Contrary to confident public pronouncements by commentators, the Bangladesh-America relationship remains strong and is poised to reach new heights in the future
Bangladesh should welcome global partners to improve its ports, cut costs, and create jobs -- saying no out of fear will only hold us back again
The July 2024 protests began as a stand against injustice and ended with the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime. Today, Bangladesh is led by an interim government under Professor Yunus, backed by global support and committed to restoring democracy and accountability.
BNP is not entirely wrong about the NCC. But there is a solution: reinstate the Citizens Coalition’s all-party parliamentary committee proposal. That solves all the problems.
Creating satellite cities is essential to easing Dhaka’s growing urban pressures and distributing resources and population more evenly across the country
The time has come for Tarique Rahman to exercise leadership and guide his party through the reform process. Leaving it to local leaders threatens to put BNP on the wrong side of history.
Prime ministerial term limits are a red herring. The Consensus Commission is getting played if it allows BNP to accept them instead of more substantive reforms.
Given the determination of the US and Israel to bring down the Iranian government, what cards does Iran have left to play? Democratic, domestic reform is almost certainly the one durable solution.
We need women in politics, but reserved seats are not the way. A better solution would be to mandate 33% nomination quota for each party.
NBFIs can be saved -- but liquidation is not the answer. Bangladesh Bank needs to impose immediate and strict oversight, remove the compromised directors and managers, and install competent, independent professionals.
PR-based upper house is not only good for the country, it will serve BNP's interest as well. The sooner the party understands why opposing PR is self-defeating, the better for everyone. Most crucially, for itself.
There will be no winners but plenty of losers from a protracted war targeting Iran. Paradoxically, it is almost certain that the biggest losers would be Israel, and, if it gets sucked into the quagmire, America.
An Upper House based on proportional representation would be the single most valuable reform that all sides could agree to that could truly make a difference to the Bangladeshi body politic. The BNP should take that deal.
We need to empower women to move forward as a country, and direct election to reserved seats is the only way to accomplish this.
We all want greater women's representation in the political process. But it is not clear that quotas are the best way to achieve this noble goal.
