Transparency in Political Finance in Bangladesh Study Conducted under The Crinis Pilot Project in the Asia Pacific Transparency International Transparency International Bangladesh October 2009 Transparency in Political Finance in Bangladesh Adviser M Hafizuddin Khan, Chair, Board of Trustee, TIB Prof. Muzaffer Ahmad, Member, Board of Trustee, TIB Supervision Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director, TIB Researcher Shahzada M Akram, Senior Research Fellow, TIB Shadhan Kumar Das, Research Fellow, TIB Tanvir Mahmud, Research Fellow, TIB Expert Review Professor Dilara Chowdhury, Dept. of Government and Politics, Jahangirnagar University Abdul Latif Mondal, former Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh Research Assistant Nihar Ranjan Roy Acknowledgements Jafrin Khanom, Rubaya Amena, Md. Abdul Matin, Sourav Das, Syed Mustak Ahmed, Wakamaram Monira, Sirajum Monira, and Md. Laisuzzaman Shafin. © Transparency International Bangladesh 2009 Contact Transparency International Bangladesh Progress Tower House # 1, Road # 23 Gulshan 1, Dhaka 1212 Tel.: 880-2-8826306 Fax: 880-2-9884811 E-mail:
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[email protected] Website: www.ti-bangladesh.org ii Foreword Political parties throughout the world are perceived as not-too-transparent organizations, especially when it comes to raising funds and spending the same. They are also among the institutions that are rather widely affected by corruption, as much as their failure to uphold integrity and transparency is also considered to be responsible for deepening and widening corruption in other sectors. As key institutions of democracy political parties seldom practice the desired level of transparency, disclosure and accountability in terms of managing their finance. This is especially evident in developing countries such as Bangladesh, where the issue is neither among the priority agenda of the parties themselves or of the Government, nor is it amongst issues that have drawn any significant public interest until recently.