Transparency International Bangladesh on Thursday expressed disappointment as the interim government sent a very large delegation to the 80th UN General Assembly, following the practices of the fallen authoritarian regime.
The anti-graft watchdog in a statement sent to media said that the interim government must explain to the people why it sent over 100 representatives to the UNGA, what message it wanted to give, and what real benefits taxpayers and citizens will get from it.
TIB鈥檚 executive director, Iftekharuzzaman, said that, during the fallen authoritarian regime, sending large delegations to the UNGA and other international forums was a common practice, sometimes exceeding two hundred representatives.
鈥業t was hoped that a government formed through unprecedented student and people鈥檚 movements鈥攚ith a strong commitment to transparent, accountable governance and state reform鈥攚ould avoid repeating this practice,鈥� he said, adding that unfortunately, the interim government has followed a similar path.
Regrettably, despite issuing clear directives to prevent wasteful foreign trips funded by taxpayers, the government has raised questions about its credibility by sending over a hundred representatives to the 80th UNGA session鈥攁n inherently contradictory action, he said.
The TIB official said generally, powerful countries such as the United States, Russia, and China send comparatively large delegations to secure their multilateral diplomatic influence, and even then, delegations exceeding a hundred are rare.
By contrast, the tendency of some countries lacking good governance, such as Nigeria, to send large delegations can rarely be justified by anything other than 鈥楯unket鈥� in the name of diplomacy, said Iftekharuzzaman.
The interim government set a hopeful precedent in the past year by sending only 57 representatives to the UNGA to avoid the waste of public money.
Iftekharuzzaman said, 鈥榃e had expected this number to decrease further this year. Yet, the embarrassing practice of authoritarian regimes has been repeated.鈥�
Considering the cost of sending a large delegation with taxpayers鈥� money and the questionable image it projects internationally, what criteria determined the composition of the delegation? To what extent were meaningful participation in the agenda items and the consideration of national interest weighed in assigning roles to the distinguished members of the delegation?
Will the public receive answers to these questions? The government, entrusted with state reform, should provide a clear explanation on this matter, he added.
TIB finds such questionable precedents deeply embarrassing and disappointing for an interim government formed in the aftermath of the public uprising.
