Through the eyes of an expatriate
Photo: Amirul Rajiv
The writer happened to be in Bangladesh on December 29, and was able to observe the national election first-hand. The first and most welcome change I noticed was the absence of political graffiti on walls. Equally gratifying was that the campaign posters, with photographs of candidates, were small and black and white, and were strung over the streets. My visited a polling station in Dhanmandi, Dhaka. I saw the voters waiting patiently, and attendants ushering older voters to the head of the queue, with those behind not accusing them of queue-jumping. Something so unusually refreshing in Bangladesh! At least in the one polling station that I visited, there did not seem to be any irregularities or voter intimidation. Before the elections, everyone seemed certain that the Awami League's coalition would win. After the election I asked around to find out the reason for the Awami League landslide. Two reasons were offered: first, Sheikh Hasina's promise to bring down the price of rice to Taka 10 per kg from Taka 40; second, the voters', especially women voters', anger at the persecution of women by the mullahs -- an integral component of the BNP's ally, Jamaat. There has been much discussion about how the Awami League would handle such a landslide. After all, the last time a Bangladeshi election resulted in such a landslide was back in 1973. Within two years, Bangabandhu Sheikh both Mujibur Rahman and democracy were dead! People said that the BNP had acted as though it had an absolute mandate, ignoring the fact that over 45% of the people had voted for the Awami League and its allies in 2001. Likewise, it will be a mistake for the government to forget that over 30% of the people voted for BNP and its allies in 2008. On Tuesday, President Obama went to Capitol Hill and met only with Republican Congressmen and Senators, urging them to support his fiscal stimulus package. Mind you, he does not need Republican votes; he has a huge Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate. He does not want to ram legislations down the Republicans throats! We could do with some bipartisanship in Bangladesh, too. Is it too much to ask the Awami League government to appoint some ministers from the opposition parties? I realise that such gestures are unprecedented in Bangladesh. But, they would pave the way for reconciliation and good legislations. Bipartisanship will dawn in Bangladesh someday. This government has the opportunity to be the first to introduce it. Many of the MPs are businessmen and lawyers. Perhaps the government should finance the national elections. This will discourage foreign elements from attempting to influence Bangladesh's elections through the infusion of funds. Bangladeshi voters vote for the party, not for the candidate. In the US, a candidate is primarily judged by his/her stands on issues; less so by his/her party affiliations. The Democratic city of New York elected a Republican mayor in 2001. The governor of the Democratic state of California is a Republican. Constituents knew very little about the MP they elected in the Dhanmandi polling station I visited, other than that he was a Awami League candidate. The parties vet the candidates; voters have very little knowledge of their qualifications. The opposition parties can enhance their future electoral prospects by not calling hartals. Both parties should have learnt from the 2008 election that they do not need assistance of criminal elements to win elections, even landslides. Both parties lost seats in areas where such elements had smeared the parties' reputations. In the near future, Bangladesh faces enormous hurdles. The government should tap into resources from every segment of Bangladeshi population. One such resource are expatriates. Except for those expats who love their country through the lenses of the political party they support, most love their country unconditionally and are party-blind. The government should tap into their expertise, goodwill and patriotism. I would also urge the government to enact legislation so that we can honour those foreigners who helped Bangladesh in 1971, when we had very few friends. In the US, Pandit Ravi Shankar, our Bengali brother, was instrumental in publicising the plight of Bangladeshis by organising a Concert for Bangladesh with the late Beatle George Harrison in August 1971. Senator Ted Kennedy was a staunch supporter of Bangladesh in 1971, and visited Bangladeshi refugees in India. We must honour them, and express the nation's gratitude to our friends in times of national catastrophe, before it is too late.
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