DHAKA: The establishment of the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission has raised once more all the old questions of partisanship on the part of the government.
Despite the fact that government functionaries have been going overboard in insisting that the commission will operate independently and without interference of any kind, there are the usual sceptics who have either reason to think that the move will not amount to much or that it will in time turn out to be redundant.
On its part, the opposition has had some credible reasons to point to the political antecedents of the men appointed to the commission. However, the government may try to explain its reasons behind the appointment of the chairman and members of the commission, the fact remains that the political background of Justice Sultan Hossain Khan and Professor Muniruzzaman Miah quite logically raises doubts in the public mind about the manner in which they may carry out their responsibilities. That is one way of looking at the issue. And then there is the other way, which is that an individual's political background or loyalties do not necessarily have to be an impediment in the way he performs his public duties.
The problem here, though, is that over the years a very strong element of things partisan has come to define not just politics in the country but other areas as well. Include in those areas the administrative system; and if you were to put the question to lawyers, you might be told that even in the appointment of judges clear instances of political favouritism have in recent times been a trend. But, again, once an individual is appointed to a responsible public position - and the Anti-Corruption Commission is, one expects, a place where a clear, definitive sense of responsibility will be its underpinning - it is or ought to be the case that he will be above all narrow considerations of politics.
From such a perspective, the creation of the Anti-Corruption Commission and the appointment of its chairman and members convey a measure of hope to the country in the sense that an essential move toward dealing with corruption has finally been made.
Given the sordid reputation we as a country have earned in the last four years of being the most corrupt nation in the world, it makes sense for all of us to expect the new commission to make full use of its remit.
There will surely be the questions about its composition and the only way in which the commission can allay such fears is to prove, at the earliest opportunity, that it is truly and fully independent as a body and that it is not prepared to study the issues coming before it through a political prism.
The commission has before it a unique chance to set a good precedent for the country. If in the next four years it is able to convince the country that it can work in the way it is expected to, it could help inaugurate a new political culture in the land.
While it is not easy to brush aside the concerns which have arisen around the setting of the Anti-Corruption Commission, it needs to be said that the body should be given time to prove itself.
Based on such sentiments, we welcome the constitution of the Anti-Corruption Commission with the caveat that along with the nation we will wait and see if it is able to make a difference. If it fails to live up to the nation's expectations, it will only be proving the cynics and the doubters correct. -By arrangement with New Age/Dhaka.