Greenwatch Report
The most contentious point in political discourses of the time hovering over the credibility gap between the government and the opposition is the creation of a ‘level playing field’ for the next elections. The main opposition wants the elections to be held under a non-party neutral administration as against the government’s stand to organise the same under its own supervision. The maximum the government has offered to concede is to accommodate ministers from the opposition in the election-time government headed by the incumbent Prime Minister. The opposition has rejected the offer and wants the Prime Minister to resign to pave the way for the creation of a neutral administration.The absence of meaningful give and take, or even the semblance of the same, has brought the opposition movement to the harshest stage of countrywide ‘abarodh’ (blockade) for four successive weeks since November 26 following the announcement of the polls schedule by the Election Commission on the day before. The opposition had earlier enforced Dhaka blockade from November 4 to 6. Tension started mounting since October 24 since when the countdown for the election started as per the 15th constitutional amendment passed by the incumbent government. The opposition had wanted the government to resign and go for the institution of an election-time non-party neutral government. Political commentaries published in newspapers and aired through television talk shows shed light on various aspects of the discord, the latest being putting blame on both the government and the opposition for the impasse.
In an apparent move to adjust their demand with the requirements of the Constitution and the stand of the government, the opposition has been asking for a non-party neutral government as against their original demand for caretaker government. This constitutional provision was inserted in 1996 under duress by the then BNP government because of a strong movement followed by boycott of the February 1996 general election by the Awami League and its then allies the Jatiya Party and, the ideologue of the caretaker concept, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. After winning the subsequent June 1996 election the AL leaders had jeered at the BNP leaders in Parliamnet for their initial stand taken against the caretaker concept as being contrary to principles of democracy.
The tide turned after the annulment of the 13th constitutional amendment on caretaker government by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, and its incorporation in the subsequent 15th amendment without taking the opposition on board. By then the system had started to be appreciated abroad, and some South Asian countries like Nepal and Pakistan acknowledged its usefulness in holding free and fair elections. The incumbents now call the opposition demand for election under the supervision of ‘unelected people’ as against the spirit of democracy. The consequence of a lack of compromise on the issue is that the government is continuing to be in the driving seat utilising all the advantages of being in the position of commanding all state powers, forces and services under its disposal on the one hand and the opposition suffering the disadvantage of being on the run for their movement that has been termed as a plot to protect those charged for war crimes, on the other. Worse even is the charge against the opposition of harbouring religious exremists.
Thus while the incumbents are still running the government with powers exercised to take even the senior-most opposition leaders to jails on petty charged of setting fire to passenger buses during general strikes that led to death of innocent people. Not only the senior leaders of the opposition parties but also the central and district level leaders of their affiliate organisations – the Chhatra Dal, the Juba Dal and the Swechhasebak Dal have been charged with subversive activities and taken prisoners. The gagging of the opposition parties has been so extensive and searches to arrest their remaining leaders so aggressive that they had to go into hiding. After the arrest of Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and some other leaders who used to spell out the opposition stand on different issues and announce their programmes of movement from their central office in Naya Paltan area of the city, no BNP leader dares go to there. Such plight of the main opposition party made one largely circulated vernacular daily make a lead news story under the headline – ‘the fugitive BNP’.
The situation of BNP’s ally Jamaat is more precarious. Jamaat-e-Islami ‘s registration with the Election Commission as a political party has been cancelled, the party and its student affiliate Islami Chhatra Shibir branded as a band of ‘terrorists’. According to sources, the jails have been filled mostly with Jamaat activists and leaders. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) finds it difficult to sustain the operation of the party machine in the face of mass arrests of its leaders on criminal charges. Many of them have been awarded jail terms during the past four years for engaging in picketing during opposition agitation programmes like general strike by mobile courts. In the past such courts used to be fielded as deterrence to offences like food adulteration, riding trains without tickets or black-marketing of train tickets.
While the leaders and activists of the student affiliates of the opposition political parties have been on the run, each facing arrest in more than once case, those of the ruling parties have been keeping the educational institutions and their dormitories under their control for more than four years driving out those belonging to opposition affiliates. While opposition activists face teargas and bullets fired by law enforcers if they come out to streets, those belonging the ruling parties get protection and are free to orgaise meetings and processions that are severely restricted for the opposition.
Worst of all, in an extremely polarised news media environment in the country, the government not only controls the state owned media, but also has shut down opposition’s news media organisations including television channels and newspapers seriously affecting the publication and airing of opposition news and view. The opposition also complains of politicisation of the administration and the law enforcing agencies through termination or disarming of those officers who were seen as sympathetic to the opposition. Thus the opposition has on different occasions maintained that without reshuffling of the administration that principally oversees the conduct of polling, elections can never be free and fair.
