Irrelevance, lack of transparency in affidavits

Staff Correspondent

The matter of one minister’s not expressing the information of ownership of eight real estate companies in UK and investing TK 2300 crore has become a hot topic across the country. Not only this minister, a big portion of the Member of Parliaments (MPs) and ministers hasn’t disclosed the real information about their assets, which is being revealed gradually recently.

In addition, MP Nizam Uddin Hazari has hidden information about his palatial villa on 5 acres of land. According to the information published on media, its market price is around Tk 500 crore. In this way, many ministers and MPs have hidden their asset information.

Political analysts say that those who have acquired extraordinary wealth have acquired it recklessly. If the Election Commission had scrutinized these and found that the candidate had given wrong information, or had concealed the information, or nomination would have been canceled because of this hiding, the candidates would never have done this. Those concerned think that the price calculation shown in the affidavit shows that no one has bought land, flats or gold jewelery in the last few years. Again no one is building multi-storied buildings. Based on the information of the affidavit and the news published in the media, the question has arisen among the people - are the land, flats, plots and gold available in the market at this price?

According to the affidavit, at the time of participating in the 10th National Assembly elections, the Feni-2 Constituency MP Nizam Uddin Hazari and his wife Nurjahan Begum had assets of Tk 4, 13, 60, 468. After Hazari became MP in November 2018, their wealth increased to Tk 31, 95, 57, 202. And in the last five years their wealth has stood at Tk 124, 62, 76, 243. In the last 10 years, their assets have increased by Tk 120, 49, 15, 775. That means, their wealth has increased almost 30 times.

Nizam Uddin Hazari has hidden the information of a garden house worth Tk 500 crores despite the huge increase in wealth. He built this luxurious garden house on 5 acres of land in South Sahdevpur of Feni city. There is a state-of-the-art three-storied house with completely foreign technology, two helipads (one on the roof, the other in the garden), freshwater lakes, water fountains, animal, bird and wild animal farms. Apart from this, different types of native and foreign fruit trees and grasses have been planted at a cost of Tk 11 crores for the beautification of the house.

Analysis of the affidavit shows that the current Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, the candidate for Comilla-10 constituency, mentioned in his election affidavit that the value of a house in an elite area like Gulshan is only Tk 35 lakh, whereas no flat is available in Gulshan for less than Tk 6 crore. Similarly, Pabna-3 seat candidate and current Member of Parliament Maqbul Hossain mentioned the price of 20 bigha land there only Tk 2,000. Accordingly, the price of his land is Tk 100 per bigha, which is less than the price of 1 kg of onion in the current market. Similarly, the Awami League candidate for Barisal-6 constituency, Abdul Hafiz Mallick, mentioned the price of a 5 katha plot in Dhaka is only Tk 400.

Kushtia MP Hasanul Haque Inu has mentioned in his affidavit that his wife has 40 gold bars worth Tk 12,000. It has been calculated that the price of gold has fallen to only Tk 300 per load. In the current market, the value of gold has exceeded lakhs, and the value of silver has exceeded thousands. Hasanul Haque Inu showed the price of 25 gold bars in his own name at Tk 25, 500. Salim Osman of Narayanganj mentioned the price of 4, 286 square feet flat in Dhanmondi which is a little more than Tk 39 lakh. Some residents of Dhanmondi said that the price of such a big flat would be between Tk 8 to 10 crore. Stay away from a flat for 30 lakh taka, the registration cost of such a luxury flat is Tk one to one and a half crore.

Jatiya Party candidate in Habiganj-2 constituency Shankar Pal has shown the price of his Pazero Jeep at Tk 2,80,000 and mentioned the price of 15 bhori golds at Tk 30,000. Independent candidate in Chapainawabganj-2 constituency Gomstapur Upazila Awami League President Md. Golam Mostafa showed the purchase price of 3 khata land in Purbachle at Tk 6 lakh. Awami League candidate for Madaripur-2 constituency and former Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan and his wife showed the price of a 10 katha plot in Rajuk Purbachal at an unbelievable low price of Tk 23 lakh 5 thousand 600, although the price of 1 katha of land here is currently Tk 70 lakh to 1 crore. To participate in the election, the candidate has to submit eight types of information and documents through affidavit. According to the People's Representation Order, if the candidate does not provide information through an affidavit or if any false information is given in the affidavit section or if a certificate or document is not submitted in support of any information in the affidavit, the Returning Officer can conduct a summary inquiry on his own initiative or in view of the objection raised by any person and can cancel any nomination paper. Moreover, the EC can cancel the candidature of the concerned person at the selection stage [RPO 14(3)(c)] if the affidavit is not filed or the provisions of the order are not duly complied with. In addition, if any information given in the affidavit is proved to be false or incorrect, it will be considered as an offense punishable under the Penal Code of 1860.

Citizen for good governance (Sujan) general secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar told The Bangladesh Pratidin, “The purpose of providing information in the affidavit is that the voters can make a decision by knowing about the candidates in the parliamentary elections, so that the right candidate is elected. The purpose of providing information is to empower people. If the information is not accurate, if it is misleading, people are confused instead of empowered. In reality, that is what is happening.”

Badiul Alam Majumdar said it is not desirable to mislead the voters. If the Election Commission had verified that the candidate had given wrong information or concealed the information and their nomination papers would have been cancelled, then the candidates could never have done this.

Anti-corruption organization Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) executive director Iftekharuzzaman told The Bangladesh Pratidin on Thursday, “It is time for other ministers-MPs to do self-check after the disclosure of the assets of a minister worth Tk 2,300 crore abroad. It is possible to find out whether any other minister-MP has concealed the wealth information in the affidavit or not. It is necessary to find out whether the incredible increase in wealth, the picture of income growth and the illegal ownership of assets abroad are compatible.”

(The report was published in print and online version of The Bangladesh Pratidin on December 29 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque Khan)