http://www.newagebd.com/detail.php?date=2013-12-15&nid=76777
Selection of MPs does not make democracy
Selection of MPs does not make democracy
THE ruling Awami League, which never fails to utter rhetoric of democracy, appears to have set in motion the biggest political mockery on earth in the name of democratic elections. In the process of unilaterally holding the general elections, with the entire opposition camp agitating for level playing field for a truly contested poll, the AL leadership has managed to get 151 candidates of the 300-strong parliament, 127 of them AL ones, elected uncontested much before the elections, scheduled for January 5, 2004. The ‘elected’ candidates include 10 members of the cabinet. No opposition party, including the main opposition in parliament Bangladesh Nationalist Party, fielded any candidate. Even the Awami League’s long-time political ally Jatiya Party led by General Ershad refused to participate in the ‘non-inclusive’ polls. Subsequently, the government with the coercive assistance of an intelligence agency has divided the party. Again, the government has picked up Ershad, forcibly admitted him to the military hospital for treatment although the general has no health-related complaints. Meanwhile the government-controlled Election Commission refused the JP candidates who had initially submitted their nomination and eventually decided not to participate in the polls to lawfully withdraw from the electoral race, on legally untenable grounds. Understandably, the AL leadership has been doing all these undesirable things, primarily to avoid a contested election, in which the incumbents are quite likely to face a debacle, thanks to five years of undemocratic governance and allegation of massive corruptions.
Thus, the question remains before the larger society in general, and society’s democratically-oriented thinking sections in particular, as to whether or not the incumbents should be allowed to proceed with staging such a political farce in the name of democratic elections. For a national election to be democratic, the electorate must have the choice of selecting their representatives, without any intimidation by any quarters, from among candidates of contesting ideologies and programme in the first place. This is now obvious that the forthcoming national poll is going to be a solely ruling party affair, without any participation in it by any other opposition parties. What is worse is that the ruling Awami League does not appear to have been apologetic about the phenomenon. Rather, the AL leadership has taken all the trouble to share parliamentary seats with two insignificantly small partners in the ruling coalition by design so that they can stick to the farcical election. In the process, allegations have it, the rulers have used various means of coercion against some independent candidates to stay out of the polling process to make sure that the AL candidates get elected unopposed. Simply put, the rulers have made sure that more than a third of their candidates are ‘elected’ much before the election really takes place, which would virtually ensure retention of their power without caring for ‘people’s consent’ that forms the constitutes the core principle of democracy.
Under the circumstances, the democratically-oriented sections of the people are left with no option but to vigorously protest against the pseudo-democratic desperation of the ruling quarters to retain power without facing the people’s verdict, which can find expression only in an election contested by all concerned in a free and fair political atmosphere.
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