On a private residential street in northwest London sits a property which was last sold in 2022 for £11 million ($13.8 million). The row of white townhouses is located in one of the UK capital's most affluent neighborhoods, a stone’s throw away from Regent’s Park and Lord's Cricket Ground. Marketing photographs of one of the properties in the development showcase floor-to-ceiling windows, a spiral staircase across several floors, a cinema and a gym. Now valued at more than £13 million by one property platform, the house is owned by a politician from Bangladesh, a country with currency controls that restrict its citizens, residents and public servants from moving more than $12,000 a year outside the country. The measures also prohibit corporations from transferring funds abroad unless permitted and only when certain conditions are met. Saifuzzaman Chowdhury served as land minister for five years up to January 2024. Since 2016, companies that he owns have built up a UK real estate empire of more than 350 properties worth about £200 million. These figures are based on a Bloomberg analysis of available Companies House corporate accounts in the UK, mortgage charges and HM Land Registry transactions. The properties range from luxury apartments in central London to housing in Tower Hamlets, home to the largest Bangladeshi community in England, and student accommodation in Liverpool. Analysis of nearly 250 of the UK properties show that almost 90% were classified as new-builds when bought, a valuable component in a UK housing market suffering severe shortages. These transactions took place during a period when the UK government had committed to making foreign property ownership more transparent amid criticism of the ease with which Russian oligarchs were able to hide their wealth in the UK. This process became more urgent in the wake of Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The Chowdhury property deals could revive questions over whether UK legislation to scrutinize such purchases involving politicians are effective, according to transparency advocates. Bangladeshi Politician Buys London Property Empire Properties acquired by companies owned by MP and former Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, sized by the price paid, where known Bloomberg has also identified at least five properties in Manhattan belonging to Chowdhury, bought for a total of about $6 million between 2018 and 2020, according to municipal property records. Chowdhury was re-elected as an MP, but lost his cabinet post after national elections on Jan. 7, which were boycotted by the opposition after anti-government protests were violently put down. He has since become chair of the parliamentary committee for land. In a pre-election declaration of his interests in December, Chowdhury listed his total assets at about 258.3 million Bangladeshi taka ($2.4 million), and those of his wife, Rukhmila Zaman, at about $993,000. He did not include his UK property holdings in the declaration of assets in Bangladesh. His 2022-23 salary as a minister of state is listed as about £10,000. The country’s currency controls are policed by the central bank.   Source: Bloomberg

Thailand's Constitutional Court has cleared former candidate for prime minister Pita Limjaroenrat of charges that could have seen him banned from politics. The 43-year-old has been reinstated as a lawmaker. Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that former prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat had not broken election rules and lifted his suspension from the country's parliament.   Under reformist candidate Pita, the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most votes in last year's general election, promising to reform Thailand's strict royal insult laws, reduce the power of the military and break up business monopolies. But the 43-year-old was blocked from becoming prime minister and suspended as a member of parliament over claims that he had violated election law by owning shares in a media company while the MFP was excluded from the governing coalition. The case revolved around shares in the defunct television station ITV, which Pita said he inherited from his late father, but Judge Punya Udchachon ruled that "ITV was not operating as a media company on the day the party submitted the respondent's name for election." He concluded that "holding the shares did not violate the law. The court has ruled his MP status has not ended."   Pita: 'I will still be working for the people' Outside the court in Bangkok, there were jubilant scenes as dozens of supporters wearing the orange colors of the MFP welcomed the ruling with chants of "PM Pita!" Arriving for the hearing earlier in the morning, Pita had said he was confident of the outcome and thanked MFP supporters. "No matter the result, I will still be working for the people," he said ahead of the court's decision.  After being written off by many experts, the MFP surprised the establishment during the 2023 election campaign as Pita struck a chord with young and urban Thais frustrated at nearly a decade of military rule. The MFP beat the conservative Pheu Thai (For Thais) party of veteran political playmaker and former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra into second place, pledging to reform Thailand's strict lèse-majesté laws, combat business monopolies and take on the military's influence in politics.   But senators appointed by the previous ruling junta blocked Pita from becoming prime minister as Pheu Thai formed a coalition that included pro-military parties and shut MFP out of government. Another challenge looms for the MFP next week when the Constitutional Court will consider a petition arguing that a pledge to reform royal insult laws amounted to an attempt to overthrow the democratic government with the king as a head of state. Pita said he was "confident" in the second case and has not ruled out another tilt at the premiership in the future.

President Abdul Hamid on Saturday urged all political parties to promote the people in politics who have an early orientation in politics as it is inappropriate to become a politician overnight.   "I did politics for so many years but if I want to be an assistant professor of Dhaka University today, I cannot. Many government bureaucrats, army officers, doctors, engineers want to get involved in politics after their retirement… but why? Now, all political parties should think about it seriously,” he said.   The President was delivering speech at the 51st convocation of Dhaka University (DU) at its campus. Reports UNB. Abdul Hamid said, “If you want to join politics, you should get involved in politics on completion of your education, without entering any other job. This is not right to become a politician overnight without early orientation.” The President went on saying, "Those who are politically motivated since the early stage, they should be given the opportunity to do politics. There has been no qualitative change in politics as professionals are making direct entry into politics.”    “Experts are needed. So, political parties can invite professionals as experts, but shouldn’t invite them for direct engagement in politics. There’s no problem if anyone enters politics directly without taking up any job,” he said.   Abdul Hamid also spoke about the election to Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (Ducsu) saying, “When there’s a schedule (for election), there’ll be many calculations. Many can create many problems for making their personal gains. Students shouldn’t be deprived of their election for all these reasons.”  The President said the university will have to be quick about this so that no one can interfere in the Ducsu election.”  He urged the students to be united in resisting such interference stemming from personal interests. AH