Dhaka’s political gridlock vis-à-vis diplomatic overtures

 

On August 11, U.S Ambassador Dan W Mozena met BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office and offered to help mediate conflicting interests and bring about consensus on the issues which have put the government and the opposition at loggerheads. He urged both the leaders to go for a dialogue in which the diplomatic corps could play a constructive role. On Friday 16 August he also had a three and half hour-long discussions with prime minister’s daughter Sayma Wazed Putul at his residence on the current political situation.

The instances of such ‘politics of self- esteem’ are too many. The World Bank’s external panel had expressed dissatisfaction over the exclusion of the former communication minister Syed Abul Hossain by the ACC in a high-profile graft case despite evidence of his involvement. “The evidence suggested a criminal conspiracy that included the former communication minister as the most senior official personally involved”, the report said. Yet the Bangladesh government repeatedly claimed that no corruption had taken place in the project and the prime minister honored him by the covetous title “patriot”.

In another instance, the US has suspended GSP facilities for Bangladesh on 27 June after a six- year review exposed “serious shortcomings” in safety and labor standards. But the Bangladesh Foreign Minister found it convenient to hold Nobel Laureate Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus in some way responsible for the US decision.

Luckily, when politicians in Bangladesh are jockeying for power and are busy in mud-slinging, the Nobel Laureate’s campaign has planned to walk the red carpet and crack open the door to securing a hunger free world. He has no power politics in contention. With lifelong involvement in the Grameen Bank’s micro- credit operations, he has now begun to define a new role for himself: 21st century celebrity economist-diplomat-statesman. It is the most ambitious avocation in the present day world and while pursuing that Yunus has been leveraging his celebrity status to get people to care about something which is more important than mere state power. The spotlight of his public attention is life-saving in the midst of disease and hunger.

At present both the government and the opposition have grudges against each other. In terms of gravity the weighty grudges are about as heavy as cannon balls which the ancient armies used to hurl at the enemy. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has repeatedly accused Khaleda Zia of plotting to kill her on 21st August. She felt aggrieved when Khaleda Zia denied her the entitlement over Ganabhaban for personal use by virtue of her being daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Sheikh Hasina returned the gesture by evicting Khaleda Zia from her house within the Dhaka cantonment which carried the memories of her late husband Ziaur Rahman. The name of her son Tareq Rahman has been included as an accused in the 21st August case at a later stage with obvious intent to punish him by hanging. Begum Zia has also been implicated in the Orphanage case which may send her to jail. Her second son has also been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in addition to paying a heavy fine.

To perpetuate her dynastic rule Sheikh Hasina has introduced her son to politics. To be cock- sure about her victory in the upcoming election she has carried out the 15thAmendment rejecting the ‘caretaker’ system which was neutral and non-partisan. Under the new provisions election to the 10thparliament will be held under an ‘interim’ government headed by her keeping the 9th parliament alive. Ordinarily the term ‘caretaker’ means a person employed to look after a public building or a house ‘in the owner’s absence’. A ‘caretaker government’ as was envisaged in the 13th Amendment, holds power temporarily after the dissolution of the parliament to conduct  an impartial election and carry out certain specific functions within a specified period. An ‘interim government’ on the other hand performs all functions of the state during an ‘intervening period’ that stands between the dissolution of the preceding parliament and the sitting of the succeeding parliament.

But the 15th Amendment has allowed Sheikh Hasina to continue as prime minister with the 9th parliament kept intact until such time as the next elected majority leader takes oath as PM and the 10th parliament replaces the 9th. There is, therefore, no ‘intervening period’ as such for which an ‘interim government’ is needed in the first place. Unlike all other parliamentary systems in the world the parliamentary election in Bangladesh will now be held without dissolving the preceding parliament. It’s a weird new phenomenon in the Westminster style parliamentary system where even a bye-election requires the seat to be vacated first. The prime minister has to understand that recalling of the dissolved parliament in times of war and holding election to all the 300 parliamentary seats without first vacating them are not the same things. In England, general election to the parliamentary seats is not held without dissolving the parliament first.

The government has used pressure tactics on the Jamaat – e –Islami party in a reprehensible manner apparently to compel it to come to terms with the ruling coalition and get out of the BNP-led 18 party alliance. Pressure has also been exerted on BNP to severe all connections with Jamaat. The war crimes tribunals set up ahead of the election after a lapse of four decades has already awarded death penalty to two of Jamaat’s top leaders and life term to two others. On 1st August the registration of Jamaat has been declared illegal by the High Court. In a bid to suppress the opposition by force, a reign of terror was unleashed in the months of March, April and May when hundreds of civilian protesters were allegedly killed by law enforcement agencies and thousands of opposition men were imprisoned and tortured. Adilur Rahman Khan, secretary of the human rights organization ‘Adhikar’ was arrested on 10 August for publishing a report on the bloody operation carried out by Police, RAB and BGB on the night following 5 May. The government, in this country, does not have mercy for anybody who dares to say or publish anything which it does not appreciate. Even the world’s reputed Economist magazine was sued for one of its reports. The present government of Bangladesh does not speak the language of politics. Its language is the language of a cult.

In the year 2000, the two leaders of two top political parties had exchanged letters to reach consensus on the appointment of the chief election commissioner which had failed. This time they exchanged Eid cards. Unlike the year 2000 the grudges now are indeed as heavy as cannon balls and the wounds are too deep to heel. The issues are too many and too complex and the time is too short to settle them. Ambassador Dan W Mozena’s initiative on behalf of the diplomatic corps is aimed at facilitating exchanges between the two leaders which can strengthen the fiber that holds the nation together. All throughout the year, the nation wanted to believe that there would be a solution within the parliament. But with the little time left for election there seems to be no chance of conciliation or a consensus. The result is a pitifully divided nation surrenders to the forces of confrontation and conflict.

The base of parliamentary democracy is cracking fast and things are at a breaking point. It seems there is something deeper at work beyond politics. We have already witnessed an epic failure of the establishment in political, financial, commercial, administrative, judicial and even cultural sectors. We are at a transformative moment in our history when the acceptance of the status quo counts as cataclysmic failure. The finger-pointing politics with self- serving vested interests is so entrenched that always the good will be a hostage.

This country has all kinds of problems. But its biggest problem over the next years is how to find a leader who will inspire the nation through character and integrity, vision and resolution, courage and judgment and unite it. The people are ready to give their faith and confidence to the right person — someone they can trust.

Source: Weekly Holiday