UNB, Dhaka :
Noting that violence undermine Bangladesh’s democracy, US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat on Wednesday said when elections are inclusive, free, and peaceful, the results are more likely to be respected by all voters.
“In a strong democracy, citizens must be able to freely and peacefully campaign for their candidate, register to vote without fear of losing their home or job, cast a vote without pressure from others, and respect the results of legitimate elections,” she told a roundtable discussion. Democracy International arranged the roundtable on ‘Advancing Women’s leadership in Elections’ at a city hotel, where women leaders from different political parties raised their voice over increasing women representation in elections.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda, Prime Minister’s Political Adviser HT Imam, Awami League leader Hasan Mahmud, MP, BNP leaders Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan and Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, and Chief of party of Democracy International in Bangladesh Katie Croake spoke at the programme.
The US envoy said strong democracies value the participation of all citizens in the political process and make every effort to include everyone’s voice.
She said, the free and safe participation of women in society is critical to strengthening Bangladesh’s democracy. “You (women) work hard to contribute to Bangladesh’s fast-growing economy and you hold leadership positions in communities and at the highest levels of government. But, more needs to be done,” she added. “The full participation of women in the electoral process has been discouraged by a number of factors, including by the practices of Islamic political parties that have zero female representatives in their ranks, restrictive social and religious expectations, and gender-based and political violence,” Bernicat said.
“Your (women) voice matters and we look up to you to break political barriers and work together to help solve the development challenges that affect all Bangladeshis,” she added. The CEC said there is scope of advancing women leadership in the local government bodies as 30 percent posts in the local elections are reserved for the women. Noting that women do not engage in election anomaly he said, “Women don’t rig votes or engage in fighting in polling stations.” Nurul Huda criticised major political parties not for having women in their delegations that took part in the recent dialogues arranged by the Election Commission.
“We saw no woman even from some major political parties in our dialogues. We had earlier expected that we would see 33 percent women among delegations of all political parties in our dialogues,” he said.
HT Imam said, “We expect that we and other parties will increase women leaders not only to 33 percent, but also far beyond that in the future. He suggested the CEC that the Election Commission still has scope to hold dialogue with women politicians, irrespective of political parties. Hasan Mahmud said there is no deficit in the legal framework for women’s participation in politics, but there is a lack of sincerity.
About Bernicat’s remark, he said, “We want to see such inclusive elections in the future. We want to see the next election to be participatory one.” Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan said without women MPs elected from reserved seats, the women representation in parliament is only five percent. “If the masculine mindset is not changed, the problem will remain for more 40-45 years.” He said political parties will have to change their charters to increase women representation in the election. Amir Khasru said quota system or electoral laws will not work to advance women leadership until political mindset is not changed and political parties uphold democratic values.
He said there is no position for women if an inclusive democratic environment does not exist. “We want a pluralistic and inclusive democratic environment…we want to create a democratic space for women,” he said.
Noting that violence undermine Bangladesh’s democracy, US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat on Wednesday said when elections are inclusive, free, and peaceful, the results are more likely to be respected by all voters.
“In a strong democracy, citizens must be able to freely and peacefully campaign for their candidate, register to vote without fear of losing their home or job, cast a vote without pressure from others, and respect the results of legitimate elections,” she told a roundtable discussion. Democracy International arranged the roundtable on ‘Advancing Women’s leadership in Elections’ at a city hotel, where women leaders from different political parties raised their voice over increasing women representation in elections.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda, Prime Minister’s Political Adviser HT Imam, Awami League leader Hasan Mahmud, MP, BNP leaders Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan and Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, and Chief of party of Democracy International in Bangladesh Katie Croake spoke at the programme.
The US envoy said strong democracies value the participation of all citizens in the political process and make every effort to include everyone’s voice.
She said, the free and safe participation of women in society is critical to strengthening Bangladesh’s democracy. “You (women) work hard to contribute to Bangladesh’s fast-growing economy and you hold leadership positions in communities and at the highest levels of government. But, more needs to be done,” she added. “The full participation of women in the electoral process has been discouraged by a number of factors, including by the practices of Islamic political parties that have zero female representatives in their ranks, restrictive social and religious expectations, and gender-based and political violence,” Bernicat said.
“Your (women) voice matters and we look up to you to break political barriers and work together to help solve the development challenges that affect all Bangladeshis,” she added. The CEC said there is scope of advancing women leadership in the local government bodies as 30 percent posts in the local elections are reserved for the women. Noting that women do not engage in election anomaly he said, “Women don’t rig votes or engage in fighting in polling stations.” Nurul Huda criticised major political parties not for having women in their delegations that took part in the recent dialogues arranged by the Election Commission.
“We saw no woman even from some major political parties in our dialogues. We had earlier expected that we would see 33 percent women among delegations of all political parties in our dialogues,” he said.
HT Imam said, “We expect that we and other parties will increase women leaders not only to 33 percent, but also far beyond that in the future. He suggested the CEC that the Election Commission still has scope to hold dialogue with women politicians, irrespective of political parties. Hasan Mahmud said there is no deficit in the legal framework for women’s participation in politics, but there is a lack of sincerity.
About Bernicat’s remark, he said, “We want to see such inclusive elections in the future. We want to see the next election to be participatory one.” Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan said without women MPs elected from reserved seats, the women representation in parliament is only five percent. “If the masculine mindset is not changed, the problem will remain for more 40-45 years.” He said political parties will have to change their charters to increase women representation in the election. Amir Khasru said quota system or electoral laws will not work to advance women leadership until political mindset is not changed and political parties uphold democratic values.
He said there is no position for women if an inclusive democratic environment does not exist. “We want a pluralistic and inclusive democratic environment…we want to create a democratic space for women,” he said.
