All-round South Africa hammer India in Ahmedabad

Stop press. India’s victory streak in T20 World Cups was halted at 12 by the side they stole one from in the final of the last World Cup. After a surprise call to bat first, South Africa recovered from 20 for 3 to post 187 and then launched just about the perfect defence both with tactics and execution in significant dew to secure a 76-run win, which could have significant net-run-rate implications as well.

David Miller and Dewald Brevis started the comeback with some special hitting to balance Jasprit Bumrah’s 3 for 15 with analysis of 4-0-47-1 for Varun Chakravarthy. Even though they lost muscle just before the death overs, Tristan Stubbs took 20 to give South Africa something to work with.

Given the dew and the improvement in batting conditions after the first four overs, 187 seemed light, but almost everything they tried with the ball worked.Aiden Markram bowled the first over and had an India opener out for a duck, Ishan Kishan this time. Marco Jansen had a wicket first ball, Lungi Ngidi was unhittable with his slower balls, Keshav Maharaj produced three boundary catches in one over, the catching was sensational, and the biggest partnership they allowed was 35.

Bumrah, Arshdeep hurt South Africa

It feels like a long time ago, but South Africa’s decision to bat first didn’t look good when Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh ran through the top order. Bumrah was spot on, getting Quinton de Kock with a ball that seamed back in to hit top of leg and bowling a bewitching slower offcutter with the new ball to get rid of Ryan Rickelton. With Arshdeep Singh getting Aiden Markram for the seventh time in the last 51 balls he has bowled at him, India looked unstoppable.

Miller, Brevis show class

Coming in at 20 for 3, it would have been easy for Miller to play the scoreboard and not the conditions. It is a skill we can’t even fathom the enormity of to judge that the conditions are improving and that they need to go for a big score and then to be able to execute it.

Miller, at his home ground in the IPL, used all his experience of the conditions to aim straight, go after spin more than pace, and pull South Africa out of the hole. Before Brevis could join his party, Miller had already raced away to 32 off 17, including a step-hit six and a four off Varun, which does suggest a bit of overpitching thanks to his proficiency off the back foot. Brevis announced him with a no-look six off Varun in the same over.

There was a point when the first seven overs of seam had gone for 3 for 37 as against 3-0-39-0 from spin. This is when India’s sloppiness turned up. That last ball to make it seven overs was a no-ball from Hardik Pandya. Miller hit the free hit for a six. Soon Shivam Dube offered him another free hit, which he again hit for a six to get to fifty.

Between those two free hits, Brevis showed glimpses of his genius, putting paid to Dube’s wide lines with two sixes and a four. Dube had his own back with another Brevis dismissal on the pull for 45 off 29, but followed it up with that no-ball.

Stubbs provides the finish

Varun was headed for his worst analysis in T20Is when he managed to have Miller caught at long-off for 63 off 35, staying seven short of the most he has conceded. The wicket came just before the death overs, allowing Bumrah to bowl at new batters. Bumrah returned two overs for eight runs and the wicket of Corbin Bosch, but Stubbs took toll of the only slightly soft over he could get at the death. Facing all six balls from Pandya in the last over, he hit two sixes off the last two balls to end up with 44 off 24.

Dream start for South Africa

It had been telegraphed, emailed and faxed that Markram would take the new ball against the three left-hand batters at the top. This time Kishan played two balls normally for dots, then tried to go over mid-on, but nearly fell prey to the low bounce of the black-soil pitch. Then he tried to slog across the line, Markram got this ball to grip, and India had lost an opener for a duck in four of their five matches.

India didn’t separate the left-hand batters with Suryakumar Yadav sticking to his comfort zone of No. 4. Varma didn’t quite wait for offspin to do damage as he charged at Jansen first ball and edged a lifting delivery.

The field sets against Abhishek Sharma, who got on the board in World Cup with a four off Markram and then a six and four off Rabada, but South Africa tied him down with clever fields and bowling. In his 12-ball stay, Abhishek played seven false shots. When he connected, there was a deep point and a deep cover in place. The final false shot was a product of that field set and a knuckle ball from Jansen. Abhishek must have thought even half a hit would be good enough with no one out on the leg side, but the knuckle ball stood up off his bat, and Bosch took a sensational catch despite a collision with Maharaj.

Bosch can do now wrong

India promoted Washington Sundar, who played ahead of Axar Patel because of South Africa’s left-hand batters but bowled only two overs for 17. He found himself stuck before edging the first ball he faced from Borch through to the keeper. Soon a length ball down the leg side took the cue end of Suryakumar’s bat for a catch to short midwicket. Surya scored 18 off 22. The asking rate had gone past two a ball four balls he was dismissed.

Strange last quarter

A perplexing sixth-wicket stand followed when Pandya and Dube seemed happy with 30 off 23 balls leading into the drinks break, suggesting they might be taking the MS Dhoni route of narrowing the gap and salvaging the net run rate. However, immediately after drinks everybody wanted to hit a six off every ball, and we had three c Stubbs b Maharaj dismissals in the 15th over.

With no batting left, Dube could do only so much although Miller did drop Dube once to impart the only little blemish on South Africa’s night. It didn’t hurt them much.

Brief scores:
South Africa 187 for 7 in 20 overs (David Miller 63, Dewald Brevis 45, Tristan Stubbs 44; Arshdeep Singh 2-28, Jasprit  Bumrah 3-15, Varun Chakravarthy 1-47, Shivam Dube 1-32) beat India 111 in 18.5 overs  (Abhishek Sharma 15, Suryakumar Yadav 18, Washington Sundar 11, Shivam Dube 42, Hrdik Pandya 18; Aiden Markram 1-05, Marco Jansen 4-22, Keshav Maharaj 3-24, Corbin Bosch 2-12) by 76 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Will Jacks stars again as England dismantle Sri Lanka

England have jumped to the top of Group 2 of the Super Eight with a dominant, Net Run Rate-boosting 51-run win over Sri Lanka in Pallekele.

In pursuit of what should have been a manageable target of 147, the hosts were snuffed out for 95 in an error-strewn innings that continued a grim 12-match losing streak to England, who lead Pakistan and New Zealand by a point after their washout on Saturday.

Yet again, Will Jacks  came to the fore – only this time with the ball. After England had posted what looked an under-par 146 for 9  PhilSalt’s 62 the lone score of note in response to Dunith Wellalage’s 3 for 26 – Jacks bowled four of the first eight overs of the run chase, pocketing 3 for 22 without breaking a sweat.

Just as Wellalage had done in taking out three big English names – Jos Buttler, Harry Brook and Salt – Jacks’ trio capped Sri Lanka’s ambition. Kusal Mendis’s push back to the off-spinner was quickly followed by Pavan Rathnayake launching high to Jacob Bethell at cover, before Wellalage failed to clear Jamie Overton at mid on.

Coupled with Jofra Archer’s 2 for 20, which included star man Pathum Nissanka flicking to Overton at deep midwicket, Sri Lanka exited the powerplay on 34 for 5 and devoid of any real hope.

It made England’s 37 for 2 in their first six overs look far more measured, when in fact it was a patchy start typified by a labored 7 off 14 from Buttler, before he was trapped lbw to Wellalage.

Sri Lanka’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss – predicated on their comprehensive take down of Australia at this venue in the Group Stages – looked vindicated, even as Salt battled humid conditions to reach his first half-century of this World Cup – and second in all T20I editions – from 36 deliveries. That Jacks’ 21 was England’s second-highest score spoke to the awkwardness of the innings.

Dasun Shanaka marshaled his attack well, helped by the consistent threat of Dilshan Madushanka (2 for 25) and Maheesh Theekshana (2 for 21). But Sri Lanka’s captain was brought back down to earth when he found himself in the middle with a ball left of the sixth over.

Having thumped two sixes on his way to 30, an attempt at a third was brilliantly relayed on the midwicket fence to leave Sri Lanka 82 for 8, with all their full-time batters now back in the hutch. Naturally, Jacks was a key figure in that dismissal, taking the catch before casually lobbing it back into play, straight to Tom Banton.

Dushan Hemantha had already trimmed his own bails with his bat in comical fashion, before Dushmantha Chameera and Madushanka, the final two batters, were both bowled slogging, in keeping with a cavalier approach when sensible heads were required. Even with the all out attack, Sri Lanka could only muster 95 in 100 legal deliveries.

You should never travel without insurance, and in Jacks England have the ideal safety blanket for a subcontinental T20 World Cup. And like insurance – in principle at least – Jacks has saved the team when they’ve least expected it.

For all the admiration for Jacks’ talents, as evidenced by his selection for the Ashes at the start of this winter, few would have predicted this emergence as a talismanic figure for England’s World Cup hopes.

You could argue the opportunities Jacks has taken should not have presented themselves in the first place. Nevertheless, the team have leaned on him against Nepal (39*), Scotland (16*) and Italy (53*), all unbeaten knocks from the defacto No.7 that pulled them out of sticky situations.

Now an established threat, he loomed in the background as England’s top order stumbled to 68 for 4 after 10 overs, before Sam Curran’s dismissal brought Jacks to the crease at 94 for 5 at the start of the 14th.

His 21 off 17 was the slowest of his four double-figure scores at this tournament, and Sri Lanka did well to cap his work, removing him with seven balls to go. Unfortunately for them, Jacks took that personally.

“He always tells me he bowls better when he’s angry,” said Brook after the match. Jacks channelled that rage into a good length from around the wicket, both to right- and left-handers. A leading edge from Mendis and a horrid hack from Rathnayake got him back-to-back rewards, before Wellalage’s gifted him a third in his final over.

That he bowled the first four from one end speaks to the amount of trust now placed on Jacks and how well he is responding to it. He now has three player-of-the-match awards at this World Cup.

Buttler said he would not curb his attacking intent in search for better form at this T20 World Cup, and he was true to his word. A length delivery from Wellalage was met with an attempted reverse sweep, Buttler upright looking to access behind point, where there was empty (patchy) green to exploit.

Unfortunately, Buttler’s bat could not have been further from the ball as it clattered into his knee, in front of middle stump. That he even had the conversation with Salt about reviewing was galling; surely he knew he was plumb? The desperation for reassurance from his opening partner was misguided, and Salt had little to offer. Buttler turned on his heels and marched off as quickly as he could.

That, arguably, was the soundest judgement he showed on Sunday. Taking a review back to the dressing room would have made the innings worse.

The four dot balls in the previous over off Madushanka were painful to watch. England’s greatest white-ball batter is clearly out of sync with his movements, even his trigger, turned inside out by the left-arm quick’s movement across him, which almost cost him his off stump.

Buttler is now averaging 12 in this World Cup. This innings – his third single-figure score in succession – is his 12th without a half-century. How far off are England from having a conversation about the former captain?

A long way given how much credit Buttler has in the bank and Brendon McCullum’s ethos of backing your headline acts to the hilt. “He’s a powerhouse of world cricket,” said Brook defiantly. “He’s arguably the greatest white-ball player to ever play the game”

But 35-year-old Buttler is struggling badly. Badly enough that his dismissal was, ultimately, a good thing for the team.

At the halfway stage, Wellalage was probably sitting back, admiring the part he had played in another Sri Lanka win. Until he was rudely jolted out of his chair by the start of a terminal top-order collapse.

The left-arm spinner found himself back out there 3.4 overs into the second innings, the pressure he had put on England now being shoved right back at him, his exceptional 3 for 26 split across three phases of the game on its way to being deemed obsolete.

Despite the result, Wellagage’s ability to knit together not just his own overs, but those of the bowlers around him, was a silver lining. And a reminder of the maturity he possesses at the age of just 23.

The injuries Sri Lanka have suffered in their bowling stocks means he has been tasked with being that much more consistent. And he did right by his captain, first showing immense control during his two powerplay overs (1 for 16) before bravery in overs 10 and 15 brought him the wickets of Brook and Salt.

With the limits of the outfield sodden after heavy overnight rains, the sponge was brought in, reducing the size of the boundaries. With an enticing hit back over his head, Wellagage was unperturbed when slowing the pace down, which allowed him to sneak one into the pad of Brook. A bit of loop then did for Salt, whose tired thump down the ground fell into the hands of Dushan Hemantha at long off.

Wellagage’s spell would have been the jumping off point for a celebration of a well-rounded attack. In the end, it is nothing more than a footnote in a catastrophic defeat that already has Sri Lanka up against it to qualify for the semi-finals.

Brief scores:
England 146 for 9 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 62, Harry Brook 14, Sam Curran 11, Will Jacks 21, Jamie Overton 10*; Dilshan Madushanka 2-25, Dunith Wellalage 3-26, Maheesh Theekshana 2-21, Dushmantha Chameera 1-34) beat Sri Lanka 95 in 16.4 overs  (Dunith Wellalage 10, Kamindu Mendis 13, Dasun Shanaka 30, Maheesh Theekshana 10*; Jofra Archer 2-20, Will Jacks 3-22, Liam Dawson 2-27, Adil Rashid 2-13, Jamie Overton 1-13 ) by 51 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Why does the state threaten Its people with yet another anti-terror law?

The Feminist Collective for Economic Justice (FCEJ) is outraged at the scheme of law proposed by the government titled “Protection of the State from Terrorism Act” (PSTA). The draft law seeks to replace the existing repressive provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1979 (PTA) with another law of extraordinary powers. We oppose the PSTA for the reason that we stand against repressive laws, normalization of extraordinary executive power and continued militarization. Ruling by fear destroys our societies. It drives inequality, marginalization and corruption.

Our analysis of the draft PSTA is that it is worse than the PTA. It fails to justify why it is necessary in today’s context. The PSTA continues the broad and vague definition of acts of terrorism. It also dangerously expands as threatening activities of ‘encouragement’, ‘publication’ and ‘training’. The draft law proposes broad powers of arrest for the police, introduces powers of arrest to the armed forces and coast guards, and continues to recognize administrative detention. Extremely disappointing is the unjustifiable empowering of the President to make curfew order and to proscribe organizations for indefinite periods of time, the power of the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence to declare prohibited places and police officers in the rank of Deputy Inspector Generals are given the power to secure restriction orders affecting movement of citizens. The draft also introduces, knowing full well the context of laws delays, the legal perversion of empowering the Attorney General to suspend prosecution for 20 years on the condition that a suspect agrees to a form of punishment such as public apology, payment of compensation, community service, and rehabilitation. Sri Lanka does not need a law normalizing extraordinary power.

We take this moment to remind our country of the devastation caused to minoritized populations under laws such as the PTA and the continued militarization, surveillance and oppression aided by rapidly growing security legislation. There is very limited space for recovery and reconciliation post war and also barely space for low income working people to aspire to physical, emotional and financial security. The threat posed by even proposing such an oppressive law as the PSTA is an affront to feminist conceptions of human security. Security must be recognized at an individual and community level to have any meaning.

The urgent human security needs in Sri Lanka are undeniable – over 50% of households in the country are in debt, a quarter of the population are living in poverty, over 30% of households experience moderate/severe food insecurity issues, the police receive over 100,000 complaints of domestic violence each year. We are experiencing deepening inequality, growing poverty, assaults on the education and health systems of the country, tightening of the noose of austerity, the continued failure to breathe confidence and trust towards reconciliation, recovery, restitution post war, and a failure to recognize and respond to structural discrimination based on gender, race and class, religion. State security cannot be conceived or discussed without people first being safe, secure, and can hope for paths towards developing their lives without threat, violence and discrimination. One year into power and there has been no significant legislative or policy moves on addressing austerity, rolling back of repressive laws, addressing domestic and other forms of violence against women, violence associated with household debt, equality in the family, equality of representation at all levels, and the continued discrimination of the Malaiyah people.

The draft PSTA tells us that no lessons have been learnt. It tells us that this government intends to continue state tools of repression and maintain militarization. It is hard to lose hope within just a year of a new government coming into power with a significant mandate from the people to change the system, and yet we are here. For women, young people, children and working class citizens in this country everyday is a struggle, everyday is a minefield of threats and discrimination. We do not need another threat in the form of the PSTA. Withdraw the PSTA now!

​The Feminist Collective for Economic Justice is a collective of feminist economists, scholars, feminist activists, university students and lawyers that came together in April 2022 to understand, analyze and give voice to policy recommendations based on lived realities in the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

​Please send your comments to – feministcollectiveforjustice@gmail.com

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Incessant rain washes out opening Super Eight fixture between New Zealand and Pakistan

New Zealand and Pakistan will share the points after rain forced a washout in Colombo.  The officials waited over two hours from the official start time for an improvement in the weather conditions, but the steady drizzle that began at the toss only grew heavier and never quite relented.

With puddles forming on the covers and the overhead conditions no closer to improving, the umpires made the inevitable call.

There was a strong chance of showers as toss time approached. The previous day, Pakistan’s evening training session had to be cancelled due to rain. At the toss, which Pakistan won with Salman Agha opting to bat first, a drizzle began as the captains were speaking, and the ground staff began to move the covers into position. From thereon, the fate of the game was sealed.

Pakistan had left Khawaja Nafay out and brought in Fakhar Zaman, while New Zealand made three changes, including welcoming their captain Mitchell Santner back into the XI.

Both teams got off the mark in the Super Eight, but are left with little room for error. Pakistan will play England next on Tuesday and Sri Lanka a week from today, while New Zealand take on Sri Lanka on Wednesday and England on Friday. All games in this group take place in Sri Lanka.

(Cricinfo)

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Over 280,000 arrested as huge stock of drugs seized in 2025: Wijepala

Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala yesterday told Parliament that authorities have seized substantial quantities of narcotics so far in 2025 and arrested more than 280,000 suspects over drug-related offences.

Presenting figures from 01 January, 2025, the Minister said 2,020 kilograms of heroin, 4,013 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ICE), 15,564 kilos of cannabis and 43.3 kilos of cocaine had been taken into custody.

He added that 4.8 million narcotic pills and 2.1 million illicit cigarettes were also seized during the same period.

According to the Minister, a total of 281,320 suspects were arrested in connection with narcotics-related offences.

Drawing a comparison with 2024, he said heroin seizures had increased from 832 kilos last year to 1,826 kilos this year — a rise of nearly 1,000 kilos.

Seizures of other drugs had also shown an increase in 2025, with 3,865 kilos of ICE and 17,189 kilos of cannabis detected, compared to the previous year, he said.

By Saman Indrajith

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Tariffs ruling is major blow to Trump’s second-term agenda

Donald Trump had been warning for months that a Supreme Court decision like this would be catastrophic.

If the court curtailed his ability to impose these tariffs, he had said, it would be an “economic and national security disaster”.

A six-justice majority of the Supreme Court, in ruling against the president on Friday, didn’t care much about his concerns.

Congress, not the president, has the power to impose tariffs, the justices ruled. And nothing in the law that the president based his tariffs on, the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, delegated such sweeping powers to Trump.

The court’s decision represents a rare check on this president’s broad use of executive authority.

A majority of the justices over the past year have shown a willingness to allow Trump to press ahead with his agenda, particularly on immigration and reshaping the federal government, even as legal challenges work their way through the court system.

This case, which was fast-tracked through the court system as an emergency, slams the door on one such expansive use of presidential authority.

With several other major cases involving controversial uses of executive power, such as efforts to end birthright citizenship and to dismiss a Federal Reserve governor based on alleged improprieties, this may not be Trump’s only setback in the coming months.

At the very least, this decision weakens Trump’s hand when trying to force other nations to make concessions to the US and tarnishes his veneer of invincibility.

Weakness begets weakness, and America’s trading partners may be emboldened to take a tougher line with the US now that the president’s tariff powers have been curtailed.

It also opens up the possibility that the Trump administration may have to give back much of the tariff revenue it collected over the past year.

While the justices left this thorny issue to be decided by a lower court, Brett Kavanaugh in his dissent warned that the process is likely to be a “mess”.

The Trump administration had plenty of time to prepare for Friday’s decision.

Supreme Court precedent, and the attitude of many of the justices when the case was argued in court last November, indicated that an adverse outcome for the president was quite possible.

Jamieson Greer, Trump’s top trade adviser, said last month that the White House has “a lot of different options” on how to proceed if the tariffs were struck down.

“The reality,” he said, “is the president is going to have tariffs as part of his trade policy going forward.”

The other options that could be at Trump’s disposal are more limited, however.

They require government agencies to produce detailed reports to justify imposing tariffs, and they have limits on their scope and duration.

Gone are the days when the president could threaten, or enact, triple-digit tariffs with the wave of a pen or the click of a Truth Social post.

A Rotterdam container ship prepares to dock at Port Miami [BBC]

New tariffs will require a longer lead-in time before they are imposed.

That could limit the kind of economic disruption that took place when the president announced his expansive “Liberation Day” tariffs last year, and would give other nations more time to prepare their responses.

If Trump wants to restore his free hand to impose new tariffs, he could always ask Congress for the kind of explicit authorisation that the Supreme Court has said is necessary. But with narrow Republican majorities in the House and Senate, and midterm elections looming, the success of such a move seems unlikely.

In fact, some of Trump’s conservative allies in Congress may be breathing somewhat easier with this decision.

The president’s tariffs – and the costs they have imposed on consumers – have been unpopular among many Americans. Republican candidates in battleground states and congressional districts would have been open to Democratic attacks for supporting Trump’s policies.

That area of vulnerability has been reduced for now.

Friday’s decision will set up an awkward moment on Tuesday, when Trump delivers his annual State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress. Traditionally, many of the Supreme Court justices sit in the front row of the chamber.

The president, after spending months issuing dire warnings against the court, could stand eye-to-eye with the justices who eroded one of the key pillars of Trump’s second-term agenda.

[BBC]

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What BNP should keep in mind as it assumes power

BNP rightly deserves our congratulations for winning a decisive victory in the 13th parliamentary election. This outcome reflects an unequivocal mandate that is both politically and historically significant. Coming as it does at a critical point in Bangladesh’s democratic journey, this moment marks more than a change of government; it signals a renewed public resolve to restore democratic norms, accountability, and institutional integrity.

The election came after years of severe distrust in the electoral process, questions over legitimacy, and institutional strain, so the poll’s successful conduct has reinforced trust in the process as well as the principle that governments derive authority from the consent of the governed. For quite some time now, Bangladesh has faced deep polarisation, intolerance, and threats to its democratic foundations. Regressive and anti-democratic tendencies—whether institutional, ideological, or political—risked steering the country away from its foundational goals. BNP’s decisive victory can therefore be interpreted as a call to reverse this trajectory, and a public desire for accountable, forward-looking governance rooted in liberal democratic principles.

However, the road ahead is going to be bumpy, to put it mildly. A broad mandate alone cannot resolve deep-rooted structural problems. The BNP government will likely continue to face economic challenges and institutional constraints for the foreseeable future. This will test its capacity and sincerity not only to govern but also to transform the culture of governance in the country.

Economic reform imperatives

A key challenge will be stabilising the economy, which continues to face mounting pressures: growth has decelerated, inflation has eroded people’s purchasing power, foreign exchange reserves remain low, and public finances are tight. External debt has increased significantly in recent years, while the tax-to-GDP ratio has fallen to historically low levels. State-owned enterprises and the banking sector face persistent structural weaknesses, and confidence among both domestic and international investors remains fragile.

The new government should begin by restoring macroeconomic discipline. Containing inflation will need close coordination across ministries and agencies. Monetary policy must remain cautious and credible, free from political interference, while fiscal policy should prioritise stability rather than expand populist spending.

Tax reform is also unavoidable. The National Board of Revenue requires comprehensive modernisation, digitalisation, and total compliance. Broadening the tax base, especially by bringing all high-income groups and segments of the informal economy into the formal system, is crucial. Over time, reliance on indirect taxes such as value-added tax and import duties should be reduced, paving the way for a more progressive direct tax regime.

Banking sector reform is equally crucial. Proper asset quality reviews and regulatory oversight are necessary to rebuild confidence in the sector. Political patronage within the financial institutions must end. Without a resilient financial system, private investment cannot recover. As regards growth, the government should focus on diversifying exports beyond ready-made garments and deepening integration into regional value chains. Attracting foreign direct investment will depend on regulatory predictability and improvements in logistics and energy reliability. Ambitious growth targets must be matched by realistic implementation capacity.

Political Challenges

Distrust among political actors, partly fuelled by fears of retribution and violence, is a reality that may persist. BNP will face pressure from its supporters to act quickly in addressing perceived injustices, but good governance demands restraint. If the new government resorts to or tolerates exclusion or retaliation, it will risk perpetuating the very cycle it has condemned.

Managing internal party discipline will also be crucial, as a large parliamentary majority can sometimes lead to complacency or factional rivalry. Strong leadership will be required to maintain unity while allowing constructive internal debate. BNP must also rebuild trust with minority communities and vulnerable groups. Elections often heighten anxieties among minorities, so a credible commitment to equal citizenship is crucial. BNP’s political maturity will also be judged by how it treats or engages with its opponents. In this regard, Chairman Tarique Rahman’s visits to the residences of top opposition leaders on Sunday marked a positive gesture, one that many hope will withstand the inevitable pressures or conflicts over governance in the coming days.

Strengthening democratic institutions

A central promise of this election was to restore democracy, which must now translate into concrete institutional reforms. Judicial independence needs constant safeguarding. Which means that appointment, promotion, and case management processes should be insulated from political influence. Parliamentary oversight committees must also function effectively, and the opposition’s voice in parliament must be protected.

Electoral institutions also need reform, particularly along the lines of the July Charter. Continued credibility of the Election Commission will depend on transparency, professional management, and impartiality. Meanwhile, the civil service must be depoliticised. Appointments based on loyalty rather than merit have long undermined governance in the country. So the new administration must work on curtailing the influence of political networks to ensure a professional, impartial civil service. Media reform and digital rights also deserve careful attention. We must remember that democratic consolidation is built through institutional habits, and these habits must be established early.

Beyond winner-takes-all

Bangladesh’s politics has long been characterised by a winner-takes-all mentality. Electoral victories have often resulted in monopolisation of power, marginalising opposition voices and weakening checks and balances. If BNP is serious about democratic renewal, it must consciously break with this tradition. Inclusive policy consultations will be a good starting point. Major economic and constitutional reforms should be based on cross-party dialogue and consensus. Appointments to constitutional bodies should be transparent and consultative, and parliamentary debates should be done with the letter and spirit of the July Charter in mind.

Meeting public expectations

The scale of public expectations now is naturally immense. Citizens want economic relief, employment opportunities, necessary institutional reforms, and improved governance. Managing these expectations will be quite difficult. Many reforms will not yield immediate results, and some may impose short-term costs. So, it is imperative to ensure transparent communication about the associated timelines, trade-offs, and fiscal constraints.

Anti-corruption efforts must be credible and monitored at all times. Measures are needed to strengthen oversight institutions, improve transparency in public procurement, and expand digital service delivery to reduce opportunities for rent-seeking. Governance reform should be systematic, not selective or politically driven. Tangible improvements are urgently needed in public service delivery, particularly in health, education, social protection, and local government.

Finally, a word of caution: BNP’s decisive victory presents both opportunities and risks. It can enable bold reforms but it also carries the danger of overreach. The key deciding factor here is political judgment. The question is, can our leaders deliver based on the mandate voters have given them? (The Daily Star)

Dr Fahmida Khatun is an economist and executive director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD). Views expressed in the article are the author’s own.

Views expressed in this article are the author’s own.

by Fahmida Khatun

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