Key highlights:
- The Election Manifesto 2024, titled ‘Smart Bangladesh: Unnoyon Drisshoman, Barbe Ebar Kormo Shongsthan,’ outlines eleven specific areas of focus.
- The manifesto underscores commitments to ensuring accessible healthcare for all, incorporating everyone into the public pension system, etc.
- Moreover, the aim is to achieve a foreign currency reserve of $71 billion by 2028 and control inflation to 6% by 2025-26.
- The country’s foreign currency reserves, which stood at 3.9 billion U.S. dollars in the 2005-06 fiscal year, reached a peak of 46.39 million U.S. dollars by the conclusion of the 2020-21 fiscal year.
Sheikh Hasina, the three-time Prime Minister and President of the Awami League, unveiled the party’s Election Manifesto 2024 on Wednesday, December 27, 2023, at 10 am. The event, centered around advancing the idea of a digital Bangladesh, was held in the Grand Ballroom of Hotel Sonargaon in preparation for the upcoming 12th National Parliament election.
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The opening statements were delivered by the convener of the “Ishtehar Pronoyon Committee”, Agriculture Minister Dr. Abdur Razzaq. Following that, the Minister of Road Transport and Bridges, Obaidul Quader, presented the welcome statements as the AL General Secretary. Subsequently, a video documentary highlighting the transformative changes in Bangladesh over the last 15 years was showcased. The President of the Awami League and Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, delivered special remarks and presented the election manifesto 2024.
The Core Agendas of 2024’s Election Manifesto
The Election Manifesto 2024, titled ‘Smart Bangladesh: Unnoyon Drisshoman, Barbe Ebar Kormo Shongsthan,’ outlines eleven specific areas of focus.
These areas encompass a range of critical objectives, including:
- The reduction of commodity prices
- Restoration of discipline in the economic sector and
- The generation of increased employment opportunities
The Election Manifesto 2024 further emphasizes goals such as:
- Ensuring universal purchasing power
- Providing practical education
- Building a technologically advanced Smart Bangladesh
- Enhancing skills in the economic sector
- Achieving balanced agricultural practices through mechanization
Additionally, the Election Manifesto 2024 underscores commitments to ensuring accessible healthcare for all, incorporating everyone into the public pension system, maintaining the effectiveness and accountability of law enforcement agencies, preventing communalism and terrorism, and securing the expansion of democratic governance at all levels.
The Election Manifesto 2024 aims to portray a transformative vision of the government under the leadership of the Awami League over the past 15 years. The promise of Smart Bangladesh revolves around the development, progress, and prosperity of the nation, emphasizing the creation of a smart Bangladesh through the fourth industrial revolution, incorporating the Delta Plan for the next 100 years, known as Vision 2041. Climate change will also be a significant focus, presented in a smart and concise format.
Moreover, the aim is to achieve a foreign currency reserve of $71 billion by 2028, control inflation to 6% by 2025-26, attain a GDP growth rate of 8.1% in 2028, and witness a 16% growth in remittances. A pivotal goal of the election manifesto 2024 is the eradication of extreme poverty in the country by the year 2031.
15 Years of Stratospheric Success and Growth
In 2008, under the title “A Charter for Change,” the Awami League assumed power with the vision of establishing a Digital Bangladesh. Subsequently, in 2014, under the banner “Marching Ahead Bangladesh,” they secured a second term, promising the implementation of 10 mega-projects. Similarly, in 2018, under the title “Bangladesh on the March Towards Prosperity,” plans were outlined for developing a prosperous Bangladesh by 2041 and ensuring the security of the Bay of Bengal by 2100.
Notably, the 2018 Election manifesto, witnessed the Awami League government fulfilling its promises with notable success. Despite facing various challenges, the government constructed mega-projects like the Padma Bridge. Projects like the Metro Rail, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Karnaphuli Tunnel, the third terminal of the airport, the Elevated Expressway, Overpasses, and the establishment of nuclear power plants contributed to the real development of a prosperous Bangladesh.
In the last 15 years, Bangladesh has gained recognition as a dynamic and rapidly growing economic power globally, currently ranking 33rd in the world in terms of national income. The country has seen significant growth in various sectors such as agriculture, industry, and services.
During the 2005-06 fiscal year, the country’s export income was 10.5 billion dollars, which has now increased to 55.6 billion dollars in the 2022-23 fiscal year, marking a growth rate of 16 percent. During the same period, foreign exchange reserves increased nearly 5 times. At the same time, the national income has grown at a rate of 5 times compared to the 16 percent increase in import and export expenses.
The time frame for the registration of imports and exports has been extended from 1 to 5 years, and the registration process has been digitized. Through strategic measures, such as streamlining the remittance sending process via formal channels and offering incentives, the annual remittance has experienced nearly a fourfold increase in comparison to the 2007-06 fiscal year. As a result of the consistent and substantial influx of remittances and foreign aid, the country’s foreign currency reserves, which stood at 3.9 billion U.S. dollars in the 2005-06 fiscal year, reached a peak of 46.39 million U.S. dollars by the conclusion of the 2020-21 fiscal year.
Upholding the principles of the Voter Rights Act of 2009, software solutions have been introduced to navigate and resolve issues concerning voter rights. A total of 32 international treaties and conventions addressing climate change, industrial environment, labor rights, good governance, and human rights have been either signed or ratified.
In its essence, the Awami League’s Election Manifesto 2024 extends beyond the realm of politics; it functions as a roadmap for cultivating a Smart Bangladesh—a nation that has thrived significantly—and articulates a vision committed to propelling this positive trajectory into a future characterized by continual growth and heightened global influence.
