Editorial Desk :
Awami League has retained power following paper exercise of an election in 2014 when its leaders also gave justification to it as the necessity of constitutional requirement. Election in the real sense was not necessary.
The former Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University Prof Emajuddin Ahmed has appealed to the prime minister which sounds like a petition for charitable donation.
He praised the prime minister Sheikh Hasina for many good things she has done. By way of doing another good thing she should ‘return democracy’.
What he obviously meant was to hold a free election. Because, what the prime minister has is not democracy so she cannot return what she does not have. Under both Awami League and BNP democracy eroded.
It is in the way of extinction because of the government’s dependence on police power and its politics of development.
Democracy never comes as an act of kindness from anybody. Election, though the foundation on which democratic institutions of a democratic government are built, but election alone is not democracy. This is not understood and appreciated in our politics of personal gains and hereditary leadership.
After leadership was established in both the major political parties by way of inheritance on the backs of dead popular leaders, the political process and politics have lost their importance.
We have been experiencing the struggle for power using election only as peaceful means for change of power between the two parties. None of the political parties ran the government being respectful to the democratic institutions. Both Awami League and BNP practised the same politics of politicisation.
Journalists were encouraged not to work for free press but to become party activists. So the democratic institution of free press lost its importance and impact. The lawyers were made party activists so that they do not remain a force of the rule of law. The judges were also expected to be party loyals.
Thus without effective parliament, without independent press and without independent judiciary there cannot be any democracy. What we are left with is the structure of autocracy. So election is no guarantee for democracy.
In the present reality, the government in power is the real Election Commission. It is futile to waste time and talk how to make Election Commission powerful and independent.
There was no fully working democracy whether it was BNP in power or Awami League was in power. One can justifiably argue which was more oppressive than the other.
Awami League most certainly is using this time police power more freely as politics of socialism does everywhere. There is still some tolerance but overuse of police power is no guarantee that such tolerance will persist. The more unpopular the government will become the more vicious will become the police power. It is the logic of police power.
None of the political parties has built democracy, so we do not have a functioning democracy ready to be returned.
Awami League has changed the definition of democracy. The development politics is their democracy. Awami League is now a socialist party moving like before towards one party rule.
But BNP has not felt the necessity of political reform to make it a democratic party to earn the people’s confidence as a genuine democratic party. Its leaders do not even talk or explain how it is going to uphold the cause of democracy by keeping everything the same as before. There is no democratic change in leadership to have the facade of a democratic party.
BNP leadership still thinks of coming to power in the same way as in the past by taking advantage of the unpopularity of Awami League government. This is no anxiousness fighting for democracy.
BNP is not a hope for democracy. So the question is whether the prime minister will be generous enough to Prof Emajuddin’s kind appeal and be pleased to hand over power to BNP.
It is the weakness of BNP for not being a democratic opposition and incapable to assuring democracy. By remaining an undemocratic family affair as before if anything, BNP is hindering the cause of democracy.
It is true that Prof Emajuddin is not holding any position in BNP but he is surely a great sympathiser of BNP and believes in the cause of democracy. But as an eminent teacher of political science Prof Emajuddin will agree that democracy does not come as charity from anybody. We need a democratic political party to be sure of democracy. He should try to influence BNP to see the reality.
It is agreed that democracy will not be easy if the government does not have the will and courage to build democracy. Our anxiety lies here. Being outside power BNP cannot hope that the politics of the past that made it easy for it to come to power will return.
BNP seems unable to rethink and adapt to the new reality of politics to be an agent of change. The people are helpless without a meaningful opposition.
For the democratic Awami League to be the champion of socialist dictatorship bodes disaster for the country. Awami League is ceasing to be Awami League of the people and for the people.
We really do not see leadership for peaceful change.
Awami League has retained power following paper exercise of an election in 2014 when its leaders also gave justification to it as the necessity of constitutional requirement. Election in the real sense was not necessary.
The former Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University Prof Emajuddin Ahmed has appealed to the prime minister which sounds like a petition for charitable donation.
He praised the prime minister Sheikh Hasina for many good things she has done. By way of doing another good thing she should ‘return democracy’.
What he obviously meant was to hold a free election. Because, what the prime minister has is not democracy so she cannot return what she does not have. Under both Awami League and BNP democracy eroded.
It is in the way of extinction because of the government’s dependence on police power and its politics of development.
Democracy never comes as an act of kindness from anybody. Election, though the foundation on which democratic institutions of a democratic government are built, but election alone is not democracy. This is not understood and appreciated in our politics of personal gains and hereditary leadership.
After leadership was established in both the major political parties by way of inheritance on the backs of dead popular leaders, the political process and politics have lost their importance.
We have been experiencing the struggle for power using election only as peaceful means for change of power between the two parties. None of the political parties ran the government being respectful to the democratic institutions. Both Awami League and BNP practised the same politics of politicisation.
Journalists were encouraged not to work for free press but to become party activists. So the democratic institution of free press lost its importance and impact. The lawyers were made party activists so that they do not remain a force of the rule of law. The judges were also expected to be party loyals.
Thus without effective parliament, without independent press and without independent judiciary there cannot be any democracy. What we are left with is the structure of autocracy. So election is no guarantee for democracy.
In the present reality, the government in power is the real Election Commission. It is futile to waste time and talk how to make Election Commission powerful and independent.
There was no fully working democracy whether it was BNP in power or Awami League was in power. One can justifiably argue which was more oppressive than the other.
Awami League most certainly is using this time police power more freely as politics of socialism does everywhere. There is still some tolerance but overuse of police power is no guarantee that such tolerance will persist. The more unpopular the government will become the more vicious will become the police power. It is the logic of police power.
None of the political parties has built democracy, so we do not have a functioning democracy ready to be returned.
Awami League has changed the definition of democracy. The development politics is their democracy. Awami League is now a socialist party moving like before towards one party rule.
But BNP has not felt the necessity of political reform to make it a democratic party to earn the people’s confidence as a genuine democratic party. Its leaders do not even talk or explain how it is going to uphold the cause of democracy by keeping everything the same as before. There is no democratic change in leadership to have the facade of a democratic party.
BNP leadership still thinks of coming to power in the same way as in the past by taking advantage of the unpopularity of Awami League government. This is no anxiousness fighting for democracy.
BNP is not a hope for democracy. So the question is whether the prime minister will be generous enough to Prof Emajuddin’s kind appeal and be pleased to hand over power to BNP.
It is the weakness of BNP for not being a democratic opposition and incapable to assuring democracy. By remaining an undemocratic family affair as before if anything, BNP is hindering the cause of democracy.
It is true that Prof Emajuddin is not holding any position in BNP but he is surely a great sympathiser of BNP and believes in the cause of democracy. But as an eminent teacher of political science Prof Emajuddin will agree that democracy does not come as charity from anybody. We need a democratic political party to be sure of democracy. He should try to influence BNP to see the reality.
It is agreed that democracy will not be easy if the government does not have the will and courage to build democracy. Our anxiety lies here. Being outside power BNP cannot hope that the politics of the past that made it easy for it to come to power will return.
BNP seems unable to rethink and adapt to the new reality of politics to be an agent of change. The people are helpless without a meaningful opposition.
For the democratic Awami League to be the champion of socialist dictatorship bodes disaster for the country. Awami League is ceasing to be Awami League of the people and for the people.
We really do not see leadership for peaceful change.
