Editorial
AL council session today
The expectations that the party should meet
THE national council of the Awami League, meeting in session today, is from many perspectives an encouraging happening. In the sixty years since its birth in 1949, the party has weathered many storms and defied many predictions to turn itself into a large, deep-rooted political organization in pre and post-1971 Bangladesh. Indeed, it is to the credit of the party that it played a leading role in transforming the political destiny of Bengalis through its spirited defence of their rights and eventually providing the nation with the leadership that would steer it to freedom. At this point of time, therefore, one recalls the strong political traditions that have been set through the role of the Awami League and the evolution it brought about in the public perception of politics as the art of the possible and the enlightening.
It is against such a background that the party goes into its council session today. Naturally, the expectations of the country will focus on the question of how much more of a contribution the AL can make to pluralist politics in the coming days. Obviously, in light of recent political developments in the country, those expectations will centre on the question of how much of intra-party democracy will come into the workings of the AL as a result of the council meeting. There can be no denying that for all its glorious past, the party is today in need of more openness that can only come about through involving the grassroots in its working. Indeed, the AL is today faced with the arduous job of transforming itself into a party of the future through bringing about the changes, within its structure, which can give it a modern face. That calls for an infusion of fresh blood in the party, of men and women honest enough and qualified enough and dedicated enough to understand the demands of the future without losing sight of the successes and failures of the past.
The council session is of particular significance as the Awami League happens to be in power through a massive popular endorsement of its programmes at the December 2008 elections. In effect, its victory was as much a triumph to savour as it was a challenge to tackle the manifold problems the nation is faced with today. Fundamentally, the challenge is to reassure the nation that it can provide quality leadership and governance to the country. That is a task which must necessarily begin through ensuring that its own house is kept in order. In these past six months, irritants like the unbridled activities of the Chhatra League and the Jubo League as well as rising crime have quite undermined the party's image. That has reinforced the impression in some quarters that while the AL has traditionally played an effective role in opposition, it has sometimes stumbled in office. The council meeting should, therefore, be an opportunity for soul-searching on the part of the party leadership.
On a final note, let us register our appreciation of the gesture the Awami League has made through inviting opposition leader Khaleda Zia to the council meeting. The gesture must be seen as an opportunity for breaking the ice. We feel that Begum Zia will have much to gain and little to lose from reciprocating the move.
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