SYDNEY, NEW YORK, WASHINGTON DC, Aug 6 (IPS) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have been complicit in the gross human rights violations and death of democracy in Bangladesh. They have continued to provide financial bloodlines to the regime, well documented for its corruptions, human rights violations – such as enforced disappearances and torture in custody – and vote fraudincluded politicization of state institutions in his slide into autocracyThis is despite their professed commitment to transparency, accountability and good governance (IMF, World Bank, ADB).
A democratically elected government should not be responsible for any loan agreements these organizations may have had with a regime that remained in power through rigged elections. The financial support of these multilateral institutions has given legitimacy to a regime that is widely regarded as illegal, and has thus enabled it to survive.
Ongoing lifeline of the IMF, World Bank and ADB
The IMF approved the $4.7 billion bailout for Bangladesh in January 2023. The first review Part of the rescue plan was approved in December, giving Bangladesh immediate access to about $468.3 million for its economy and about $221.5 million to support its climate change agenda.
On June 21, 2024, the World Bank Board of Governors two projects approved with a total value of $900 millionThe annual commitment of loans by the Bank increased from $2 billion in 2015 to $3 billion in 2018.
The (ADB) is a major source of external financing in Bangladesh and has an average US$2 billion per year since 2016As of December 31, 2023, ADB has committed 726 public sector loans, grants, and technical assistance totaling US$31.8 billion to Bangladesh. Cumulative disbursements of sovereign and non-sovereign loans and grants to Bangladesh amount to US$23.52 billion.
Legitimizing an undemocratic regime
The government led by Sheikh Hasina has retained power for successive terms since 2014 through rigged elections, unprecedented in the country’s history. It used its majority in parliament to change the constitution, particularly the system of a neutral caretaker government to hold elections, and to politicize state institutions with the sole aim of remaining in power.
The The 2014 elections were preceded by a severe government crackdown on the oppositionincluded widespread arrests, violence, attacks on religious minorities and extrajudicial killings by the governmentin which approximately 21 people were killed on election day.
In 2018 the ballot boxes were filled the night before election dayAfter the rigged elections of 2018, German Wave (DW) reported the Bertelsmann Foundation’s findings that Bangladesh has become an autocracy. Time magazine In his cover story (November 30, 2023), serious concerns were raised about the fate of democracy in Bangladesh under the “Hard power” by Sheikh Hasina. The New York times (Sept 3, 2023) reported how “Democracy in Bangladesh is being quietly crushed“.
The recent elections, held on January 7, 2024, were a shamwas characterized by bans of opposition candidates and boycotts by the main opposition party, ‘dummy’ candidates, forced voting and a low turnout in elections.
Unfortunately, the IMF, the Bank and the ADB looked the other way and continued to support the regime with questionable legitimacy, which has not only made the regime increasingly authoritarian but also extremely corrupt.
Enabling corruption
It is commendable that in 2012 the Bank withdrew from a project to build Bangladesh’s largest bridge, citing concerns about corruption. However, it appears the Bank is seeking to exonerate itself.
The Bank’s recently approved US$900 million loan to Bangladesh is apparently intended to strengthen the fiscal and financial sectors and ensure sustainable and climate-resilient growth. This time, the Bank does not seem to care that approximately 54.40% of funding for climate change mitigation projects was embezzled or wasted through all kinds of irregularities and corruption, and the country’s financial sector”has long been plagued by scandalous corruption“.
Bangladesh is the 10th most corrupt country in the worldWhen Sheikh Hasina’s regime turned into a kleptocracy after taking power in 2008, $50 billion siphoned off from Bangladesh in six years (2009-2015). Money laundering by the Bangladeshi elite is a “general knowledge“. The names of 89 Bengalis have appeared in the Paradise Papers and 6 Bengals have been named in the Pandora Papers by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
There is a clear link between autocracy and corruption. US has imposed sanctions on a former army chief for his “significant involvement in corruption”. A former police chief is also being investigated for large-scale corruption. Both played a major role in undermining Bangladesh’s democratic electoral process and institutionalizing political repression.
A 2021 investigative documentary about Bangladesh, All the Prime Minister’s men Al Jazeera exposed large-scale corruption among powerful political and military figures with ties to Sheikh Hasina himself.
Disgusting loans are not the responsibility of a democratically elected government
Bangladesh is at a historic crossroads as it has just witnessed the downfall of an autocratic and corrupt regime. In a reborn Bangladesh, the new democratically elected government should review all the loan agreements of the corrupt and illegitimate regime including the one with China. If they are found questionable and the share is lost due to corruption, it should be declared as “awful“.
As the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) emphasizesthe international legal obligation to repay debts has never been accepted as absolute. The obligation to repay loans is limited only to the category or part that is not considered heinous.
Anise ChowdhuryEmeritus Professor at Western Sydney University (Australia) and former Director of the Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division of UN-ESCAP.
Khalilur Rahmanformer Secretary of the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on the Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries; former Head of the Policy Development, Coordination and Monitoring Service of UN-OHRLLS for Least Developed Countries; former Head of the Technology and Logistics Division, the Management Division, the Trade Analysis Division and the New York Office of UNCTAD.
Ziauddin Hyderformer Cluster Lead, World Bank
IPS UN Office
© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
