Strategically Speaking
Prove the skeptics wrong
BY nature we Bengalees are skeptics. And when it comes to politics the natural inclination works overtime to influence our views of political events, particularly the future scenario. That an air of uncertainty about the election is affecting us can't be denied, and that is causing us to look at the prospect of election with a wary eye.
The misgivings stem from several things, particularly from newer preconditions being put by the Big-2 everyday.
With the dates for the parliamentary and upazilla elections having been announced, one would have expected that everyone concerned would have moved in full gear towards December 18.
But the political parties, at least the AL and BNP, are putting out confusing signals, which have added further to our misgivings. This has been amply reflected in the comments made at many roundtables and other forums in the last few weeks.
However, one notices a great deal of enthusiasm in the people, and there is a scramble to register as political parties, except for the BNP and Jamaat, given that nearly a hundred registration forms have been collected from the EC. It is mind boggling that there are so many aspirants to register -- but it only demonstrates our psychological disposition towards politics.
That the BNP and Jamaat held meetings with the CA only a day before the original cutoff date for party registration indicates on the one hand that the parties are not very serious about RPO - 2008 (Amended) and on the other that the EC (and the government) is prepared to be flexible in implementing its provisos.
The question is, to what length are the EC and the government willing to go to accommodate the demands of the BNP and the AL. Although there are major differences of view insofar as the RPO is concerned, the two had been rigid on their position of not participating in the election under emergency.
But, the latest position of the two major parties is that they would not participate in the elections if for some reason their leaders were not able to contest the forthcoming parliamentary polls. Are we to understand that there is apprehension in the minds of the two parties that their leaders might be kept out of the political process somehow or the other? If that be so, the government must help put that to rest. Any contrived mechanism to keep the two leaders out of politics will be counterproductive.
In the case of the AL, while it has applied for registration, its blowing hot and cold on the issue of participation in the election is quite confusing. Its latest precondition to the EC -- not to contest if Sheikh Hasina was kept out of the husting -- has added a new dimension to the matter.
At the same time, it says that it is not prepared to see the election being put off. And now we have the mayor of Chittagong, a frontline AL leader, who says that his party is willing to take part in the election even under martial law.
As for the BNP, its present stand on election is understandable -- and it has employed a strategy, that it knows the government will succumb to, given its compulsion to see that the Big-2 participate in the election -- to extract as many concessions from the EC and the government as possible.
It has succeeded, to start with, in getting the last date of applying for party registration put back by five days (the CEC looked visibly proud while saying that he had resisted the 4 - Party demands for seven days extension).
But perhaps the most distressing upshot of the developments of the past several weeks has been the erosion of public perception of the CTG as a "neutral body." Why is it that one city mayor, on bail facing charges of corruption, is prevented from resuming office while it remains unconcerned about another city mayor continuing to hold office while facing similar charges of corruption? While, for both, procedural niceties demand that they relinquish their posts pending disposal of their cases, the CTG's action with regard to the two conveys the wrong impression.
While its only stake should be to ensure a free fair and participatory election, it appears that there is more at stake for the CTG than meets our eye. Why is it that the public is not let in on the substance of the dialogue between Dr. Hossian Zillur Rahman and Begum Zia at the latter's residence?
After all, if the matter has to do with the political future of the country nobody can hide behind the excuse of "classified matter." The people have the right to know. And no man who holds public trust can hide behind the excuse of confidentiality lest it gives the impression of backdoor dealings.
There is, too, a mixed feeling about the current round of dialogue. What purpose would it serve? What is one to make of the statement of the CTG following the inconclusive meetings with BNP and Jamaat that there would be further meetings to resolve matters regarding the re-demarcation of constituencies and the emergency?
As for the redrawing of constituencies, it is a matter lying with the court, and the government has already said that while it would not lift emergency fully it would be further relaxed. Will the CTG wilt under pressure from political parties whom, there is a perception; it is bending backwards to accommodate?
There are perhaps none that have any interest in the election being botched, except perhaps those to whom it has become evident that the outcome would not be in their favour. There is no alternative to election, and all the parties involved must act to prove the skeptics wrong.
We believe that the CTG would not like to see the December election foiled and is doing everything to see that it is not. However, it must do a bit more and address the issue of election under emergency, since there is a mismatch between election and emergency.
Regrettably, not all the preconditions of the people have been met. For them it is a choice between an unelected government, which, in spite of good intentions, has slipped, and an elected government with old characteristics. One wonders whether the quality of candidates will improve.
One good result of the ACC drive is that at least about a hundred professional politicians guilty of moral turpitude will not be able to contest elections. Good riddance to bad rubbish, but what about those who will replace them?
The question remains whether we will get nice people to represent us in the elected offices. I am certain the political parties will have learned that they cannot anymore take the voters for granted. And I am confident that, unlike Bertrand Russell's categorisation of nice people "that are to be found only under the heading of maiden aunts […] and ministers of religion except those that elope to South Africa with a member of their choir after pretending to commit suicide," in Bangladesh with a bit more effort we will be able to find nice people to represent us.
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