The affidavits of the Mayoral candidates of Dhaka north and south city corporations contain their information on income and details of moveable and immovable assets. The four main candidates from Awami League and the BNP are highly educated. Taposh is a barrister, Atiqul is a B.Com graduate. Tabith holds an MSc degree and Ishraque an MSc in engineering. Taposh has the highest annual income of Tk 9.81 crore followed by Tabith’s Tk 4.12 crore while Atiqul Tk 1.29 crore and Ishraque earns Tk 91.58 lakh.
Sorry to say the methods which they have used to declare their income and wealth are not consistent. A certain candidate has stated that a Mercedes-Benz car, a Toyota Prado and a Mitsubishi Pajero are worth only Tk 17 lakh. This is a glaring example of incorrect information being given — even a 20-year old Mercedes is valued over Tk 10 lakh.
In our present political culture the candidates are to be unexplainably rich so they have to conceal their real wealth. They also do not need either honesty or public trust to win election. Winning election depends on the pleasure of the government and so it is immaterial to bother about their public image .The people know how money making is politics.
The truth is politics is mostly the business of rich people to become richer and remain above the law. We also mean no offence to the candidates in Dhaka mayoral elections for allegedly making dishonest wealth statements. The last two general elections are proof enough how elections are not the affairs of public vote.
Any scrutiny by the Election Commission will find about lies in many of the wealth statements of the candidates. For that they should be disqualified as candidates. But the Election Commission is also part of election lies. Everybody in public life seems not to care about honesty in serving the people.
That is the reason why BNP leaders — who jointly with other Unity Front leaders denounced the last elections as robbery and observed Death of Election day — had no difficulty in nominating their own candidates in the DCC elections. Their simple answer may be that they cannot remain outside the game of business of politics.
The Bangladesh Economic Association in May 2018 estimated that around Tk 5-7 lakh crore black money is used in the country’s economy. A finance ministry report on underground economy in 2012 implied that the amount of black money was around 45 percent to 85 percent of Bangladesh’s gross domestic product.
A report of Global Financial Integrity in January 2019 said some $5.9 billion was siphoned off from Bangladesh in 2015 through trade inflated invoicing.
Corruption business is the strength of the government not only for controlling the election but also for retaining grip on the power. So the wave of corruption has made redundant popular participation in elections.
It is quite possible that sooner than later the government, like Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will try to pass a law giving formally legal immunity to all the “elected” representatives.
Corruption is the killer of public interest and the people are treated as nobody. It should be a matter of shame for every citizen in a free country. We are establishing ourselves before the world how helpless and unfit we are before collective corruption.
