Anger over electoral flaws, power abuse being exposed: Inu

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal president Hasanul Haq Inu, who was a minister in the previous cabinet, said vote rigging and ballot stuffing in the elections are not good for democracy.

“People have resentments over flaws in the elections, abuse of power and corruption. Their angers are now being exposed,” he told Prothom Alo in an exclusive interview.

A member of the 11th parliament, Inu said the resentments in society are being revealed through people like DUCSU vice president-elect Nurul Haq Nur who is demonstrating for a fresh DUCSU (Dhaka University Central Students’ Union) polls.

“I welcome Nurul. But it’s not realistic to expect that innumerable Nuruls will be born overnight. We have to wait for it.”

When asked about alleged vote rigging on 30 December, a president of a faction of JSD, said the people would deal with the matter leniently as communal and extremist forces have started retreating from politics.

Had the contestants participated in the elections seriously, polls irregularities would have been detected easily, Inu pointed out, admitting that the election had been a one-sided affair.

About possible revival of main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), he said they are yet to be finished and everybody suggests filling up the vacuum of the opposition party. “This cannot happen mechanically as it is a political process and struggle,” he added.

When asked whether former military ruler HM Ershad’s Jatiya Party (JaPa) is a domestic opposition party, ruling Awami League’s ally Inu said the JaPa joined parliament decisively. “Those in the Awami League who are expecting us to become a domestic opposition party in parliament, are wrong — we won’t act in such a manner.”

As chairman of parliamentary standing committee on information ministry, Hasanul Haq Inu, a former information minister, said it is not the responsibility of the information minister or the government to dictate which news shall be published in the media.

About joining hands with communal force Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, Inu said ruling AL president and prime minister Sheikh Hasina has not negotiated with the Hefazat. “The Qawmi education has been rather integrated to the mainstream,” he argued.

*This piece, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition as interview text, has been rewritten in English in story format by Rabiul Islam