Press Release
Dhaka, 28 December 2023: Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has responded to the ‘misleading’ statements of the Minister of Information and Broadcasting following the release of the report ‘Interpreting Election Affidavit Data: What Message Does It Convey to The Public?’ and launching of the interactive Know Your Candidate (KYC) dashboard that can help citizens and stakeholders know more about the candidates in the upcoming 12th National Parliamentary Election.
In an official press statement today, TIB said Information Minister Hasan Mahmud’s statements are unfounded and aimed at spreading confusion.
TIB Executive Director (ED) Dr. Iftekharuzzaman highlighted the discrepancies in the minister's comments regarding the TIB's recent report, and said, “The honourable minister, while commenting on TIB, has included value of immovable properties in a misleading way while trying to justify the number of millionaire candidates in the upcoming election.”
“However, TIB has considered only movable assets of the candidates, such as cash, bank deposits, shares, savings certificates, and gold ornaments, in the analysis. The mention of immovable properties such as lands, houses, or flats, is irrelevant here. It is reasonable to assume that either the minister cannot understand the difference between movable and immovable assets, or he does not want to understand.”
The press statement further noted the minister’s comment that TIB’s work is “motivated” can be considered reasonable - based on the idea that TIB’s work is surely motivated, and that motivation or purpose is to resist corruption and establish good governance by carrying out its work based on research and advocacy.
Mentioning the allegations that the report aimed to “embarrass the government” is ridiculous, Dr. Iftekharuzzaman emphasized, “TIB, as an NGO registered following rules of the Government of Bangladesh, works to enhance the capacity of the state machineries to help establish good governance and curb corruption. The minister should keep in mind that rules are in place for the candidates to submit eight types of specific information in their affidavits in order to ensure good governance through transparency and accountability in elections. TIB has diligently digitized and made accessible to the public all candidate affidavit details.”
“Moreover, we have presented a comprehensive and multidimensional analysis of the affidavit information, intended for both the public and relevant institutions. TIB firmly believes that the political parties stand to gain from this analysis, as it provides a valuable opportunity for introspection and self-critique.”
Saying that the minister’s statements regarding TIB’s position on allegations of corruption in the Padma Bridge project were baseless, the TIB ED clarified, "TIB never asserted corruption in the Padma Bridge project. Instead, we demanded a thorough investigation into allegations raised by the World Bank. TIB was also the sole organisation which stated that such an instance of blocking funds even before the allegations were substantiated was unprecedented and demanded accountability of the World Bank. We hope the information minister will not embarrass himself any longer by presenting such misleading information.”
Media Contact:
Sheikh Manjur-E-Alam
Director, Outreach and Communication
Phone: +880241021267-70
Email: manjur@ti-bangladesh.org
