Let the victor surrender to the people
THE good side of the political changeover is that an elected government has taken over from the overstaying caretakers; the bad side of it however is that the opposition has been virtually wiped out. As a result, along with the nation, Awami league was also stunned by the result and refused to celebrate. Democracy's indispensable institution -- the opposition - the check or brake, is missing. The emerging democratic order has virtually wiped out the 'government in waiting'. The Grand Alliance is a vote-catching billboard, every inch of it depends on the acumen of the ruling Awami League leadership and how they are going to steer through without an effective opposition. Without the culture of collective leadership, the very fundamental of parliamentary democracy, everything depends on Sheik Hasina. She is the all-powerful Prime Minister, president of the Awami League, leader of the alliance and the leader of the House. Overwhelming concentration of power in one hand usually produces arrogant leadership and goes against the spirit of parliamentary democracy.
The number game is going to be a dangerous postulation; it would be amateurish to think the voice of the opposition is feeble and worthless; it still represents a segment of people not permanently aligned to any party. All effort should be to encourage the opposition and all ears should be ready to hear them. The arrogance of number will undesirably force the opposition on the street. Bangladesh has disturbing records of rewarding the parties on the street more than for the constructive role in the parliament. After election-2001, one could count on the fingers the number of days the opposition attended parliament. They are yet to return the pay and benefits unethically drawn from the taxpayers' money for long five years of no work. They may have their reasons but these are not good records of parliamentary politics. The Awami League must not humble the opposition with the weight of their overwhelming victory and be ready to absorb lot of egotism from the vanquished.
Not everything can be right with the government because they have to work and make hard decisions. The leadership must demonstrate visible courage in accepting constructive suggestions from all shades and be aware of sycophants from within. The new faces in the cabinet are encouraging, let us hope they will be able to sustain the goodwill of the people with honest and dedicated public service. Honesty is a matter of taste and habit; one does not have to make extraordinary sacrifices to be honest. In the government, with a lot of authority and scope for misusing it, greed control should be the primary focus of the leadership. If leaders remain honest, the bureaucracy and others can be caped from their habitual loose hands. Honesty has to start from the cabinet. Motia Chowdhury, the only surviving cabinet minister of the earlier government can inspire others.
The energy sector has reached a crisis level. If there is no energy, no wheel moves- no production, no distribution and no job. Sitting on the crisis is more dangerous than higher energy cost to attract foreign investment in this vital sector. We cannot afford to have artificially low price structure isolated from the world market. The poor may have to be subsidised. The government has to deliver quickly in the economic front with special attention to the poor and vulnerable. The strategy should be poverty alleviation rather than drumming of onetime help to the poor.
An education reform in keeping with the needs of 21st century is long overdue. Education without scope of employment is the cause of the rise of fundamentalism in Bangladesh. The terrorist tinge is due primarily to the international upsurge among the unhappy Muslims. It needs compassion and understanding to absolve west hate disease among the unemployed and unhappy Muslim youth. All effort should be for the employment opportunity of the youth for a respectable living. If we can provide employment, the ghetto conspiracies of the mean-streets, at the most, will have drawing room storms in tea parties.
This government cannot possibly afford extended honeymoon to address faltering economic indicatiors. Rather than go back to the blame game, it would be best to open the door for the foreign investment with an attractive package. They come to make money and we get the job here. Why else shall the investors come? We are not directly affected by the on going global economic turmoil, but we are not entirely safe from the meltdown effect. Less remittance from the expatriates and less export is going to hurt Bangladesh in the coming days. External aid flow will shrink; we will have to put up efficiency and honesty to attract institutional and overseas private sector borrowing. Snail speed of decision-making and corruption is a disincentive for the foreign investors. The tall list of election promises may be hard to deliver, but asking people to forget election promises will be harder to achieve. Politics is also a game of patience; the BNP will be the choice of the people in the next election if the promises remain undelivered.
Trial of war criminals has been blown into an election agenda that Awami league failed to carry out in the seventies. It has now politically sold to the people as the twin track of ongoing terrorist activities. War criminals are the trigger end, but the alarming issue is the rise of terrorism that is hiding in the simple faith. Bangladesh cannot remain hostage of the past issues anymore; the present government has a responsibility to set the war criminal issue and all issues of '71 at rest forever.
Most of the countries have religion-based parties with small followings. Nothing is wrong as long as fundamentalists follow the discipline of democratic politics. Nobody should take law in his or her hand the way Bangla Bhai did. The government must enforce law and maintain order first, to give a simultaneous boost to the economy.
The home minister and all ministers must be careful with the media even if provoked, or cannot forget the past treatment. Revenge is a mean human trait, forgetting if not forgiving is angelic. When people vote for a government, they want their leaders to be angels. You have to forget the revenge to remember the commitments you made to the people. A government cannot do everything in five years, but the priority of the people must come first. We hope that the rulers will not suffer from the delirium of the massive victory.
The author is a freelancer.
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