BNP ready to lead fresh drive against corruption: Tarique

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman on Tuesday said his party is ready to lead a fresh strong and comprehensive drive against corruption if voted to power as graft has become deeply rooted in Bangladesh and continues to disrupt the daily lives of millions of people.

 “Fighting corruption will be an uphill battle after years of systemic abuse. But Bangladesh’s own history proves progress is possible. With commitment, discipline, and public support, meaningful reform can return. If entrusted by the people, BNP is prepared to lead that charge, once again,” he said in a post on his verified Facebook page, marking International Anti-Corruption Day.

Tarique said corruption now affects every part of life--from graduates seeking jobs on merit, to farmers waiting for services, young families struggling for healthcare and education, and entrepreneurs paying extra just to keep their businesses running, reports UNB.

“From food prices to school quality to road safety, corruption cripple’s daily life for millions,” he wrote.

The BNP leader mentioned that early governance reforms under President Ziaur Rahman prioritised administrative discipline, clean public service and economic liberalisation that reduced bottlenecks and discretionary power. 

Later, he said the administrations of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia modernised institutions through procurement rules, financial administration laws, strengthened audits, and clearer oversight mechanisms. 

Tarique pointed to the formation of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2004 as a “major milestone”, replacing the Bureau of Anti-Corruption and enabling independent investigation and prosecution in line with global standards “Development partners such as the World Bank and ADB recognised this as a significant step toward accountability.”

“Despite reservations about Transparency International Bangladesh’s (TIB) methodology at the time, even they reported improved CPI performance: Bangladesh’s score rose from 1.2 in 2002 to 1.7 in 2005. Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer (2003) found that 66% of citizens felt corruption had decreased. These gains reflected reforms that strengthened clarity, reduced discretion, and expanded oversight,” he observed.

Tarique said BNP takes pride in reforms made in those years, including stronger financial governance, improved treasury systems, tighter budgets, better audits, and early anti-money-laundering and banking regulations, competitive procurement rules, expansion of media and telecom sectors, and early digitisation and decentralisation efforts that reduced bureaucratic discretion.

“The record speaks for itself: BNP is the only party so far to make sustained progress in reducing corruption,” he claimed.

Outlining the party’s future agenda, he said BNP plans to ensure complete institutional independence for the judiciary, ACC, election bodies, public service and law enforcement, introduce open procurement and real-time audits, modernise policing, prosecution and case management, expand e-governance, protect whistleblowers, strengthen ethics and civic education, and closely monitor public spending through independent audits and stronger parliamentary oversight.