Editorial
Invitations farce?
Could have been a good opportunity to improve the political scene
IN a political environment as in Bangladesh, where politicians from opposite camps never see eye to eye, where the leaders of the two major parties never meet even by accident, where straightjacket mindset is the cause of the apparently unbreachable wall of mistrust between the two, many saw in the Iftar invitations the possibilities of Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia meeting; and which would have been a good opportunity for breaking the ice between the two. At the end what turned out was invitation farce. The two Iftar parties were held in close proximity without either being represented in the other party.
It so happened that the two Iftar parties came to be held on the same day. One wonders whether choosing August 29 was a mere coincidence and whether or not the clash could have been avoided. We feel that in this instance the onus of adjusting the date fell on the BNP since the PM's programme as per protocol deserves and gets higher priority. It is customary too, we feel, to inquire into the commitment of the PM and personalities of the same status before finalising one's programme where one intends to invite her or him, if their presence is genuinely sought. It is quite another matter if the invitation is only a show.
At a time like this, any sliver of opportunity that holds out the prospect of a rapprochement between the two should have been welcomed and seized. This would have gone down very well with the people across the political divide.
We lost a good opportunity to establish a decent atmosphere for democracy when the AL went back on their pledge of giving the Deputy Speaker's post to the opposition on the excuse that they wanted to bring in constitutional change and have two deputy speakers and give one to the opposition - a very disingenuous way of retracting on a promise.
We had taken great heart when the PM announced that the BNP would not be treated on the number parliamentary seats. In fact it was the number seats of the opposition that has guided the AL attitude so far.
But the BNP has not lagged behind on their part. It has been boycotting the parliament on a very flimsy excuse. For a party that got 32 percent of the votes to become oblivious of that fact is a gross violation of trust of the voters and abdication of responsibility of representing them in the parliament. They did not think it necessary to attend even the budget session or have issues like the Tipai dam, the CHT and maritime issues, to cite a few examples, debated in the parliament.
How long will we be subjected to the old, destructive and senseless politics between our two leading parties?
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments