Mountain of wealth is new normal, Sultana Kamal expresses dismay at polls candidates' asset jumps
"I do not know whether the wealth of our candidates has increased in a legal way. Then we should also try to increase some resources," she also said
Human rights activist and Chairperson of the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Board of Trustees Advocate Sultana Kamal has expressed surprise after seeing the wealth estimates of election candidates in their affidavits.
"I do not know whether the wealth of our candidates has increased in a legal way. Then we should also try to increase some resources," said Sultana Kamal while presenting a report formed by analysing the election affidavits of all candidates at their Dhaka office today (26 December).
The study titled "Election Affidavit Charts: What Message Are They Conveying to the People?" was disclosed at TIB office on Tuesday and a dashboard titled "Know Your Candidate" was launched.
According to the report, at least 571 Jatiya Sangsad polls candidates from different parties and independents have declared immovable assets worth at least Tk1 crore, with 18 among them possessing assets valued at Tk100 crore or more.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
"The mountain of wealth we are seeing is now the new normal in our country. Some people will have crores of taka while others will worry about how to make ends meet."
The prevalence of candidates with immovable assets worth Tk1 crore is notably higher in the upcoming election compared to previous ones, with the count being 274 in 2008, 202 in 2014, and 552 in 2018.
The TIB report also states that the majority of candidates with assets worth at least Tk1 crore are affiliated with the ruling Awami League, numbering 235. Following closely are independents, with 163 of them having assets worth Tk1 crore.
In contrast, 47 candidates from Jatiya Party, 17 from Jatiya Party (JP), 7 from Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, 6 from Trinamool BNP, and 5 from Bangladesh Workers Party possess assets worth at least Tk1 crore.
Speaking about the surge of candidates' wealth, Sultana Kamal on the day said, "The mountain of wealth we are seeing is now the new normal in our country. Some people will have crores of taka while others will worry about how to make ends meet.
We've gone through a get-rich-quick process, which we are also proud of because we consider this economic development. However, only some people are benefitting from this development
"We are surprised by this information. The number of landless people in our country is so high, we have not yet been able to raise the level of poverty. We have repeatedly expressed our regret about this."
This was not the vision of the country. "We dreamed of equality. There is a law that one family cannot own more than 100 bighas of land. But the candidates participating in the election seem to have several times more than that limit. That too acquired in a short time. How is it even possible for some people to gain so much wealth in such a short time?"
Money did not just appear from somewhere, some people are snatching wealth while others are being deprived of it, said Sultana Kamal.
She lamented, "We are creating a discriminatory society. We've gone through a get-rich-quick process, which we are also proud of because we consider this economic development. However, only some people are benefitting from this development. Out of our 17 crore people, only a few have grabbed all of our wealth.
