Vol. 13 No. 4 (2026)
World Social Work Day, 2026: ‘Co-Building Hope and Harmony: A Harambee Call to Unite a Divided Society’

Editorials

Institutional Gravity and the Limits of Crisis Leadership in Bangladesh

Published 2026-03-27

  • Jayanta Biswa Sarma

Jayanta Biswa Sarma
Consultant Microbiologist, Letterkenny University Hospital, Health Services Executive, Ireland

Abstract

The political transition in Bangladesh between 2024 and 2026 provides an important case for examining the limits of crisis leadership within deeply embedded political systems. This editorial argues that the trajectory of the transition cannot be adequately understood through the actions or perceived shortcomings of individual leaders alone. Instead, it reflects the enduring influence of institutional embeddedness and party dominance within Bangladesh’s political structure. Drawing on the theoretical framework of democratic legitimacy—particularly the distinction between input, throughput, and output legitimacy—the analysis explores why the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus struggled to consolidate durable authority despite initial public trust. While the transitional leadership entered office with moral credibility among segments of the protest movement, it lacked an electoral mandate and encountered structural constraints that made establishing procedural and performance legitimacy difficult. The editorial further examines the role of Bangladesh’s deeply embedded party system, including the Awami League, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and the re-emergence of Islamist political actors such as Jamaat-e-Islami, to demonstrate how political institutions retain resilience even during periods of upheaval. The fate of the July Charter of 2025 illustrates the broader gap between civic aspiration and institutional capacity. Comparative references to recent political crises in Pakistan and Sri Lanka suggest that such patterns are characteristic of transitional politics in South Asia more broadly. Ultimately, the transition reveals the gravitational pull of entrenched political structures: despite widespread public disillusionment with party politics, democratic legitimacy in Bangladesh continues to flow primarily through its institutionalised party system.

Keywords

Bangladesh Politics, Institutional Embeddedness, Democratic Legitimacy, Political Parties, Transitional Governance, South Asian Political Transitions, Civil Society Movements

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Author Biography

Jayanta Biswa Sarma

Dr Jayanta Biswa Sarma is a consultant microbiologist and practising clinician whose work spans infection sciences, antimicrobial resistance, and healthcare quality improvement. A graduate of Gauhati Medical College (MBBS, 1990), he has served in the UK National Health Service for over two decades, including as Consultant Microbiologist since 2003, and currently as Lead Consultant Microbiologist and Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

His academic trajectory reflects a sustained commitment to lifelong learning over nearly three decades. Beginning with an MSc in Bacteriology and Virology at the University of Manchester (1996), he continued to pursue advanced qualifications alongside clinical practice, including Membership and Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists, a Diploma in Hospital Infection Control (LSHTM, 2010), a PhD from Gauhati University (2011), leadership training at Durham University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education (Dundee, 2018), and a later MSc in Genomics from Newcastle University (2019).
This longitudinal pattern of study underscores a deliberate and enduring engagement with evolving scientific knowledge.

Dr Sarma’s research contributions focus on antimicrobial resistance, healthcare-associated infections, and diagnostic stewardship, with a substantial body of peer-reviewed work, including participation in landmark studies on emerging resistance mechanisms such as NDM-1.

Beyond medicine, he maintains a parallel engagement with intellectual and cultural life in Assam. He has authored seven scholarly publications, alongside three essays, three translations, and a sustained body of editorial writing over more than a decade in Assamese youth magazines, reflecting a long-standing commitment to public discourse and literary engagement.

He is also active in diaspora-led initiatives and played a key editorial role in the Global Assamese Conference (GAC) 2026, contributing to the conceptual and editorial development of its souvenir Biswar Chande Chande, which reflects the aspirations of global Assamese engagement.

Dr Sarma is a founding figure and Chairperson of the Assam Healthcare Cooperative Society Ltd, through which he has supported community-oriented healthcare initiatives. He continues to write and speak on healthcare, ethics, culture, and public life, engaging audiences both in Assam and across the diaspora.

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