airport -- we can talk about a number of such achievements. These achievements became a reality through the PM's unwavering efforts and strong willpower. For this, she must be praised.

She should also be commended for always facing the press after returning from her foreign trips. During those official press conferences, the journalists and editors get an opportunity to ask her questions. This gives the countrymen an opportunity to know why she went on that particular visit, what she achieved, what are the benefits for Bangladesh, and so on.

However, the journalists often stray from the most obvious questions, and instead focus on several irrelevant topics, which raises a question about fulfilment of the intended objectives of the said press conference.

We definitely praise her for organising these press conferences. The things that come up during the questions and answers also gives birth to a lot of new questions.

Her latest press conference was on October 6, two days after returning from a 16-day visit to the US and the UK. Considering the current situation, both of these countries bear a high level of importance, especially the US.

It was expected that the gains from this visit would be discussed in the press conference. However, those topics took a back seat and some totally different topics, albeit important in the current perspective, came up that day.

To a question about the country's dwindling foreign currency reserve, she replied, "We will shut everything down and sit idle if they talk too much … I have put everything in order. Yet, I have to hear [talks] about elections, voting, and the economy. I refuse to listen to these."

The PM also added, "Now if the countrymen tell me that we need to save the reserve, then I should shut down the powerplants and cease water and fertiliser supply. I should shut everything down and sit idle. Then the reserve will remain healthy."

A relevant issue here is that the constitution of Bangladesh declares the citizens as the country's owners. Those who are running the country, those who are in power, they are all doing so on behalf of the actual owners of the nation -- the public. We all know that the government owns no money or wealth, neither do ministers and politicians. The people own it. The government is the custodian of that wealth on behalf of the people. The current government is no exception. All kinds of development came at the behest of the public's money and resources, and this trend will go on.

One thing we can say for certain is that electricity production capability has increased a lot since the PM took charge in 2009. It surged to 25,000 megawatts from a meagre 4,000 megawatts.

But the common people have a lot of questions regarding the corruption, irregularity and mismanagement aspects of the power sector in Bangladesh. As part of that, the PM has to face certain questions from time to time.

However, is "We will shut everything down and sit idle if they talk too much" a relevant answer to that question? Does it not limit the people's right to know the truth?

If the country belongs to the people, if they are its owners, if their wealth is used in running it, if their money is used in producing electricity, how can someone have the authority or opportunity to "shut down everything"? The general people apparently cannot give their opinion or ask questions?

The PM has said this before, and also repeated the same in her last press conference, "I have asked the state minister for power and energy to make sure there are power cuts every day, so that people learn to appreciate the value of electricity."

So, in spite of generating ample power, why do people still need to be reminded about its value through power cuts? People are already aware of the reality. Here, it needs to be mentioned that against a demand of 14,000-15,000MW, the production capacity is 25,000MW.

Thus, we are being forced to pay the capacity charge for the extra 10,000MW. Wouldn't it be better to have synchronization between capacity and demand?

Even though people are getting connected, is the distribution strategy justified? Dhaka city dwellers are in a comparatively advantageous state. However, The Daily Star has published multiple reports on how people in the rural areas are suffering. Sometimes they have to endure five to six or even eight to 10 hours of power cuts on a daily basis.

Keeping the Dhaka dwellers happy while allowing the rural population to endure rampant power cuts and yet, spending millions to accommodate the 25,000MW power production—if someone raises a question about this, will it be totally unjustified?

It was expected that it would be explained why the rural population is getting deprived of power while the city inhabitants are enjoying its ample supply. If there was some logic behind it, it should have been highlighted. The logic of rising fuel prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war came forward multiple times. But that situation has also changed. In the global market, the price of almost all commodities including fuel has come down. But the local market depicts a totally different picture.

An Export Development Fund (EDF) was created using money obtained from the reserve. During its formation, prominent economists cautioned against it. But the government did not pay any attention and proceeded as per their will. Now that we are going through reserve crisis, isn't it necessary to give an explanation behind it, if there indeed is one? But instead, when the PM expresses her displeasure at such queries, the sole message to the nation is that no question should be raised.

If "everything is shut down", will the reserve get back to its desired shape? If we shut down the power generation, we will lose both electricity and the money that comes with it. Government and private sector combined, we have paid nearly Tk 1,50,000 crore as capacity charge in the last 14 years. That amount will not get added back to the reserve. Will the price of essential commodities go back to the levels of, say, 2009? Definitely, not, the global situation will not allow that.

Similarly, nothing can be brought back to its earlier state by "turning off everything". Turning off cannot even be an option.

Have we been able to do the things that seemed possible? We couldn't even bring back the amount stolen from the reserve. We could neither conduct the investigation, nor capture any culprits or punish them. The CID investigation report submission date has so far been delayed 73 times. People also have the right to get a clarification on these issues from the PM.

This is where the issues of democracy and accountability become crucial. The PM has organised a press conference, but we are not getting relevant answers to relevant questions. Instead, we are seeing displeased reactions. The PM has posed the question of why people are talking about the election in spite of everything being "put in order". But isn't it natural that people will keep talking about the election before it actually takes place?

The right to vote is a citizen's fundamental right. People could not exercise that right in 2014 and 2018. Naturally, people will talk about their expectations of a free and fair election this time around.

Translated from Bangla by Mohammed Ishtiaque Khan