Editorial
Awami League scores a stunning victory
People comprehensively reject four-party alliance's record of misrule
The Awami League-led grand alliance has swept back to power in a stunning landslide victory that is as much a rejection of the BNP-led four-party alliance as it is an endorsement of the winners. The voters seized their day and made their voices ring out all over the land, loud and clear. Once again, the Bangladeshi electorate has demonstrated its maturity by discarding party loyalty and turning against a party in massive numbers for its failure in office and lack of vision for the future.
There are some clear lessons to be learnt from the election. The people of Bangladesh, of all classes, have rejected the corruption, violence, and religious extremism that characterised the BNP-Jamaat rule between 2001 and 2006. Moreover, women voters, who are known to have voted for the BNP in the past, and who outnumber men in this election, have this time turned against the party in impressive numbers.
Most critically, the election outcome is a powerful message that the politics of assassination -- the murders of Shah AMS Kibria, Ahsanullah Master, the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally that killed 22 people, including veteran AL leader Ivy Rahman -- and the failure of the then-government to bring the criminals to justice have not been forgotten by the people.
For its part, the BNP had little to offer this time in terms of change. Its harping on so-called threats to national sovereignty and its slogan of Islam being in danger, suggesting that it alone was capable of saving both the country and Islam, did not resonate with the people, especially with the young.
We congratulate the people of Bangladesh for the peaceful and disciplined manner in which they voted. Their enthusiasm only demonstrates the unflinching faith they have always had in free, fair and transparent elections and their abiding conviction in the power of democratic politics to change the fortunes of the country.
We also congratulate the political parties for the purposeful manner with which they have campaigned for the polls and the dedication with which they have upheld the democratic process in the last two years, even during the period of the state of emergency. Their realisation of what they needed to do to further pluralist politics has been well noted by the nation. Also deserving of credit is the EC for the steadfast and painstaking manner in which it shaped its electoral roadmap, including the preparation of a photograph-attached voter list, thereby making it possible for the country to have a credible election.
We also take this opportunity to thank the armed forces for the determined manner in which it assisted the caretaker government and the EC as they prepared for the elections. Finally, in spite of all the odds, the caretaker government has successfully completed the mission it set out to accomplish. We thank it for a job well done.
At this significant juncture in our national history, we expect the triumphant grand alliance to be humble and gracious in victory and send out the message that it means to speak for everyone, including those who did not vote for it. We emphasise the need for the victors to ensure that no violence or retribution against their defeated rivals mars the celebrations that will follow the electoral outcome.
In similar manner, those who have lost will be doing themselves credit and the nation enormous good by conceding in good grace and promising to work in close cooperation with those who will form the government for the next five years.
In a bigger sense, all citizens of Bangladesh have triumphed -- for they have all voted to uphold the values and principles inherent to democracy.
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