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Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed has urged that the judiciary remain firmly rooted in principle to safeguard the integrity of the Constitution.
Addressing the opening session of this year's Bay of Bengal Conversation organised by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) on Saturday, he warned that no reform, however ambitious, can endure if governance remains weak or geopolitical pressures go unchecked.
He made the remarks against this backdrop that Bangladesh stands at a pivotal juncture as it prepares for what many describe as a reimagined political future, with potential constitutional shifts on the horizon.
The day's sessions brought together economists, diplomats, judges, editors and policy thinkers, all calling for principled governance, strategic foresight and greater investment in knowledge as the country charts its next chapter.
Across the forum, speakers emphasised that meaningful reforms, sovereignty-driven diplomacy and a renewed focus on education will be critical to Bangladesh's political and economic trajectory in a rapidly shifting global order.
Economists warned that accountability deficits and entrenched oligarchic interests threaten progress, while the Chief Justice stressed the judiciary's duty to uphold constitutional integrity.
Diplomats and policy thinkers highlighted the need for sovereignty-driven engagement with global powers, and senior editors called for overdue investments in knowledge and education.
Foreign Affairs Advisor Md Touhid Hossain said that in navigating the shifting geometry of power, Bangladesh insists on its sovereignty and its right to pursue the national interest. In practice, this means that partnerships must deliver tangible benefits rather than symbolic ones.
"We will engage with major and middle powers alike, but our decisions will be guided by national interest, sovereign equality and mutual respect. The Bay of Bengal region is becoming a strategic fulcrum, and Bangladesh intends to be a confident actor, not a passive corridor," he said.
He added that during the first two iterations of the conference under the previous autocratic regime, CGS did not shy away from frank opinions about democracy, governance, transparency and freedom of speech, insisting that dialogue matters most when it is hardest to have.
Eminent economist Prof Rehman Sobhan said, "Today in 2025 we are living in a much more changed world. We are living in a world now in which the balance of power is relocating itself towards the global south and within the global south to its epicentre within the Asian region, particularly in South, South-East and East Asia. Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam said, "I think in Bangladesh we are not fully aware of the importance of knowledge and how it determines our future. We really are not investing in knowledge. Our education system is one of the worst, and the quality of students at primary, secondary and even tertiary levels is non-competitive.
Designing reforms may appear straightforward, but implementing them is among the most difficult tasks a country can undertake, eminent economist Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said.
He stressed that reform only succeeds when guided by a clear vision, a credible programme and cooperation among all stakeholders.
He made the remarks during a session titled "Speed Talk", warning that Bangladesh's present moment is defined by three national imperatives - justice, reforms and elections - with reform sitting at the centre, connecting the other two.
Dr Bhattacharya noted that the intellectual foundation for current reform demands was laid through the recent White Paper, which he led in drafting.
"Our findings showed that what had been called 'development' over the past decade and a half evolved into a strategy of performance without accountability.
"It created three powerful, narrowly based groups - politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats - who operated above competition. This system ultimately produced growing authoritarian tendencies and what I describe as the rise of oligarchs," he added.
"These oligarchs - an alliance of business elites, bureaucrats and political actors - captured significant parts of the system: not only banking, the power sector and export regimes, everything. As Bangladesh now seeks a new political settlement, the urgent question is: how do we break this anti-reform coalition that resisted any form of competition?" he said.
After working intensely on these issues for the last year and a half, the noted economist compared the situation to the plot of Tom Cruise's latest Mission: Impossible film. "This is mission impossible. And no wonder the film has been named The Final Reckoning. The final reckoning for any economist is to deliver successful reform," he added.
Michael Millar, Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, along with speakers from the USA, Germany, Poland, Pakistan, India, Australia and several other countries, as well as CGS President and Chair of the Bay of Bengal Conversation Zillur Rahman and CGS Executive Director Parvez Karim Abbasi, also spoke during various plenary sessions.
The Bay of Bengal Conversation will continue until 24 November.
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