Reporter Md. Shahjahan Bashar:
Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus has traveled abroad 13 times in about 14 months since taking charge of the interim government. Not only him, but other government advisors are also regularly participating in foreign trips. Among these, it has also been seen that advisors have also been present at some ‘unimportant’ international events, which has led to widespread criticism in the public.
Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus recently returned home after visiting the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly session. Several government advisors, various government officials and representatives of political parties accompanied him on this trip.
According to a government document, the list of the chief advisor’s entourage on this trip included at least 100 people. However, when controversy arose over this, the chief advisor’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam claimed in his Facebook post last week that the number of entourage was 62.
However, criticism has not stopped even over the numerical difference. Many have raised questions on social media – why is it necessary to travel abroad with such a large fleet even in the midst of an economic crisis? Critics say that when the common people are struggling with the rising cost of living, such a luxurious fleet of the government’s top officials is creating additional pressure on the state economy.
Political analysts believe that on the one hand, frequent foreign trips and on the other hand, a large fleet – both are questioning the image of the government. Many also say that most of the conferences or events that government advisors are participating in are not that important compared to national interests.
On the other hand, the government is saying that these trips of the chief advisor are helping to strengthen Bangladesh’s position in the international arena. Officials who participated in the foreign trips say that many diplomatic and economic contacts have been created through these trips.
However, the storm of discussion and criticism in social media and the political arena is not stopping. The expectation of the common people is that the government will show more transparency and responsibility in state spending.