Calls on PM to reject transport minister’s defence of road extortion and ensure accountability

TDS Desk:

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on Friday called upon the prime minister to fix problems “within his own party” to stop corruption before it spreads.

TIB expressed deep concern and condemned the transport minister’s description of road extortion as a “transaction based on mutual understanding,” calling it an attempt to legitimise a serious crime.

In a statement issued today, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said, “If extortion on the roads is granted acceptability in the name of mutual understanding, how will similar logic be prevented from spreading to other sectors such as BRTA, health, education, social protection, law enforcement, customs, passport services, land administration, public procurement, development projects, banking, electricity and beyond? The question naturally arises.”

If the new government’s promises to fight corruption are not more than mere rhetoric or populist slogans, the PM must reject the minister’s remarks right away and ensure accountability through due process, he added.

After the fall of the authoritarian rule, control over extortion, partisan dominance, and illegal occupation shifted widely across the country, the statement read.

TIB said the minister’s stance cannot be seen in isolation. The corruption watchdog said in February 2012, the road transport minister of the then authoritarian regime had similarly tried to justify road extortion, which TIB strongly opposed back then. The organisation expressed concern that the new government may be treading the same path.

The transport minister’s definition of extortion directly contradicts the strong anti-corruption stance he and most cabinet members declared when taking office, read the statement.

Just 48 hours after the PM’s address reaffirming the government’s anti-corruption pledge, the transport minister’s remarks defending extortion in the sector are deeply disappointing, it said.

“Through such comments, the transport minister has blatantly undermined the anti-corruption commitments in his party’s election manifesto and the government’s declared position,” said the watchdog.

Dr Iftekharuzzaman further said the minister, by defending extortion in the transport sector, is attempting to legitimise a corrupt practice. The direct victims are transport sector stakeholders and ordinary citizens, who bear the burden of such illegality both directly and indirectly.

Using owners’ and workers’ welfare as a justification for extortion is misleading and shows an effort to protect and prolong the disorder and anarchy in the transport sector, he said.

The TIB chief called upon the prime minister, saying, “To reinforce public confidence in the expectations already placed upon you, and to prevent a section of party leaders and activists from pursuing a self-destructive path, you must accord highest priority to internal rectification and reform within your party.”

Otherwise, citizens will lose trust, and groups whose ideology and goals go against the spirit of Bangladesh — built through the sacrifices of 1952, 1971, and 2024 — may gain ground, he said. (Collected)