Degenerating politics

Meanwhile, the genocidal activities of the religious militants in our country heightened alarmingly. Our development partners and western dignitaries began to pinpoint the need for holding acceptable elections with participation of major political parties for the sake of fledgling democracy in Bangladesh. They also asserted that Parliament should restore its position as the focal point of discussions on national and other issues. They urged upon resolving reform issues through meaningful dialogues between the ruling and opposition parties.

The alliance government leaders asked the opposition AL to come to the House to ventilate their demands, if they had any.

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At last the AL returned to the Parliament after long absence that risked their membership to fall vacant under the constitutional bar.

On 12 March 2006 on the floor of the House the leader of the opposition Sheikh Hasina gave a detailed speech on the proposed reforms in the CTG, EC spelling out their merit to ensure fair and credible polls.

The leader of the House Begum Khaleda Zia attended the Parliament in the winding up session and told that a committee might be formed with the ruling and opposition members to examine the proposed reforms.

After the 14-party opposition held demonstrations like street agitations, hartal etc to drump up support routinely encountering police actions like lathi-charge, teargas shelling, water cannons etc, sometimes not event sparing the lady demonstrators, and BNP leaders declaring the reform proposals as useless, unnecessary, conspiratorial to subvert government's wave of development activities punctuated with the declaration of the Prime Minister in a mammoth public meeting that the defence of the government during the tenure of the CTG would remain with the President that the reform proposals demanded to be placed with the chief of the CTG to maintain the continuity of the heritage of the Parliamentary democracy -- came on 20 March 2006 a letter from the BNP to the general secretary of the AL asking him to send names of their representatives to sit on that committee.

Within one and a half hours of receipt of the letter, the AL leaders sat and discussed the matter. Next day they conferred with the leaders of the other members of the alliance. On 22 March 2006 they gave a reply to the BNP secretary-general Abdul Mannan Bhuiya requesting him to inform on the number of representatives they (AL) would nominate, the kind of the committee, its tenure, terms of reference etc.

After 9 days the BNP Secretary-General replied that the committee would be composed of 10 members, both the sides having equal representation, asking his counterpart of the AL to submit names of five members from his side.

The prelude to dialogue exercise is on.

The public are watching with concern if the committee will break the stalemate that has plagued the two major political parties and will be able to fetch some results through meaningful dialogues. Or it is simply a tactic of the ruling BNP to buy time to hoodwink the adversary who often threaten to uproot the government.

In my humble judgement an answer to the above issues depends on mainly three factors. First, is the ruling alliance strong enough to protect their roadmap to victory in the upcoming national polls? Second, will the opposition alliance be able to muster people under their banner to launch potential movement against the government? Third, will the donor countries, mainly the US, find it that expedient as to potentially pressurise the alliance government to accept the proposed reforms, wholly or partly? Let us examine the factors one by one.

Factor one: The alliance government has assiduously completed the election engineering blueprint. The chief adviser of the CTG will be their man because they have enhanced retirement age of the judges of higher Judiciary to get him in. The chief election commissioner is their handpicked and to give him a majority in the commission two more election commissioners of proven learning to the BNP have been inducted. The administration, the police are made pathetically submitting to the ruling parties by reckless, rampant promotion, transfer, privilege, punishment. Above all to meet any eventuality, if occurring, during the tenure of the CTG, there remains the partisan President to realise party wish. So, the alliance government may at best sacrifice one or two pawns in the game of dialogue with the opposition but will surely fight tooth and nail to defend their king.

Strange is the game of politics in Bangladesh. True, power politics has fashioned the present day world. Even the most developed countries of Europe, America are found to have stooped to this vice, let alone poor, developing countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America. But as is prevailing in Bangladesh, very few countries of world have granted also almost total immunities to the ruling party leaders and their cohorts from accountability -- financial, political and other kinds.

Louis xiv of France once vaunted -- "I am the Estate." Louis xvi continued -- "What I desire is decree." Our Louises are more vigorous. French Louises were sometimes 'enlightened.' But our Louises are furthest from that enlightenment which dryden deridingly described as one who "never deviates into sense."

Factor Two : The main opposition AL have blown many false whistles to topple the government. They are fortunate that the alliance government have offered them (AL) many issues like price hike, electricity, diesel, fertiliser, religious militancy etc to launch movement against the government. But the BNP are more fortunate that the AL failed badly to capitalise on them. For a movement people's active participation is a pre-requisite. So far on AL's call people have not marched on probably because the people have also seen their (AL's) greedy faces incompatible with promoting people's welfare unless it comes as a by-product. However, the formation of an opposition alliance has somehow inspired the people because if the opposition alliance come to power there will remain some personalities to balance the dictatorship of the top brass of the AL. By now something like a campaign has been while floated that the opposition alliance would abandon corrupt persons nominating for the upcoming parliamentary polls.

Meanwhile, the issue of religious militancy has come on the top. Fortunately not one percent of the people of Bangladesh has approved it. The masterminds of religious militancy who hoped to befool the people by painting a rosy picture of instituting 'sharia' law in this vastly Muslim-majority country have themselves been hoodwinked by the reactions the people have distinctly demonstrated against all activities of the militants.

As days roll on, it has got clearer that the religious militancy is in one way or other linked to the Jamaat-e-Islam, a viable partner of the alliance government. This has put the BNP to face multi-faceted allegations of giving indulgence to religious militancy not only from the opposition but also from embassies of the foreign countries, though allegations coming in some tacit form, and even from some influential quarters in own partyfold. The BNP are now practically walking on a tight rope. On the other hand, along with responding to BNP's letter, the opposition alliance have continued to stiffen their movement by drawing countrywide programmes.

Factor three: The donor countries are primarily concerned with their own agenda. The geo-political conditions of Bangladesh have offered some lucrative prospects to the foreign countries indulging in global diplomacy of profit and potency spearheaded by the lone superpower USA. When the major political parties, forming the ruling and the opposition, are equally disposed to serve their (donor countries') interests they (donor countries) may consider which of the political parties have greater capacity to placate the adverse public reactions that may occur in the event of exploring (exploiting?) the resources, underground or above, of a country by the donor countries. They (donor countries) are as well hawkish enough to examine what pattern of politics the political outfits are pursuing.

So long the donor countries seem to have stressed on the need for reforms in CTG, EC. But it is not known how they will react to acts of aberration, likely to come, from the ruling parties in future.

Quite intriguingly, with the same hand, in the same breath, the BNP have composed letters responding to the proposals of reforms and have set to decomposing political climate simultaneously. Has the essence of our present day politics degenerated into that pass?

AR Shamsul Islam Retd. Principal, Govt Mohila College, Pabna.