Round The World
New
Delhi, 15 January 2014
Bangladesh Elections
DEMOCRACY IN
QUESTION
By Prof. Arvind Kumar
(Dept of Geopolitics & Intl Relations, Manipal Univ)
The recent elections held in Bangladesh had
a very poor turn-out of voters and hence it has raised a number of questions
about the functioning of its democracy among the members of strategic and
academic community. The turnout was down from 70 per cent in the last election
to only 20 per cent. The poor turnout was largely a result of very poor law and
order machinery in the State. The internal threat perception warranted the
people to stay indoors. There was an anticipation of a high level of violence
and that practically frightened the masses, especially in terms of their
voting.
Bangladesh experienced a high degree of
violence and roughly two hundred polling stations were set on fire. The country
has been experiencing internal turmoil with a lot of negative consequences for
peace and stability in the region. In fact, it has been so severe that it has
been impacting on the democratic fabric of the nation.
Undoubtedly, Bangladesh’s
economy has improved remarkably over the past two decades. The economic growth
and the overall GDP have seen a rise. There seemed to be a willingness on the
part of the state system to improve the overall quality and standard of living
of the average Bangladeshi. The promotion of universal primary education was a
step taken mainly to build the capacity among masses and help develop the
nation. Life expectancy in Bangladesh
too has shot up. It must be emphasised here that the average income has doubled
over the years since 1975. However, the inflation rate has not been seen in
consonance with the current rate of the average income.
For several reasons, Bangladesh is
being plagued by politics. Apparently, the return of democracy in Bangladesh in
1991 so far has not been able to mature and flourish. It is only because the
politics in Bangladesh
has always been dictated and dominated by two begums who have completely been
preoccupied with reaching to the centre of power by blaming each other.
Unfortunately, over the years, both the women have created personal hatred at
the cost of the nation.
The current Prime Minister and
leader of the left-leaning secular Awami League Sheikh Hasina is the daughter
of the country's ‘founding father,’ Mujibur Rahman, who was murdered in 1975.
Khaleda Zia has been the opponent of Sheikh Hasina and is the leader of the
conservative and more religiously inclined Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Neither
BNP nor the Awami League so far has been able to consolidate their positions in
Bangladesh.
It seems that both the political parties have not been able to evolve any
strategic vision for the country. It is generally believed among the members of
academic community that Bangladesh
could have taken a better and different path if both these women would have
kept themselves away from politics.
During the election in 1996, the
Awami League had boycotted the election and the BNP therefore won by a landslide.
It was again because of an assessment done by the Awami League about the
misdeeds of the BNP. The boycott of the election certainly is not the answer.
One has to find the space and make a change after becoming a part of the
political process. At that given point, the Awami League had no vision
whatsoever. It must be emphasized here that the new BNP-dominated Parliament
quickly amended the Constitution to allow a neutral caretaker government to
take over and supervise new elections. In that process of change and amendment
of the constitution, the Awami League had won.
During the recently held election on
5 January 2014, it was found the system to be different. Sheikh Hasina has been
the Prime Minister since 2009 and had abolished the “neutral caretaker” system
in 2010. Hence, the announcement about the election by Sheikh Hasina had a
negative consequence for the BNP. It was felt by the BNP that the election
would be rigged and hence the declaration was made that it would boycott the
polls.
It is ironical that without
contesting the election in many of the constituencies by the Opposition party
BNP, the Awami League won 127 seats. It holds more than three-quarters of the
seats in the new Parliament, and its political allies and some independents
hold the rest. The debate centres on whether this election will have any
credibility. It must be mentioned here that the outcome of the election does
not augur well with the democratic values and ethos. It has been a challenging
task to make democracy work in Bangladesh.
Shiekh Hasina knew that, and yet she
did it anyway. This means that she must be determined to ride the protests out
and not allow any caretaker government or an election re-run. This is a formula
for escalating violence and an eventual military coup. Bangladesh is
in trouble. The international community,
including the UN, had expressed disappointment and questioned the credibility
of the polls because of a poor turnout and political violence that claimed over
160 lives in the past few weeks.
India has acknowledged
the election “as a necessity to fulfil the constitutional obligation” but
wanted dialogue between the two major parties to settle disputes in a peaceful
manner. It may be because New Delhi
finds it easier to work with the Awami League than the BNP. A number of
outstanding issues between India
and Bangladesh
from policy point of view need to be addressed in the current context. Undoubtedly,
Indo-Bangladesh relationships have improved in some ways and there is a growing
feeling that the Awami League accommodates India’s interests largely.
India has also been changing its stance
and helping Bangladesh
in every possible manner. Recently, it has reached out to Bangladesh through a link which is the first of
its kind between two countries in South Asia.
It decided to provide electricity to its largest trading partner in South Asia and has constructed a new transmission line.
It means a lot to Dhaka because such help
comes at a critical time when power outages are resulting in a loss of annual
industrial output worth $1 billion. The
foreseeable future in Indo-Bangladesh relations mostly will depend on the
priorities both the countries will give on the issues impacting bilateral
relations.
However, the concept
of democracy in Bangladesh
needs to be revisited and the participation of the civil society in the
decision-making process can only help in getting rid from the ongoing crisis.---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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