Published in The Independent, July 5, 2009
In recent times, there has been a series of news and views expressed in the media on the boycott of the BNP in the Budget session of Parliament. These views are critical. Treasury bench parliamentarian Suranjit Sen has suggested recall of the members who abstain from attending parliamentary sessions.
Unfortunately, BNP's boycott of the Parliament is not new. Suranjit Sen should know it better for this trend was set by his party when they were in the opposition when democratic government returned to Bangladesh after Ershad's fall in 1991. BNP obliged by doing the same when the AL was in office between 1996-2001. Awami League continued this trend again when they were in the opposition in 2001-2006.
Boycott of the parliament is unacceptable under any circumstances. In Bangladesh, it is a symptom of what is a much bigger and wider problem in our politics; a negative mindset with which these two parties do politics. We all know that during the five years tenure of the BNP, there was widespread corruption, politicisation of the bureaucracy; criminalisation of politics, and parochialism and narrow mindedness in distributing benefits of governance to those who were not supporters of their party. The Awami League was voted to office with a historical majority, among other reasons, also because of these drawbacks of the BNP and because of the AL pledge to fight these elements. Of course, the voters were also impressed with the other AL promises such as trial of the war criminals and its Vision 2021.
Half a year or 1/10th of the AL's term is already over but most of the reasons for which the people voted them to power have remained promises. In fact, the AL is moving in the same direction that the BNP went with governance. Corruption is gradually but surely finding its way back where the BNP left it. The politicisation of the bureaucracy is entering into a new phase with the largest number of senior bureaucrats being made OSDs in Bangladesh's history to determine their political affiliation. In appointing Ambassadors/High Commissioners in major capitals, professional diplomats have given way to political appointees, the first time professional diplomats have been treated so summarily that even the Foreign Secretary has not found a position. The criminals are back in full force with a slide in the law and order situation that is the cause of concern of everyone now. The trial of the war criminals, promised to be held as soon as the party took office, is still uncertain.
There are a few actions that AL has taken, even if they have gone against BNP, needed to be taken from their point of view, like for instance those related to history. The public understands this. But to clear all cases brought by the ACC against the AL during the emergency as politically motivated and not include even one from the BNP is something that has raised apprehension as to the intent of the ruling party. Then of course there are issues aimed on a personal level that, however correct they may be legally, are politically going to cause dissension and conflict in politics in place of the unity that the country and the government so badly needs.
Although the two mainstream parties never find any issue upon which to cooperate, they do have an eerie sense of cooperation in what is not good for our politics. When one criticises the other while in the opposition, it ends up doing worse regarding those very issues on assuming power. In the present instance, the AL is not allowing BNP the extra seats in the front row of parliament on the plea that the BNP declined a similar request from AL when in power between 2001-2006. While the BNP was in power, it dominated the Parliament by its two third majority and accommodating the AL's extra seats could have easily been done. In the present parliament, the AL has even a larger majority but it is denying the BNP the extra seats to pay back for what they did to the AL. For a political party enjoying such a huge majority, as the BNP did in 2001-2006 and the AL now, it is sadly a reflection of a negative mindset. The BNP has already suffered for this mindset and the AL could be exposing itself to the same fate by following the BNP's footsteps.
A recent study has placed Bangladesh 19th in the list of countries prone to become a failed state. This is unfortunate. In South Asia, two countries are higher on the list, Pakistan at 10th and Sri Lanka at 12th. These two countries have reasons to be placed ahead of us. Bangladesh should fare ahead of all other nations in South Asia because she has all it takes for successful nation building. We are a homogenous and egalitarian nation where religious and/or regional divides have little impact on our politics. We have shown the world what we can do by coming together as we did in 1971. In following the clarion call of Bangobandhu for fighting for our independence, we became a monolithic whole and succeeded in defeating a genocidal army to win our freedom and nationhood.
Unfortunately, we have not been united under a cause ever since. In fact, in the initial years, the politics was one of political assassinations and violence leading to militarisation that was an anathema to the rationale of our war of independence. When democracy returned, we saw the two mainstream political parties fight on issues that have not allowed Bangladesh to achieve the potentials with which we are endowed. Thousands of days were lost on hartal that gained nothing for the country but pushed us higher as a failed state.
The AL should realise that the 19th position we have received in the failed state criterion is not encouraging news to achieve their Vision 2021. The way to achieve this vision is for it to try and revive the spirit of 1971; the spirit of unity. That spirit will never be achieved if it believes that the only way for Bangladesh's development is the Awami League way. Bangladesh's potentials and its development will succeed only when the ruling party can get over this mindset and evolve a bipartisan approach to nation building. It is true that even if the AL tries to achieve unity, the BNP may not be forthcoming. But if the AL makes moves for seeking the BNP's cooperation, the latter will find it difficult to stand in the way of the AL's initiatives for transforming Bangladesh away from the threats of failing as a state.
Time is fast clicking away. The BNP that was in disarray after the elections is consolidating slowly. Unless the AL concentrates on governance and does so on a bipartisan way, it is only a matter of time for violence and conflict to return in our politics. In that event, AL's "Vision 2021" and "Deen Bodoler Pala" could remain merely promises. With little tolerance towards the opposition that is the basis of democracy, the AL can enhance its chances of achieving these promises.
Recently, the British Parliament elected a Speaker. In a Parliament where the Labour Party has a comfortable 66 seats majority, a Conservative has been elected as the Speaker. After his election, the new Speaker John Bercow in a speech said that he would be giving up his party affiliation so that as Speaker he could be impartial as is required by the office. In the present political climate in Bangladesh, we cannot even dare to hope that we could have a Speaker comparable to the British Speaker. But then why can we not hope that the present Speaker of Bangladesh would at least have the courage and common sense to give the BNP the extra seats and get them to the Parliament. He should know better than anybody that a Parliament where the Opposition remains absent cannot be a democratic parliament no matter how much one would like to blame the BNP for the boycott or how correct it would be to do so. If he could muster that courage, he would in fact be doing the AL and Bangladesh a favour and teaching the BNP a lesson for its action when in power.
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