Gen Moeen again rules out political ambition of army

Trackback URL

Download PDF

Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed yesterday categorically ruled out any political ambition of the army and said there would be no deviation from holding the general elections according to the roadmap.

“I have stated this previously and want to re-emphasise that we have no political ambition,” he said during a meeting with editors of national print and electronic media at the Army Headquarters.

The army chief made a five-point appeal to the press to help bring down prices of essentials, hold credible elections, encourage people to diversify their food habit, strengthen the rule of law and security and highlight rural news.

General Moeen, whose service was recently extended by one more year to mid-June 2009, said the army wants to see honest and competent leadership come to power to govern the country.

“The way army has discharged its responsibility in the past and is doing presently, it will be doing so in the future, inshallah. But, as patriotic citizens, we have one desire — let honest and competent people take over.”

The army chief said, “If you ask any soldier, the reply would be: we don’t want to get involved in politics. Let honest people come and run the country in a better way.”

He reaffirmed that there would be no deviation from the electoral roadmap and there would be nothing but democratic rule in Bangladesh.

He hoped that the next elected government would pursue the changes brought through various reforms by the present caretaker government.

Explaining the role of the armed forces, Gen Moeen said the army is extending round-the-clock cooperation to the caretaker government and the army is, of course, not part of the government.

“This must be understood. We don’t attend any cabinet meeting. Whatever decisions they are taking, the country is running according to those decisions.”

On lifting the state of emergency, he said the army has nothing to do in this matter — the government would take decision on it.

About the political dialogue, Gen Moeen said this is, again, an affair between the government and political parties.

Describing the media as the parliament in the absence of an elected parliament, the army chief said the government, different agencies and even the army are taking many actions on positive reports in the media. “We are not media-shy, rather we want to be media- friendly.”

Citing the example of a report on a freedom fighter in Comilla who was sentenced to death, he said the army immediately approached the president for mercy who cancelled the death sentence.

During the two-and-a-half hour meeting, the army chief also narrated the achievements so far made by the armed forces in various sectors.

He said the National Coordination Council has so far identified 222 corrupt people. Of them, 81 were arrested and trial of 50 has been completed in lower courts. They can go to the higher court.

He said 31,619 acres of land grabbed by ruling-party musclemen and thugs were recovered by the army and handed over to the government. These lands should be distributed among landless people because otherwise the government lands might again be grabbed.

Gen Moeen said the army helped recover Tk 8,372 crore in unpaid bills for utility services. “Those who can afford to pay bills evaded it,” he said. “It was even found that some rich people hired overseas experts to tamper with meters in a bid to evade paying the government due electricity bills.”

He further told the editors that Tk 1,220 crore of the siphoned-off money was recovered from home and abroad and most of the recovered money has already been deposited to the Bangladesh Bank.

The army chief said the corruption-busting taskforce investigated into 13 institutions to dig out institutional corruption. Citing an example from Rajuk, he said the taskforce found 49 percent of plot-allotment documents missing. The government, he said, is taking action on taskforce report.

Gen Moeen said the army sped up the loading and unloading activities at Chittagong Port, which was in a very bad condition before the state of emergency. Earlier, it used to take 13 days for a ship to unload, load and head for outer anchorage.

But, after the army intervention, it takes only three days to complete the task, bringing down expenses by 30 percent and improving efficiency by 40 percent. The feat has been possible due to improvement in management and maintenance.

He said manpower export increased 76 percent in 2007.

“We believe we have enough resources,” Gen Moeen said, adding that if the human resources could be developed through proper training, the situation in Bangladesh would improve a lot.

He said population should be considered as assets, not as a curse, and expressed his firm belief that Bangladesh holds the possibility of becoming a mid-income country by 2020 if the nation’s resources are properly developed and utilised.

The army chief also narrated how the armed forces encouraged farmers to raise food-grain production across the country. He painted a rosy picture of bumper production of Boro, wheat and maize.

Leave a Reply