Extortion and public misery: What is the way out?

Published in The Daily Independent, August 21, 2009

Two Ministers of the government, holding the key posts of Finance and Food between them, acknowledged that criminals with links to the ruling party and members of the law enforcement agencies are responsible for the high prices consumer pay for daily commodities because they regularly extort money from trucks and other vehicles that carry these commodities to the market. The Finance Minister, animated as always, pleaded with these elements to stop their illegal activities so that Bangladesh could "be a wealthy nation in 10 years."

The Food Minister gave unbelievable figures of how much the consumers suffer from these politically connected extortionists and members of the law enforcement agencies. He said that traders and truckers pay three fourths of the negotiated transportation fare to these elements that they conveniently pass on to the consumers. The Ministers were speaking recently at a business event in Dhaka.

In speaking to the media these days, our Ministers are often, candidly honest. This is indeed encouraging. What however is not encouraging is that the Ministers are not forthcoming on informing the public on what they intend to do with what they so honestly acknowledge. In this instance, the Ministers' candid admission is nothing unknown to the public. Our highways are used every day by millions of our people who see as a common sight, these extortionists at work. The law enforcement agencies also are not shy to do what they do out of sight of the public. It was however baffling that after admitting such criminal activities by members of their own party and the law enforcement agencies, the Ministers were expressing hope that they should stop such illegal activities to allow Bangladesh to become a wealthy country!

Of course, there is precious little that these Ministers can do to deal with what they have acknowledged publicly. The reason is in the nature of politics that we have allowed to grow in the country in the name of fighting for democracy. In a span of 25 years, we fought colonial and oppressive forces twice, the last one in 1971 that was also genocidal and won. In fighting these forces, we won because we have depended heavily and completely on our political parties that have played their role extremely well by bringing the people together to fight the common enemy. In other societies, the political parties that have played similar roles went into the background once the fight against the forces of oppression was won. The elected government was left alone to lead and build the nation. The role of political parties in all countries today adhering to a democratic form of government is predominantly, election centric. They come into the political stage actively in helping their candidates to win and form the government and recede into the background once the elections are over.

In Bangladesh, this did not happen because the anti-democratic forces managed to be around even after we won our independence. The political parties were therefore required to remain active in everyday politics. The opportunity to do the right thing after Ershad's decade long dictatorship fell as a result of the movement led by the BNP and the Awami League was wasted because these two mainstream parties created the need for using the political parties in everyday politics to fight each other. In fact, our politics has become corrupt and criminalised because the political leadership of both these mainstream parties have indulged with their respective parties to keep them busy in politics even when the elections were over when the correct thing should have been for the party in power and the one in the opposition to cooperate on a nation building agenda. The politics that has emerged in our country, created by these two parties is one in which the party that wins gives its members a share of political power by allowing them to use their political clout to receive benefit from governance, legally and illegally. The one in the opposition has kept its party alive by using it to fight these criminal activities, quite conveniently forgetting that when it was in power, it did pretty much the same.
For the first time though, we are witnessing a change in the way our politicians conduct politics. The way the two Ministers have acknowledged their own party's complicity in extortion is a hint of that change. The Prime Minister herself has spoken out strongly in urging the Home Ministry to crack down on the extortionists even if they would happen to be Awami Leaguers. However, for achieving the desired result, a lot more has to be done by the Prime Minister herself and her Ministers. There has to be a paradigm shift in the way she runs her party. At the same time, there has to be a major change in understanding and assessing the role of a political party in democracy. In the good old days when we were fighting the forces of oppression, our political leadership needed an extensive network of the party right up to the grass root level to carry the message of the party, its policies and manifestos to the voters to win their favour. This is also why our political leadership, as they were establishing their parties in those times of democratic struggles, had to depend on labour wings, youth wings, and students' wings, etcetera, etcetera for succeeding as a political party.

Today, times have changed dramatically. The revolution in information has short-circuited the need for the extensive network. The Prime Minister is aware better than anyone how much she and her party had to depend for winning the last elections so comprehensively. Privately she has even commented that with an AL ticket, even a log would have won a seat in Parliament. She owes very little for AL's massive election victory in December last to those who are today wearing the AL hat and extorting money. She owes very little also to the activists in her labour wing and none at all to her students' wing. Yet these are the people who are not just giving the party a bad name; if they are not contained, the party's election promises of a Digital Bangladesh and Vision 2021 would remain visions in paper and may not see the light of day.

It is time therefore for action and not for just hoping that these elements would give up extortion to allow Bangladesh to become wealthy. The Prime Minister's warning sadly will also not have the desired effect. A few facts must be acknowledged. First, the Awami League has won the elections and formed the government. Second, the AL leaders in government, including the Prime Minister, represent the nation, not just the party. Finally, they are therefore required by the principles and practices of a democratic government to give the nation's interests precedence over the party's. Unfortunately, in distortion of these principles and practices, our mainstream parties have, since the return of elected governments, allowed the officials of the party in power to use their influence in government, which is a major reason for the endemic corruption in our governance. Extortion that is now a major reason for people's sufferings is the direct consequence of this indulgence.

Once elected in a parliamentary democracy like ours, the influence of the party in office should end at the doorsteps of the executive branch. Its role should increase in the parliament instead. The reverse, unfortunately, is the reality in Bangladesh. Unless the reversal is corrected, the "hopes" of the Ministers and the dire warning of the Prime Minister would not lead to the desired result. The only way out is for a message to go out from the Prime Minister that in enforcing the law, taking decisions by the executive branch of the government, being an Awami League party official or representing the Awami League is not a license for favour. This calls for a paradigm shift in governance that will take a long time for sustainable results but it is high time to make a start as much for the Awami League as it is for the nation. The role of the law enforcement agencies in connection of money they make in the transportation sector is a different matter, much easier to handle if the government is serious about it.