BNP ready to lead anti-corruption drive: Tarique Rahman

BNP’s acting chairperson Tarique Rahman has said the party is prepared to take the lead against corruption again if entrusted by the people. He made the remark on Tuesday morning in a post on his verified Facebook page.

Tarique Rahman wrote, “After years of mismanagement, fighting corruption will certainly be difficult. But Bangladesh’s history proves that when honest leadership, discipline, and public support come together, change is not impossible. If the people entrust us again, BNP is ready to lead that fight.”

He said corruption has made life harder for ordinary citizens, pointing to unemployed graduates searching for jobs, farmers struggling to access public services, and entrepreneurs forced to pay bribes in business or hospitals. “Why food prices rise, why good education does not reach classrooms, why roads are unsafe, everything is tied to corruption,” Tarique wrote.

He highlighted what BNP claims as achievements in combating corruption during its rule. Tarique said discipline in governance, clean public services, and economic liberalisation during President Ziaur Rahman’s administration reduced irregularities and misuse of power. Under former prime minister Khaleda Zia, institutional reforms, new procurement rules, stronger audit systems, and the formation of an independent Anti-Corruption Commission in 2004 marked significant progress in accountability.

He further said surveys by TIB demonstrated that corruption declined between 2002 and 2005, and people acknowledged that improvement.

Tarique outlined BNP’s plans to intensify the anti-corruption drive in future. These include ensuring full independence of the judiciary, ACC, and EC; enforcing open bidding and wealth disclosures; strengthening right-to-information mechanisms; real-time auditing; reforms in the justice and law-and-order sectors; expansion of e-governance; protection for whistle-blowers; incorporating integrity-based curriculum in education; and stronger financial oversight.