Information and broadcasting ministry adviser Mahfuz Alam on Sunday said that he could lose his post of adviser any moment amid rumors circulating in the media.
He expressed his concerns while addressing a dialogue organised by the Centre for Governance Studies at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka.
He explained setbacks in implementing media reforms amid what he termed an 鈥榰nbreakable鈥� nexus between the corporate world, the bureaucracy, and civil society infested with 鈥榝ascist鈥� elements.
He said, 鈥榃hile other advisers may stay until the聽 February elections, I don鈥檛聽 know how long I will remain in my position.鈥�
Mahfuz blamed major political parties for sheltering bureaucrats loyal to the 鈥榝ascist鈥� Awami League regime.
He said, 鈥榃hen we took the governance responsibility after the July uprising, people supporting the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami secured key posts.
They included ministerial secretaries and university vice-chancellors, and assured us of supporting the interim government for two to three years to carry out the necessary reforms, he added.
鈥楤ut once the key posts were distributed, they began demanding national elections,鈥� Mahfuz disclosed.
Amid a shortage of skilled bureaucrats at the secretariat, following the fall of the Awami League regime on August 5 last year, Mahfuz said, 鈥楤ureaucrats loyal to the BNP or to the Jamaat have sheltered colleagues loyal to the AL for the sake of integrity within their own cadre services.鈥�
Replying to a question from Gono Odhikar Parishad general secretary Rashed Khan, Mahfuz said that there were no bureaucrats loyal to either the National Citizen Party or other parties who could replace the AL-loyal bureaucrats.
He further said that rumors circulating in the media about advisers, particularly those representing student groups from the July Uprising, stepping down had slowed the work in their respective ministry offices.
He also mentioned that the office of Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan, who joined the advisory council as a student representative, had remained 鈥榣argely inactive for a month.鈥�
Regarding media reforms, Mahfuz said that his ministry had initiated 13 of the 23 proposals submitted deemed immediately implementable.
鈥榃e were in a temporary government for an uncertain period. If there was a specific deadline, we could have planned implementing all of the proposed reforms,鈥� he said.
