Government-opposition relations
THE post-independence politico-administrative history of Bangladesh may be divided broadly into four parts. They are,
-Period of rehabilitation and reconstruction (1972-75),
-Period of military dictatorship (1976-90),
-Period of regained democracy (1991-2006), and
-Period of civil-military interim government (2007-08).
In our struggle for independence we sacrificed a lot for economic and political freedom. Unfortunately, we could achieve little due to political instability.
We may not have been able to achieve our goals. We need not be frustrated. Whatever may be the extent of our success it cannot be ignored. With our weak economy we have been able to survive so many natural disasters during the last 38 years. We are facing the world's worst economic crisis better than many countries economically and politically stronger than us.
We have been able to successfully overthrow military dictatorships and semi-military governments due to the strength of the people's opinion mobilised by our political parties, particularly the major ones.
Our people prefer democracy to dictatorial type of government despite inherent incompetence of democracy. The government, which made many commitments at the polls, has not yet been able to show clearly and confidently that it is capable of achieving its goals. This appears to be due to its defective assessment of the capability of the administration and overestimation of the capacity of young politicians chosen for ministerial positions by ignoring some mature and vastly experienced politicians.
The government's reliance on some retired bureaucrats has not been able to raise the level of administrative efficiency. Rather it has not been taken well by the seasoned politicians.
The recent promotions will not help the government in its drive for quickening the pace of work. Bureaucrats are, in the true sense, hired servants of the people and work for the benefit of the people. In reality, government servants hardly think about the people. They are always eager to protect their own interest.
Negative politics is a big hindrance to growth. By attempting to frustrate the beneficial activities of the government the opposition may gain for a short time; but it harms the interest of the people. Why should we not take a lesson from our big neighbour India, where democracy has progressed so much despite the fact that they face more difficulties than us. Why cannot we face our national crises unitedly? Why should the opposition be concerned at the success of the government?
It is easy to find faults with the government. We understand that the government has made some blunders during the last 9 months because of
-Inexperience of some ministers,
-Global economic crisis,
-Highly politicised bureaucracy,
-Inheritance of misdeeds of the 4-party alliance government,
-Lack of adequate cooperation from some disgruntled, seasoned and experienced leaders of the party.
The omissions and blunders can be rectified if proper action is taken in time. It would be wrong for us to pass any firm judgment on the performance of the government on the basis of its activities during its 9-month rule.
Overcoming the present difficulties needs the concerted effort of a united nation. The government must work hard to ensure participation of the opposition, who may show a spirit of cooperation and ignore the smaller mistakes of the government at this critical juncture. They may compete with the party/parties in power and avoid unjustified criticism.
They may sort out small issues like allotment of seats on the front row in the parliament or legality of allotment of government residential house to their chief in the cantonment. What is important at this stage is creation of a congenial atmosphere for parliamentary debates and discussions to make the parliament effective.
Creation of a positive political atmosphere will improve the administrative capability of the government, improve law and order situation and reduce student unrest. With smooth running democracy Bangladesh may attain the level of a mid-income country within, perhaps, a decade. We must broaden our outlook to encourage interactions between followers of different political parties to develop better understanding among political parties to lead the country to the road to democracy.
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