Political parties now behave like business syndicates, said Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, head of the Election Reform Commission.
“Politics has now turned into a business. Our political parties behave like business syndicates. Do we even have a single democratic and transparent political party?,” he said at roundtable discussion on Monday.
The roundtable titled “Political financing culture in Bangladesh: Challenges, realities and new pathways” was organized by the Dacca Institute of Research and Analytics (daira) at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) conference hall.
Speakers at the discussion highlighted the deep-rooted opacity within Bangladesh’s political financing structure, the weaknesses of existing regulatory mechanisms, and the negative implications of pervasive informal transactions.
The session began with the presentation of a policy brief by daira researchers Ragib Anjum and Ahmudul Haque.
They outlined the patterns and opacity of political parties’ financing practices in Bangladesh, particularly the lesser-researched area of regular income and expenditure beyond election periods.
To explain political parties’ heavy dependence on business actors, they presented three analytical models, discussing both the causes and consequences of such dependence. Their presentation also highlighted a set of practical policy recommendations aimed at ensuring transparency, accountability, and clearer reporting standards within Bangladesh’s political financing system.
Offering a potential solution, Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), said: “If every elected representative submits a detailed income–expenditure report within one month of assuming office and makes it public, and if the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Election Commission ensure accountability whenever discrepancies arise—wouldn’t that alone address a large part of the problem?”
Addressing gaps in the legal framework, Jesmin Tuli, member of the Electoral Reform Commission, said: “Bangladesh’s legal framework does not clearly define political parties’ fundraising methods or legal sources of income. Including these provisions in law is essential, but political parties’ own willingness to reform will ultimately determine the solution to the existing crisis.”
Discussing the internal finances of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, its Assistant Secretary General Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair said: “There is no income or expenditure in Jamaat without receipts and vouchers. Our primary source of income is our members, every member must contribute 5% of their monthly income to the party.”
Shama Obayed, organizing secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), stated: “Decentralisation of power is essential to ensure transparency.”
She also raised the question: “Why are political parties always held in the dock while bureaucrats, secretaries, and others who enjoy state power remain beyond scrutiny?”
Explaining the nexus between business and politics, Khaled Saifullah, joint convener of the National Citizen Party, said that during the 16 years of authoritarian rule, the interdependence between business and politics intensified significantly.
He stated that it had become nearly impossible to run a business without political connections.
