Editorial
Garrulous ministers draw flak
Reaction from peers augurs well
THIS time around, it is the senior leaders of the Awami League Central Working Committee who have thrown up their hands in exasperation at the torrent of words springing forth from the mouth of the ministers from time to time.
Some ministers of the present government are known to have a penchant for talking, on any and every subject, whether it has any relevance to his or her own ministry or not, or having little regard for the need to maintain discretion on any particular subject. This particular trait, as we have noticed, led ministers to utter prematurely on unresolved issues thereby confusing the people and perhaps government officials as well.
To be honest, the idiosyncrasy did not go unnoticed by the public or the media and, now unsurprisingly it has come under fire at the party meeting in presence of the prime minister herself.
We look at the evaluation of the conduct of the ministers by the senior party leaders as a positive development. It is indeed a good sign of intra-party democracy at work. Through constructive criticism of the performance of the ministers and MPs, both inside parliament and in party meetings, senior members will help them identify their shortcomings and take corrective measures to do better in future.
Indeed, such interactions within the parliamentary party and party working committee meetings are all the more pertinent because of the small presence of the opposition in parliament. The exercise of constructive criticism and dissent within the party hierarchies can effectively supplement the watchdog role of the opposition.
The prime minister, for her part we feel, should encourage such evaluations and discourses at both party and parliament levels in order to get a direct feedback on the performance of the ministers from her own sources.
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