Politics28 Feb 2007 07:02 am
As Dhaka’s military-backed interim government gets on with its anti-corruption agenda amid cautious cheers from the public, Bangladeshis at home and abroad are arguing over what kind of government system can both be functional and deliver for the long-beleaguered people. With civil-society leaders moving towards a more hands-on political approach at the same time as politicians are being thrown in jail for alleged corruption, Bangladesh seems to be going through its biggest round of political shifts since the restoration of democracy in 1990.
February 28th, 2007 at 8:17 am
Good article, Asif.
Farhad
February 28th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Nicely written Asif bhai with some great points to ponder. To me,looking at the present scenerio,
history,people’s verdict in home and abroad, I would like to give them a fair chance to clean the mess but yes once all this is done a level playing field for all political parties with equal thresh-hold should be created and election should be announced and get the country back for people’s democracy with check and balances.
February 28th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
A good analysis except two points:
I believe, AWL in its reign from 1996-2001 did no less corruption than that done by BNP in its last term. Along with BNP’s corruption it’s big failure is that it never succeeded in getting the media its favor. Media is mostly controlled by so called progressive, secular and foreign-friendly elites of our contry. And moreover as Jamat was one heavy-weight partner of the BNP-led government the media from the very beginning left no propaganda stone unturned to drag that government down. Though they failed to unseat them prematurely but fairly succeeded to disgrace them more than they deserve.
In Hasina’s time in transparency scale Bangladesh scored the least point 0.4 out of 10 in other words 4 out 100. But per last report on 2006, Bangladesh, based on score position, was 3rd and country poistion it was 5-8th position and score was 2.0 out of 10 i.e, 20 out of 100. In fact despite whatever wealth their corrupt neocronies amassed, BNP government was 5 times more transparent then AWL governement if we agree witth TIB report. But media never let us get our eyes on the facts.
Other point, the penman of this arcticle tried to credit AWL, for the latest development leading to a militray-backed unconstitutional government. This eventual outcome of this probable intermediate-term khitchuri governement was not the result of good intent and politically wise movement of AWL. It was the result of BNP’s corrruptinon and AWL’s political anarchy and greed of power.
It’s like someone dug out someone elese’s hidden treasure and have stolen them. Then in the morning the owner went to the place of hidden treasure. While he started crying not finding his hidden treasure, stunningly found a gold-mine in the hole/well. Then he would definitely be happy with gold-mine. But nobody would credit the theif for dicovering gold-mine while attempting to steal someone else’s hidden treasure.
Both the parties are responsible for our misfortune. No one is too distinctly different from the other.
Thanks.
February 28th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Asif’s article says:
“..while others suggest that the priority should be on setting a date for the elections, to avoid further erosion of the polity’s democratic basis.”
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“the polity’s democratic basis” is a misnomer for Bangladesh, coz there WAS NO democratic basis from 1991-2006, there was just a CIVILIAN non-military basis, but no democracy.
One could call it Election-ocracy, or PSEUDO-DEMOCRACY. It was a polity based purely on (make-shift) elections alone, with no other feautures of democracy.
How? The major essentials of democracy were missing, ie mandatory parliament activity, separate judiciary, checks & balances, autonomous police and governance, impeaching powers, critical requirements, without which you cannot even CALL it a democracy, let alone function as one.
Pakistan and Bangladesh have had the same failures, and the same regular (welcomed) return of military regimes, due to the same deficiencies in the polity, which have been totally mis-interpreted as “democracy”.
The KEY to democracy, while our infamous UNCHECKED villainous politicians get exposed before our eyes is that:
- the politicians upon whom the people lay TOTAL TRUST, to handle nation’s wealth and development, must be themselves WATCHED, controlled and punished by the system itself.
This is the KEY to democracy, and this key has been missing in Bangladesh and hitherto Pakistan.
Current interim govt must be give the chance to develop that key. “Politicians” left alone in an un-policed treasure trove will not kill their golden goose. So a REAL DEMOCRATIC system must be robustly reinforced before new politicians return to run a true democracy.
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Abdul Gaffar Chow albeit cautiously, reiterates his support for the CG. He also advises the AL leadership to take time(6 month-1 yr) to cleanse the party before demanding for elections.
http://www.shamokal.com/details.php?nid=53518