Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal aka Lotus Kamal should show some etiquette, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said.
Muhith, initially reluctant to comment on Kamal’s criticisms and uncharitable remarks about him, advised his colleague on Tuesday to have better manners.
The planning minister had ridiculed the elderly Muhith while speaking to reporters on Monday.
“He places huge budgets he can’t implement, and goes off to sleep while presenting it in Parliament,” Kamal said.“He is an old man and often talks rubbish,” he said, taking a personal dig many would find to be in bad taste.
“Ministers should have a minimum level of manners,” Muhith said when asked for a reaction.
Kamal had also alleged the finance minister was unable to take action against the World Bank, despite issuing threats, because of the pension he still got from the global lender.
“He (Kamal) keeps making statements based on falsehood,” said Muhith. “I don’t get pension from anyone in the world except the Bangladesh government.”
“I said only once that I will file a case against the World Bank because they had humiliated us on the Padma issue,” he added.
“Then, again, I also added I would do that only after I resign because, as a minister, World Bank is my biggest development partner.”
There are reports of an intensifying row between the two ministers over the Annual Development Program (ADP) in the 2013-14 budget.
The Finance Ministry appears to have pared down the allocation the Planning Ministry had sought.
Muhith, however, dismissed queries about the quarrel, saying it was an “everyday” affair.
Kamal, in his diatribe, had also taken a pot shot at the Public-Private Partnership model or PPP. “He (Muhith) has developed the PPP but I don’t know if it is cow or a goat? Hope the people know what it is!”
Muhith in his rejoineder said the planning minister only betrayed his ignorance by admitting that he was unable to fathom what PPP was all about.
“PPP is an international concept,” he added, perhaps for his detractor’s benefit.
He was suggestively silent when asked about Kamal’s claim that he could write a budget with 10-15 pages. – bdnews24.com
