THE New Nation reported on Friday that Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has urged the government to appoint new Chairmen to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Information Commission following the due legal process. As the tenures of the chiefs of the three commissions are going to expire, TIB also called upon the government to appoint honest, efficient, neutral and experienced persons as heads of the constitutional bodies. In a statement on Thursday, TIB Executive Director said it is the government’s responsibility to appoint honest, efficient, neutral and experienced persons to the commissions to establish good governance, ensure human rights and enforce and practice the Right to Information Act fully, aiming to implement the National Integrity Strategy. “We hope the government will appoint new chairmen and members of the three commissions rising above political consideration to fulfil its commitment to establish good governance in the country,” added the TIB Executive.The comments made by the TIB Executive are indeed praiseworthy but impractical. But under the system of government it is absurd to expect honest and men of essence to be appointed by the government. TIB and other institutions think that without honest elections and democracy honest persons should feel needed or the government based on a dishonest system should be interested in honest persons in high positions. In the crisis of democracy in Bangladesh international bodies like TIB contributed a lot for evading the essence of the problem.If TIB and others must be honest in thoughts and ideas relevant, please help us in building democracy without which talking of ensuring human rights or expecting government to be transparent is impractical and misleading. And what institutions of the government are more important, or equally as important, than the ACC and NHRC? The endemic and systematic levels of public sector corruption make the need for a strong and efficient ACC more important than ever before. No one will doubt. But who will appoint them and for what. This much we all know. The human rights organisations also protest violation of human rights but will not be vocal for the cause of democracy. We don’t want wrong lessons for confusing the cause of a solution of the grave crisis the nation is in.
