For obvious reasons the recent observation or thesis of the Finance Minister about bribery will startle first, then shock and finally give agonising frustration to those who still respect some semblance of moral/ethical values and abhor corruption. The octogenarian minister is held in esteem for his Mr. Clean image as a successful career bureaucrat turned politician in a cabinet where there is no dearth of controversial figures. True, he shocked the people with his very unkind remarks about the bourse investors who lost their last farthing consequent upon the disastrous stock market scam that devastated the lives of millions some among whom committed suicide out of hopelessness and despair. But this time he sort of finds rationale for bribery which is unwelcome and unacceptable, to say the least.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith on November 11 claimed that taking or giving bribe was not illegal and the developed countries also legalised it and called it ‘speed money’. The finance minister made the observation while addressing program of signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Bank held at Jahangir Alam Hall at the central bank. He said, “In my opinion, if someone gives something as gift to speed up the work is not illegal. The developed countries also legalised the system and they call it speed money as it spurs the work.” Muhith also admitted that he gave bribe for obtaining driving license 40 years ago; but he has not agreed to call it illegal.[Vide fullnews/bn/101794.html banglanews24.com/en/]
By any definition a crime, bribery refers to the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of something of value for the purpose of influencing the action of an official in the discharge of his or her public or legal duties, says an authoritative work on legal matters. Regardless of who initiates the deal, either party to an act of bribery can be found guilty of the crime independently of the other. The severity of bribery can reach the felony level, punishable by a fine or imprisonment, or both. The U.S. Congress adopted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977 to outlaw payments that are intended to win contracts from foreign officials.
To look at other countries, in February 1992, in a serious blow to Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, Japanese prosecutors indicted a former Cabinet minister on charges of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes. Former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert, was given six years for taking bribes while likening him to a traitor in May this year. Judge David Rozen made clear that no leader would escape the law, and commented, “The cancer must be uprooted.”
Universally acknowledged as a most vital area of a market economy as it provides companies with access to capital and investors with a segment of ownership in a business enterprise and the potential of gains based on a company’s future performance, the stock market in this country has become synonymous with misfortune, disaster, wretchedness, ill luck and concomitant extreme hardship and privation of victims of the scam.
As the general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fell below 6000 points on 14 October 2011 when the satellite TV channels showed footage of the street scene at Motijheel where agitating retail investors locked the gates of DSE office and engaged in shoe and broom procession with bonfire demanding resignation of the Finance Minister and Central Bank Governor. Such protests against bourse plunges have been taking place by incensed losers almost every other day over the past years. The bullish market turned bearish during 2010, with the exchange losing 1,800 points between December 2010 and January 2011. A large section of the estimated 33 million investors became bankrupt as a consequence of the market crash. Meanwhile two broke stock market investors committed suicide in a space of two days.
Several lawmakers of the Awami League-led alliance in parliament—in presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Finance Minister AMA Muhith in the House in 2012—- blasted the government over its failure to stabilise the stock market, and demanded immediate arrest of those a probe body had held responsible for the market crash. They warned the government of a backlash from the people, especially at the next general election, if it failed to deal with the share market crisis. Demanding that a discussion be held in the House on the share market crash, the lawmakers also came down hard on the government over police action on share market investors on different occasions. There was plain and simple truth in what senior AL leader Tofail Ahmed questioned, “Why did the government not try those responsible for the stock market debacle after they had been identified by the probe body headed by Ibrahim Khaled?” A news item headlined “Stocks none of Muhith’s business” of 30 October 2011 quoted our finance minister as commenting on the equity market: “It’s a Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) business, not mine.” We feel dumbfounded.
Not surprisingly, the Finance Minister’s latest startling and weird statement will egg on the propensity of bribe takers as well as bribe givers, which will smash up people’s belief in the teachings of books for children and religious precepts—-thus ruining the moral fabric, an essential bedrock of our society.
Source: Weekly Holiday
