Going Deeper
Rising from the ashes
THE recently held elections to the posts of mayors and councilors have been peaceful, shorn of the irregularities that have been the hallmark of the many elections held in the past. The interim caretaker administration and the Election Commission feel that as the elections were held under the state of emergency, the mischief mongers aided by money and muscle could not interfere with the fair and impartial manner of the elections. The political parties and the Western powers, however, continue to insist on the withdrawal of the state of emergency for the next polls being held leading to the final transition to participatory democracy.
There appears that an implicit contradiction remains between the CTG and the political parties about the preference to be given to constitutional liberalism (defined by Princeton University Professor Josiah Ober as being predicated on the protection of individual liberty and the rule of law) vis-à-vis participatory democracy (the rule of and by a socially diverse citizenry).
Understandably, the CTG and the people at large do not want the institutional changes made by the present administration by reforming the Election Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission, by separating the judiciary from the executive, or through a host of other reforms to check future governmental power, so as to prevent abuses similar to those committed by the BNP-Jamaat alliance government.
But given the understanding that the 1/11 power transition would not have been possible if it were not for the support of the people as well as the movement by progressive political parties against the misdeeds of the then alliance government, the suspicion that a freely elected government would lead the country to the brink of anarchy can by itself be regarded as an insult to the democratic credentials that any future government would carry.
It would appear that political acts of some would have greater epistemic value than those of others in contradiction to the notion of having equal political influence, defined as insulation of political influence from differential wealth and social rank. Such a system can be interpreted as being the rule by the elites who can claim to be more educated and competent than the peoples' representatives, who in countries like Bangladesh, are elected because of their popularity and perceived knowledge of the needs and aspiration of the people they represent and/or the popularity of the political party they belong to; but they are less educated and possibly less competent than the elites who want to rule.
It is too early to predict whether the next government would bring about a qualitative change in politics sought by the current administration by shedding the practice of conducting public affairs for private gains and truly addressing the needs of the people. Since optimisation of socio-political gains can be achieved through evolution and not through revolution, it is possible that the appropriate political system may not be achieved in one or two elections.
Logically it can be argued that, barring the likes of the crimes committed by the BNP-Jamaat alliance in their five year mal-governance, the future governments in the short term may not live up to the expectations that have now been built in people's mind. If that is indeed true, then the question that has to be addressed will be about the threshold of tolerance of the people and other forces regarding the limit to which they would allow the elected governments to stray from the path of good governance. Other possible ways of social cohesion can be found in the inclusion of dissenting voices and their reflection in the governance of the country.
Basically the next government would have to decide on the priority areas given the many challenges Bangladesh faces in the short, medium and long term. It would have to decide whether political liberalisation should be given a free hand, though it may adversely affect the economic growth of the country. It would have to decide whether hartals and violent agitations should remain as vehicles of venting opposition to the government, or whether student wings of political parties should continue to function at the expense of excellence in education in a globalised world that demands highly skilled people to pave the way to development.
The claim by the current government -- that the food crisis and the stagflation afflicting the country is being driven by international factors and is therefore beyond governmental control -- is not entirely convincing. The price gap of essentials between the producers and wholesalers and the price ruling in the retail market has pushed a large number of people (in fixed income groups) from the lower middle class to the poorer classes, keeping people wondering about the reasons behind the CTG's failure to control the market, despite that even the capitalist system or free market economies work under regulatory systems and do not favor laissez faire practices to rule the economy.
Bangladesh needs "re-branding", as some scholars have suggested, from its traditional face of being a poor, corrupt, and natural disaster prone country, to one holding promise to be an effective member of the international community in the 21st century. The next government would have to take sincerely its task of rebuilding the nation so that the country does not ever slide back into the anarchic conditions prevailing before the declaration of emergency on 1/11.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments