The State of Governance in Bangladesh 2007 Expectations, Commitments, Challenges Institute of Governance Studies, BRAC University Dhaka, Bangladesh May 2008 Report Team and Contributors The State of Governance in Bangladesh project is managed by Manzoor Hasan, Director, Institute of Governance Studies at BRAC University. Haydory Akbar Ahmed Rabab Ahmed Md Morshed Alom Niloy Ranjan Biswas Beata Czajkowska Meredith Gibson Farruk Sanjan Haque Naomi Hossain Nuzhat Jabin Ferdous Jahan Shahnaz Karim Steven Micetic Sydur Rahman Molla Asif Md. Shahan Shahana Siddiqui David Skully Cover design:Amreen Rahman | Layout & production : INTENT www.intentdesign.net Table of Contents List of tables, figures and boxes vi List of acronyms viii Glossary x Preface xi Acknowledgements xii Executive Summary xiii 1. The State of Governance in Bangladesh 2007: An Overview 01 1.1 The Purpose 01 1.2 The Context 02 1.3 Report Structure and Methodology 02 1.4 Themes 03 Political governance: a year of change Perceptions of governance NGO governance 1.5 Findings 05 Further strengthening of the executive Weakened accountability High costs of improving economic governance Support for good governance 1.6 Conclusion: Mixed Performance of the First Steps toward Better Governance 08 2. Political Governance: AYear of Change 09 2.1 The Crisis 09 2.2 The Players and their Powers 11 The Caretaker Government The President The Special Powers Act 1974 Emergency Power Rules and Emergency Powers Ordinance 2007 2.3 A New Governance Paradigm 18 2.4 The Economic Situation 22 Economy mired by natural calamities Increasing inflationary pressure Food insecurity Business confidence and investment The National Budget of 2007 2.5 The Political Situation 29 The Anti-Corruption Commission The Election Commission Separation of Judiciary Regulatory Reforms Commission Political party reform Local government reform initiatives The Public Service Commission Proposed National Constitutional Council Ordinance 2007 Umbrella Act for public universities Police reforms The Truth Commission Reforms in the Civil Service 2.6 Conclusion 48 3. Perceptions of Governance 51 3.1 The Context 51 3.2 Methodology 52 3.3 Findings 52 Living standards People's trust in institutions and professions Perceptions of corruption Opinion of reform activities Institutions of accountability Access to information Law and order Justice and human rights Elected representatives Elections 3.4 Conclusion 76 4. Crime, Violence and Insecurity 79 4.1 Global and National Perspectives of Human Security 80 4.2 BRAC-RED Research on Crime, Violence and Insecurity 81 4.3 Research Activities 83 4.4 The Meanings and Dimensions of Human Insecurity 84 Sources of insecurity Times, places and seasons Categories of insecurity 4.5 Structural Violence and the City Poor 89 Sources of insecurity: poverty, tenure insecurity and structural violence The prevalence of crime and violence in urban slums 4.6 The Crisis of Human Insecurity among Ethnic and Religious Minority Groups 91 4.7 Coping and Preventing: Strategies for Living with Human Insecurity 100 Community security strategies The co-production of security: joint community and official strategies Responses that harm: psychological stress, cost and Faustian bargains 4.8 Conclusion 106 5. NGO Governance: AView from Within 109 5.1 Methodology 110 5.2 Governance of NGOs 111 External governance: a regulatory framework Internal governance of NGOs Power structure Annual reports Practices of financial opacity 5.3 Political Space 119 5.4 Overcoming Challenges 120 5.5 Public Perception of NGOs 121 Performance Expertise and accessibility Integrity Hidden political agenda Impartiality 5.6 Conclusion 123 6. Conclusions 125 Annexure 129 Annex 1 Caretaker Governments of Bangladesh 1990-2006 Annex 2 Quantitative survey questionnaire Annex 3 NGO management structure Annex 4 NGO power structure Annex 5 People's trust in NGO professionals Annex 6 Public opinion on NGO performance Annex 7 Expertise of NGOs in service delivery Annex 8 Accessibility of NGOs Annex 9 Public opinion on integrity of NGO sector Annex 10 Hidden political agenda of NGOs Annex 11 Impartial effort of NGOs to raise political consciousness Bibliography 167 List of Tables, Figures and Boxes List of Tables Chapter Three Table 1: Level of satisfaction with standard of living Table 2: State of service-delivery Table 3: Mean score on the level of corruption in various public service and institutions Table 4: Compulsion of the private sector to engage in corrupt practices Table 5: Government reform initiatives Table 6: Politically powerful elites are beyond the reach of law Table 7: Support for government's decision on hawker eviction Table 8: Support for government's decision on slum eviction Table 9: Image improvement Table 10: Improvement in institutional efficiency and effectiveness Table 11: Extent of reforms Table12: Access to justice for victims of eviction Table 13: Human rights violation by law enforcement agencies Table 14: Incidence of human rights violation by law enforcement agencies Table 15: Performance of Members of Parliament (mean score) Table 16: Factors affecting voting intention Chapter Four Table 1: Summary of qualitative research methods Table 2: Sources of insecurity reported by minority groups in summary List of Figures Chapter Two Figure1: Twelve month average inflation Figure 2: Monthly point-to-point estimate Chapter Three Figure 1: Standard of living Figure 2: Level of trust in professions (general public) Figure 3: Level of trust in professions (professional groups) Figure 4: Trust in selected institutions Figure 5: Trust in selected institutions Figure 6a: Sources used to access information on government activities Figure 6b: Sources used to access information on government activities Figure 7: Level of satisfaction on information received on government activities Figure 8: Major hindrances faced in obtaining information from government offices Figure 9: State of law and order situation under the current government Figure 10: Level of satisfaction with law and order situation under the current government vi Figure 11: State of the judiciary under the current government Figure 12: Access to justice under the current government Figure 13: Level of satisfaction with the judiciary under the current government Figure 14: Ability of elected local government representatives to uphold public interest Figure 15: MP-local government representative nexus during Parliamentary elections Figure 16: MP-local government representative nexus during local government elections Figure 17: Political party reform initiatives Figure 18: Party leadership transition Figure 19: Responsiveness of political party reform measures Figure 20: Electoral roll preparation process Figure 21: Awareness of EC proposed political party reform initiatives Figure 22: Awareness of EC proposed political party reform initiatives Figure 23: Opinion on national election schedule Figure 24: Opinion on national election schedule Chapter Five Figure 1: Family members on the same board Figure 2: Friends/acquaintances on the same board Figure 3: Mechanism for appointing Executive Director in NGOs Figure 4: Changes in constitution of NGOs Figure 5: Dissemination of annual report Figure 6: Dissemination of financial report Figure 7: People's trust in NGO professionals List of Boxes Chapter Two Box 1: The Caretaker Government of Fakhruddin Ahmed (2007) Box 2: Ordinance-making power Box 3: A Chronology of major events: October 2006-January 2008 Box 4: Natural calamities: devastating floods followed by Cyclone Sidr Box 5: Ill-gotten wealth in Government coffers Box 6: Chittagong sea-port becomes efficient Box 7: Special Task Force and the drive against corruption Box 8: Key amendments of the representation of the People's Order (1972) proposed by the EC Box 9: 'Internal reforms, external progress': A story of good governance from the Department of Immigration and Passport Chapter Four Box 1: Coping with 'eve-teasing' Box 2: A brief history of crime and violence against Ahmediyyahs in Brahmanbaria Box 3: Fighting crime, village style Box 4: Community policing that works vii List of Acronyms ACC Anti-Corruption Commission ADB Asian Development Bank AL Awami League BB Bangladesh Bank BBBF Bangladesh Better Business Forum BCS Bangladesh Civil service BHSA Bangladesh Human Security Assessment BRAC Building Resources across Committees BNP Bangladesh Nationalist Party BUET Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology CrPC Criminal Procedure Code CGS Center for Governance Studies CAG Comptroller and Auditor General CEC Chief Election Commissioner CSB News Chrono Satellite Broadcast News CPD Centre for Policy Dialogue DFID Department for International Development DGFI Directorate General Of Forces Intelligence EC Election Commission ED Executive Director EIU Economic Intelligence Unit ETV Ekushey Television FDI Foreign Direct Investments FGD Focus Group Discussion FY Fiscal Year GDP Gross Domestic Product GoB Government of Bangladesh GoP Government of Pakistan IGP Inspector General of Police IGS Institute of Governance Studies MoE Ministry of Establishment MP Member of Parliament MCQ Multiple Choice Questions viii NBR National Board of Revenue NCC National Coordination Council NICAR National Implementation Committee for Administrative Reorganisation NPC National Police Commission NGO Non-governmental Organisation NGOAB NGO Affairs Bureau NSI National Security Intelligence OC Officer in Charge PCC Police Complain Commission PKSF Palli Karma Shahayak Foundation PPRC