Election Related Confusion Mounting In Bangladesh
By NJ Thakuria
14 September, 2013
Countercurrents.org
Political crisis and confusion galore are mounting in Bangladesh over
the next general election, which must be completed between October 25,
2013 and January 24, 2014. Before the fiver-year term of the present
Awami League led coalition government is over by December 2013, it has
to pave way for handing over the political power to a new regime
elected by the millions of voters in the populous country.
With the 15th amendment of Bangladesh Constitution in June 2011, the
ruling Sheikh Hasina Wajed government is sitting pretty to conduct the
polls to form the next Parliament. Prior to the amendment, it was
necessary for the government in Dhaka to resign and form a non-party
interim government to run the national election.
The Prime Minister Hasina has made it clear in many occasions that she
would not go for a caretaker government and declared that the
forthcoming 10th national election would be held under her Awami
League led incumbent government as the Constitutional amendment had
already scrapped the provision for a caretaker or interim government.
For the ruling Awami League coalition, which has altogether 262
Members in the National Parliament, the Constitutional amendment was
an easier exercise.
However, the Khaleda Zia led Bangladesh Nationalist Party maintains
its demand that the government should bring a non-party neutral
government bill in the ongoing session of Parliament beginning on
September 12 to settle the issue relating to the polls. Begum Zia
argues that the present Parliament must be dissolved before the
general election.
Terming the Bangladesh Election Commission as a puppet of the
government and worthless, the BNP chief Khaleda Zia argued that the
nation can not expect a fair election under the present electoral
statutory body of Bangladesh.
The debate gained a different dimension, while Nobel winning
Bangladeshi economist Dr Muhammad Yunus voiced for a non-party
caretaker government to conduct the polls such that the process gets
credibility and be acceptable to everyone.
“There’s no scope to have a free, fair and peaceful election without a
non-party neutral government,” asserted Prof Yunus recently.
The statement of Prof Yunus, who was removed by the Hasina government
as the Managing Director of internationally recognized Grameen Bank in
March 2011, has been taken as a major political stand since he
initiated for a political party six years back.
Soon after the Nobel award conferred jointly on him and his creation
Grameen Bank in 2006, Prof Yunus decided to form a political party
named Nagarik Shakti (People’s Power), but later he abandoned the
idea. Most of the political observers based in Dhaka believe that the
rivalry between him and the present Prime Minister Hasina started
since then.
As the point of views of Prof Yunus on the impartial election-time
government matches with the opposition party, the ruling Awami League
leaders have left no stone unturned to criticize and condemn the lone
Nobel awadree of Bangladesh.
Understanding the crisis in Bangladesh is deepening, the UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon tried to mediate for a dialogue between
the two leading political coalitions led by Awami League and
Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The UN Secretary-General called both
the important ladies Hasina Wajed and Khaleda Zia on August 23 over
phone and discussed about the upcoming national elections.
Responding to the queries of Ban Ki-moon, the Prime Minister had
reportedly assured of a free and credible election in Bangladesh to
form the next Parliament. She also added that the election would be
held as per the provisions of the Constitution.
Similarly, Khaleda Zia had informed the UN Secretary-General that her
party expects an independent Election Commission to conduct the
general election under a caretaker government. Otherwise, the BNP
would not take part in the national polls under the Awami League led
coalition government. However the opposition leader agreed to Ban
Ki-moon that there was no alternative to dialogue to resolve the
present political crisis in Bangladesh.
Voices of concern were also expressed by various countries and
international agencies like the United States of America, United
Kingdom, European Union etc on the Bangladesh political situation and
every one urged the local political party leadership to go for
dialogues and find out a compromised way to proceed for the general
election.
Though the Awami League government claims success in curbing terrorism
and corruption in the country, the voters had shown rejection to the
party in the last corporation polls in five major cities of
Bangladesh.
If the results of elections held this year to five city corporations
(of Gazipur, Rajshahi, Barisal, Sylhet and Khulna), it can be
observed that the opposition parties have recorded sweeping victories.
The loss incurred by the ruling party in the polls for the
corporations is the recent indication that the outcome of the
forthcoming general election may not go in favour of Awami League and
also Hasina Wajed.
Ms Hasina now smells an international conspiracy that might try ‘to
block Awami League's return to power for another term’. Addressing a
party meeting recently in Dhaka, Hasina Wajed asserted that some
people may not like that her government had achieved much success and
many international elements would not like to see Bangladesh
developing in a faster way than ever before under her leadership.
Nava Thakuria is a Guwahati based journalist
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