The priority for major parties
Where is the spirit of 1990? Photos: Shafiqul Islam Kajol/ Drik News (left); Munira Morshed Munni/ Drik News (right)
AFTER having gone through two years under a state of emergency, it was presumed that the politicians would have learnt to conduct themselves in accordance with the universally accepted norms of democratic politics. A highly credible election, followed by a magnanimous gesture by the Awami League, reinforced those assumptions. But within a month, the optimism fell apart when, in the very first session of the ninth parliament, the BNP walked out of the house -- thus firing the first salvo of protests against the treasury bench. The country's political landscape is again being heated up by the same old exchange of complaints and innuendoes. There might be reasons, like seating arrangements or the contents of presidential address, for the over-reaction by a routed BNP, but they are so flimsy that AL could easily remove them before they could snowball into a crisis leading to the opposition's walkout. Neither side could rise to the occasion, although the greater share of blame for it is due to the gloating Awami League, because magnanimity is always the preserve of the winners. But unfortunately, the party has, with its overwhelming majority, tended to be dismissive, if not outrightly arrogant. It could swallow a bit of its hubris and earn the goodwill not only of the people but also of the BNP's supporters, whose numbers are not insignificant. Sheikh Hasina rightly said soon after her swearing-in that she was the prime minister of all fourteen crore people of Bangladesh, which also included those who opposed her in the election. Never before has a political leader suffered so much at the hands of her opponents, yet made such lofty pronouncements. None would comprehend better the agony of powerlessness and oppression better. It is only expected that her party will share her compassion and address the opposition's complaint of being neglected. Amid intransigence on both sides with regard to the seating arrangements, the BNP's boycott continues and the business of the parliament has so far been a dull and one-sided show. There are no signs that past animosity between the two parties will go away, and that the opposition will not spend its entire term trying to disrupt the ruling party. The first signs of this are already visible, although it is too early for the opposition of take to the street. But they have already done it, and the muted protests are turning vocal. They have held rallies and processions, heating up the political landscape. At the moment, the opposition seems to be building up agitation on the issues of TIFA and transit -- the latter, being a sensitive issue, will provide BNP enough ammunition to effect the Awami League, although the issue is being hidden behind the smokescreen of "connectivity." The promoters of the idea from both India and Bangladesh gave it the garb of a "quadrangle of prosperity," and "sub regional cooperation." But they remained non-starters in the face of public disapproval. Contrary to common perception, our people have enough gumption to differentiate between the real and the spurious. They do not simply want to barter their sovereignty for scraps the transit gurus are dangling before us. If the AL takes the bait, it will surely bump into minefields of myriad problems. Sheikh Hasina does not possess a talisman to extricate herself from the minefield she may thrown into, but she can certainly ward off the evil by listening to the public through a referendum on the issue. Anything related to national interest and our sovereignty cannot be summarily decided in camera, keeping the people in dark. She aspired for and sought a dominant role, indeed for untrammeled power. The people, in simple faith, fulfilled her desire in the election. It is now earnestly expected that she will keep their sentiment and anxiety uppermost in deciding her course of action. One hopes that this time the major parties will act with greater responsibility and in harmony with each other to consolidate the civilian political supremacy that the politicians were able to restore the hard way. The military, that determined the course of events for the last two years from behind the scene, mercifully did not stay the course. Of course, it was under pressure from the aid donors to return the country to democracy. Wisdom demands that political leaders should not test the military's patience at a time when the military in the Third World is not shy of taking power, as it happened in this country in 1982. The two leaders -- Sheikh Hasina and Begum Zia -- together faced the problem of dislodging an army dictator by joining hands and working together. Their politics henceforth must not be confrontational, so that the situation does not make it inevitable for a military strongman to step in.
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