DHAKA : Information and Broadcasting Minister Andaleeve Rahman has said good and honest people need to enter politics to make the country’s development and progress sustainable.

“If we cannot produce good politicians, whatever dreams we talk about will not be sustainable,” he said while addressing a seminar titled “Barishal Division of Tomorrow: Prospects and Things to Do,” organized by the Barishal Divisional Journalists Association (BDJA) at the LD Hall of the Jatiya Sangsad here today.

Chief Whip of the Jatiya Sangsad Nurul Islam Moni addressed the seminar as the chief guest.

The minister said, “We have now reached a point where, if we want to bring about quality development, good people must come to leadership.”

Andaleeve said a major leadership crisis had emerged in the country over the past 17 years. Good and talented young people had moved away from politics, while a kind of distrust had developed among people toward politicians, he said, adding that even children of many politicians do not want to enter politics.

He said doing politics is extremely important. Just as good food cannot be prepared without a good chef even when good ingredients are available, the benefits of development and progress cannot be made sustainable unless good people come to leadership, he observed.

The Information and Broadcasting Minister said Barishal has an unparalleled heritage. From football to politics and various other fields, Barishal and its people have provided leadership to Bangladesh, he said. “Since the Pakistan period through the post-independence era of Bangladesh, many important political leaders have emerged from the region and played successful roles in various fields of the country,” he added.

He said good politicians must be produced in the coming days to turn Barishal into a true dream city. This issue is extremely important, he said.

The minister said talented and good young men and women from all electoral constituencies and districts surrounding Barishal should be encouraged to enter politics. For this, a conducive environment for entering politics needs to be created, he said.

Andaleeve said, “We must produce good political leadership for the next generations; otherwise, no development will be sustainable. This is not only a problem of Barishal; this crisis exists throughout Bangladesh.”

He said infrastructure development, gas supply and industrialization constitute one form of development. “But what the country needs now is quality and sustainable development. And for that, good people must come to leadership,” he added.

Mentioning that many great leaders, including Sher-e-Bangla A K Fazlul Huq, emerged from Barishal, he said qualified and good leadership must emerge from the region in the future as well.

The minister said that alongside becoming doctors, engineers, lawyers and software engineers or going abroad, if some of the country’s most talented and educated young people enter politics with a determination to change the country, it will mark the beginning of a positive change for the country.