Masum Billah
Though the people of Bangladesh show optimism about ending the political impasse, yet the stances of the two alliances prove miles apart which threatens to crumble the notion of the optimists. Election Commissioner Mohammad Shah Nawaz said, “No one should be worried over the preparation for holding the election. We are getting ready to hold the election as per the constitution. We are hopeful that we would be able to conduct a free, fair and participatory election.’ Within one or two days the schedule may be announced.In response to this comment the opposition has warned -‘Bangladesh will be crippled if the election schedule is announced without restoring the non-party caretaker government.’ The BNP’s acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir urged opposition supporters at an 18-Party alliance’s rally at Suhrawardy Uddyan on 22 November to “come down to the streets”. He also announced demonstrations at Upazilas, Thanas and municipalities across the country demanding the ‘non-party’ government to oversee the next polls. Referring to the leaders and activists, he said, “All our options have closed… Independence and democracy will be ruined if this government comes back to power.”
He also termed the government’s polls-time interim cabinet illegal.” The Opposition Leader had met the President for a solution to the crisis. But he is yet to take any step. The Prime Minister moves around the country and tries to convince people that if the 18-party alliance comes to power they will destabilise the country. It is very interesting that the key players of the elections mean the citizens don’t stand between them. They just pass their comments. People could have shown their opinion if they had the real opportunity to give their verdict. No alliance can ensure this opportunity for the commoners except their respective followers. Only the followers of parties don’t represent the whole citizenry.
The Prime Minister has told Parliament that she has received the President’s approval to lead the election-time government. It is not difficult to understand for anyone that the opposition alliance will not accept it in any way. They rather say “This government has buried democracy.” BNP’s Vice-Chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had violated the Constitution by forming the illegal cabinet. “The Hasina-led government may hatch as many plots as they want, but it would be ousted by the second week of December, Jatiya Ganatantrik Party Chairman Shafiul Alam Prodhan said, “Nobody will be able to stop their fall. “National Democratic Party Chairman Khandaker Golam Murtoja threatened to lay a siege on the Election Commission if the poll schedule is announced. “Their water and gas supply will be stopped. They won’t be able to get any food there.’ These are not the symptoms of election preparation rather direct conflict and struggle.
The government wants to place the proof before the people that they have already earned the credibility to conduct a fair election putting forward the argument “A total of 5828 elections were held under the AL-led grand alliance government but no one brought any allegations of manipulation in any of those election.’ Actually these elections were local government elections. There lies a great difference between the local government and the national election. In the local government elections people elect their representatives to solve their local problems and the in the national election representatives are elected for making laws and running the state. This calculation is clear to all. So, the opposition does not want to go to polls under this reconstituted interim government.
This political stalemate has moved our development partners particularly those who have business, commercial or strategic and diplomatic interest in our territory. The foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the US Congress held a hearing on “Bangladesh in Turmoil: A Nation on the Brink” in Washington. At the hearing the speakers said rigid stances of the AL and BNP rising violence on streets and attacks on minorities are key concerns for the US government. One of the speakers asked the congress to remind the political parties that if they continued the path of violence and confrontation, Bangladesh’s participation in UN Peace-keeping and the revival of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) facility would be at stake. On the other side of the Atlantic, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for calm in the run-up to elections in Bangladesh. The resolution was passed after a debate focusing on human rights and election in Bangladesh. The government seem not giving any importance to these concerns. Can we actually afford it in this age of globalisation?
On 20 November the New York Times said in its editorial that Bangladesh could face pressure including perhaps sanctions, from the international community if violations of human rights continue. Referring to the ongoing political impasse, it said responsibility, for this crisis sits squarely with Prime Minister. The editorial said Hasina seems determined to hand on the power in advance of general elections scheduled for January and to neutralise her opponents by any means necessary. When foreign media makes such comments we must be cautious enough. Foreign diplomats in Dhaka have expressed almost the similar opinion and said their governments were annoyed and concerned over political turbulence in Bangladesh and indicated that they might not send election observers to endorse any polls without the participation of major political parties.
In spite of all these comments, criticisms, requests, threats and warning the ruling alliance is advancing with its own programme. It has formed a government with members from its alliance partners. Portfolios have also been distributed. The joining of Jatiya Party (Ershad), Workers Party (Menon) and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu) with the Awami League-led the government” does not bring any qualitative change in its nature. It is Hasina’s great challenge how to persuade BNP to drop its demand for a neutral non-partisan caretaker government and join the polls under her administration. Her next challenge is if BNP sticks to its guns and boycotts the election the vote will not be credible, nor will it be universally acceptable.
Khaleda Zia has her own challenges too. If she boycotts the election, but fails to build an effective resistance to it she risks ending up a loser. A mere boycott of the polls does not help her and her cause. US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal at a news conference emphasised on both the leaders’ sitting across the table with an open mind. It has also been ignored. So, the ray of hope is diminishing in the horizon. In this respect we remember the US congressional hearing which did not rule out the possibility of stepping in of the third force into the stage if the stalemate persists. Should the belligerent camps in Bangladesh politics still not pay heed to global concerns to avert such an eventuality?
(The writer is programme manager: BRAC Education Program and vice-ppresident: Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association (BELTA) -masumbillah65@gmail.com)
