“Time has come to think about the ‘exit policy’ of the interim government” — Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya

Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, Honorary Fellow of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and eminent economist, has commented that the time has come to determine an “exit policy” or exit strategy for the current interim or temporary government. He said that the question of whether the future government will give legitimacy to the activities of the current government or not remains uncertain.

He said this while speaking at a seminar organized by “Democracy Days Bangladesh” at a hotel in Gulshan, the capital today (Wednesday).

Dr. Debapriya said, “I would like to look back at history and see what lessons we can learn from Bangladesh’s experience of this interim government system. I am presenting some of the realities that I have seen.”

He explained, “The need for a caretaker government or interim government in Bangladesh arose mainly due to the weak political situation, economic chaos, absence of an independent election commission and weakness of state institutions. When a political party constitutionally blocks the path to a peaceful transfer of power, the state system collapses and a state of emergency is created.”

He reminded, “We participated in the 1990 popular uprising, when the Ershad government fell, the state was in a fragile state. In such a situation, the need for an interim government on an urgent basis came to the fore.”

Dr. Debapriya’s speech clearly conveyed that just as the journey of an interim government needs a beginning to maintain state stability and democratic continuity, a clear ‘exit policy’ or path to exit is also necessary for its proper and acceptable conclusion.