Soon after making a controversial comment on Sunday that sparked resentment among political parties and a cross-section of people, CEC Kazi Habibul Awal Monday admitted that if the major political party, BNP, does not participate in the forthcoming national elections, it would not be ‘participatory’ and ‘acceptable’. He also added that the EC does not want to see a “play staged in the name of election”.
Whether the CEC honestly said this we do not know, but the voters in Bangladesh, in fact, are demanding for holding ‘acceptable’ elections since the provision of the caretaker government was removed from the Constitution. However, for being ‘acceptable’, elections will also have to be free and fair, not just participatory, and the CEC should also keep this in mind.
The removal of the caretaker government as well as having a system of conducting elections with MPs sitting in parliament was a deadly blow to the fragile democracy of Bangladesh, and this is the crux of the problem for which a political impasse is prevailing in Bangladesh. If the AL-led government, and also the EC, do not admit it and change the prevailing conditions giving in to the legitimate demand of the opposition parties, Bangladesh would certainly go towards ‘greater autocracy’, as a US report Integrated Country Strategy (ICS) on Bangladesh mentioned recently. The ICS report specifically mentioned that “The 2023 national elections will be critical to determining whether Bangladesh moves towards greater democracy or greater autocracy.”
The ICS also said, “If democratic space continues to shrink in Bangladesh due to the increasing authoritarian nature of the central government, lack of progress on achieving this objective could lead to increased political instability and human rights violations.”
There was also a veiled threat in the US report with specific mention of opportunities for Bangladesh if it follows the democratic norms. The report said that if Bangladesh fails to hold credible elections of international standard, it would risk deteriorating relations with the US. The sanction imposed upon RAB and seven Bangladesh officials over human rights violations should act as a stark reminder for Bangladesh in this regard.
However, what did the CEC say on Sunday that sparked furor? While urging the political parties to stay in the field, meaning that parties should join in the election, he said, “If some stands with a sword, you should stand with a rifle or another sword. If you run, what do I do? We will help. We’ll have command over the police and the government.”
Facing criticism, a day later the CEC explained that he said this in a joking mood. The CEC must be reminded that his position is not that of a joker. He is there to perform a very serious duty. The TIB rightly pointed out that the comment was tantamount to inciting violence and urged the CEC to withdraw it immediately.
Despite knowing the reason for which BNP would boycott the election, it is not clear why the CEC is running after the political parties and requesting them to come to elections. Is he there to serve the purpose of an agent of AL, like his two predecessors? Once parties are in election, would he hold an election for making a mere show of it and act as a rubber stamp for the AL government?
Bangladesh is currently going through a huge economic crisis. Bank reserves are fast falling, people are finding it increasingly hard to buy daily necessities, and electricity and fuel have started to be rationed. Though the crisis is partly due to a global crisis as a direct consequence of the Ukraine-Russia war and global Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh’s economic crisis is also partly due to the government’s internal malfeasance, mismanagement and corruption. There is no sign that Bangladesh would be able to avert the current economic crisis any time soon as the NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg recently said that war in Ukraine might linger for years.
Therefore, if the present economic crisis is compounded by an election related political crisis, people of Bangladesh will hardly be able to bear it. Therefore, the government will have to tread the path of negotiation on the election-time government and accept now the legitimate demand of the people.
The CEC is a good man but he lacks the knowledge or courage to explain what will create conditions for holding an international standard election in a free and fair atmosphere. He himself needs to find out how to create these conditions for free elections. We reminded him earlier to ask the government to dissolve the parliament first before election as is done in India. It is the responsibility of the CEC himself to ensure if conditions for free elections in the country exist or not.
Blaming the political parties is not his responsibility. The political parties are too eager to compete with the party in government in a free election. But as it transpires, the party in government itself is not ready to face the election. Let the CEC go through the facts of the last two general elections if he is honest and courageous. The point is: the CEC should try to bring the government to participate in the election after dissolving the parliament.
