The Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League (AL) government completed its fourth year in power successfully after the lopsided general elections on January 5, 2014. It had several significant achievements to show, though it also faced some unpleasant incidents. Bangabandhu’s speech on UNESCO list AL leaders think 2017 was a blessing for them and their government. The party’s founding president and father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic March 7 speech was included in the Memory of the World International Register, a list of the world’s important documentary heritage maintained by UNESCO. In this fiery speech on March 7, 1971, Bangabandhu called upon the freedom-loving Bangalis to wage a decisive struggle against the Pakistani rulers. AL leaders said UNESCO’s recognition of the speech was the best achievement for the government as well as the people of the country this year. Honour for Hasina Not only the father, Bangabandhu’s daughter and the current AL president Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also gained international recognition this year. She earned the title of the Mother of Humanity and Star of the East for her humanitarian efforts for one million Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh following persecution in Myanmar. Not only Bangladeshi people, world leaders also praised Hasina and her government for tackling the Rohingyas issue successfully. Centring the Rohingya issue, Bangladesh, and especially the Hasina government, became a topic of discussion in the world media. And Hasina earned the sympathy of the world leaders. AL leaders believe it was one of the major achievements of the AL and the government.
Besides, when the world was caught in the Paradise Papers scandal, and at a time when politics and corruption are getting inextricably linked, some surprising exceptions emerged. Peoples and Politics, a global research firm, identified five world leaders who have not been involved in corruption, have no foreign bank account, and do not have any significant financial assets. In the list of the world’s top five most honest leaders, Hasina was placed in the third position.
According to AL joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, 2017 was a blessing for the party because of the world recognition for Hasina as well as Bangabandhu’s speech.
Dipu Moni, another general secretary of AL and the former foreign minister, agreed that 2017 was a year of achievements for the AL.
“This year, our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earned the reputation of being the world’s third honest politician while the international media dubbed her the Mother of Humanity over the Rohingya issue. So, 2017 is very important for us,” she said.
Boost to infrastructure
The much-talked-about Padma Bridge, one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country, saw its first beam installed in 2017. It was a major achievement for the present government.
More than a year and a half after the beginning of the main construction, a 150-metre beam weighing around 32 tonnes was installed on September 30 between pillars 37 and 38. The 6.15-km bridge will have 42 pillars, including two on the banks.
The year was also significant for Bangladesh as it entered a new era of nuclear energy. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on November 30, 2017, inaugurated the main construction phase of the much-awaited Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP), the maiden such plant of the country.
The Rooppur plant is expected to add 2,400 MW of electricity to the national grid by 2024, and help the country meet an ever-rising demand for electricity. Definitely, this was a big achievement for the AL-led government. “The government has done a lot of development activities in line with the party’s election manifesto. The country entered the era of nuclear energy this year. So, 2017 was a year of achievements for the AL and its government,” Dipu Moni said.
The blot: SC verdict on 16th constitutional amendment
It was not all rosy for the AL-led government in 2017, though. It had to spend a few unpleasant days due to the Supreme Court’s verdict on the 16th constitutional amendment and some of the court’s observations in this regard.
The AL-led government, which passed the amendment in 2014, reacted sharply to the verdict, especially to then Chief Justice SK Sinha’s observations of the country’s politics, past dictatorships, the Election Commission, corruption, governance, and the judiciary.
In September, the MPs passed a motion in Parliament to take legal steps against the SC verdict on the 16th constitutional amendment and some of its observations. The lawmakers adopted the rare motion on a court judgment after a five-hour discussion in Parliament. Eighteen MPs, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, took part in the discussion.
Speaking on the issue, Hasina said the court had stepped beyond its jurisdiction to repeal the constitutional amendment made by parliament.
Besides, in 2017, the party lost several veteran leaders, including Mayor Anisul Huq, fisheries and livestock minister Muhammed Sayedul Hoque, and MP Golam Mostafa.