National Citizen Party (NCP) leader and Member of Parliament Hasnat Abdullah has accepted the prime minister’s six-month deadline for resolving the energy crisis as a challenge, while calling on the prime minister to consider the plans put forward by the opposition to address the crisis.
Hasnat Abdullah made the remarks in a Facebook post Saturday night.
Hasnat said: “The honorable prime minister has issued a challenge to the opposition with a six-month ultimatum to provide a plan for resolving the electricity problem. We accept the challenge and are putting forward our solution plan.”
He claimed the prime minister could have already known, before issuing the challenge, that the opposition already has proposals to resolve the electricity and energy crisis. He said: “Before issuing the challenge, the prime minister should have known that the solution is already on the table. NCP convener, MP, and opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam has already proposed a total of 15 specific solutions across short-term (30 days), medium-term (6 to 18 months), and long-term timeframes.”
According to Hasnat, these proposals lay out step by step which past decisions were mistaken and what specific actions are needed. He said the opposition has also put forward specific proposals on subsidy policy, fuel planning, contingency planning, and disaster recovery planning, incorporating input from civil society and various research institutions. He claimed these issues have been published in national dailies and discussed at various seminars.
He said: “It is shameful that, despite the prime minister’s enormous cabinet and advisory council, this information never reached him.”
“Questions about the capability of the PM’s team”
Citing the number of ministers, state ministers, advisers, and special assistants in the government, Hasnat also questioned the effectiveness of the prime minister’s team. He said: “Between ministers, state ministers, advisers, and special assistants, there are 62 people in the council. Not one of them read the public opinion or the opposition’s proposals — there are few worse examples of democratic practice than this. The question is no longer about policy — it is now about this team’s effectiveness and competence.”
He called on the prime minister to read the NCP’s 15-point short-, medium-, and long-term proposals, which Hasnat said include five proposals for implementation within 30 days, six for implementation within 6 to 18 months, and four for long-term implementation.
He said the government should also respond to the opposition’s request to hold a special parliamentary session for detailed discussion of the electricity crisis. Hasnat said: “We view this kind of government indifference with great disappointment, and we question the capability, competence, and sincerity of the prime minister’s massive team.”
“No fuel plan, no contingency plan”
Hasnat alleged that widespread partisan appointments within the administration over the past six months have destroyed the “institutional memory” and continuity of government agencies. As a result, he claimed, critical preparations such as fuel plans, contingency plans, and disaster recovery plans do not exist.
He said: “Subsidies were cut precisely where electricity comes from, while capacity charges remain untouched. Those who have come into the secretariat are new, inexperienced, and are being guided by lobby groups.”
He also claimed that an independent investigation report into whether there were maintenance failures behind the fire at the Moheshkhali FSRU has still not been published. On this, Hasnat said: “The government itself doesn’t know whether it was sabotage or negligence.”
Demand for swift implementation of Merchant Power Policy
Hasnat criticized the government’s argument that dollar shortages and outstanding dues are preventing it from purchasing electricity and fuel. He claimed that despite many heavy industries shutting down due to the power and energy crisis, the interim government’s approved “Merchant Power Policy 2025” still has not been implemented.
According to Hasnat’s explanation, this policy would allow private power producers to sell electricity directly to large industrial enterprises. The price of electricity would be set between buyer and seller, with the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) simply kept informed. Surplus electricity could be fed into the national grid. He claimed this would require no expenditure from the state treasury.
He said: “All that remains is finalizing the SLA format and wheeling charges — a few weeks of administrative work, not rocket science.”
On the prime minister’s six-month deadline, Hasnat said: “Honorable prime minister, we offered the solution before you even spoke. You either didn’t think it necessary to read it, or it never reached you. Nevertheless, we accept the six-month timeline. But the clock isn’t the opposition’s — it’s your government’s.”
He also said that if implementing the Merchant Power Policy takes more than six months, it cannot be seen merely as a policy failure. In his words: “That would be an admission of a failure of capability.”
“The prime minister should have been the one held accountable”
Criticizing the practice of running trials in strategic sectors through proven failures or incompetent individuals, Hasnat said: “Running experiments in a strategic sector with a demonstrably failed minister and an incompetent person doesn’t count as ‘I have a plan’ — it’s a test of ‘I have no plan.'”
He also commented on the government’s role within a democratic system. Hasnat said: “In a functioning democracy, the prime minister doesn’t issue ultimatums or challenges to the opposition — rather, the government itself is held accountable for its work.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report