Parliament and Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh: Role of the MP

Abstract

This article explores the role of Members of Parliament (MPs) in poverty alleviation in Bangladesh. Under the existing party-dominated parliamentary system, MPs do not have really much to do at the national level; their role is to play second fiddle to their party leaders. What most MPs now do is to try to get involved in different kinds of activities at the local level. The government often remains receptive to demands of the MPs for greater local level involvement for two reasons: first, it can be seen as a strategy to compensate the MPs for their lack of genuine involvement in national policymaking; second, it is used as a strategy to exert centralised political control over the locality, especially to discourage the emergence of any ‘autonomous’ local power. Using MPs for centralised control has negative implications for the development of local level representative institutions and democracy deepening in the country.