Wed 28 May 2008
The political parties are handing the excuses on a platter for not having an election to the current government. One can already see the script …
” We called them to dialogue, they did not come. we called for reform, they did not reform. In such a dire situtation, in order to save the future of our country, we do not have any alternative but to ……..”
Is it too much to expect some strategic vision from our political honchos? or am i missing something? A full blown catastrophe helps whom? Does AL seriously believe that it can do another hartal andolon to bring down this government?
Can anyone from the party insider sources give me the real story behind the boycott?
What do you think?
n
Should AL and BNP go to the dialogue without Hasina Khaleda?
Bangladesh parties reject talks
May 28th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Asif,
There are only two contendors of power and a game of chicken. The power lies with the people and the people (the grass roots of AL & BNP) have given their support for there to be no dialogue or election without the unconditional release of Hasina and Khaleda. Nobody wants Yunus or Dr. Kamal Hossain these days. Their brilliant ideas have failed to honour the wishes of the people, perhaps in vain glory of nobel prize and international legal consultancy.
Expect the bailout of Hasina and Khaleda in June and their participation in the elections in December. There is no way out of this gridlock for the emergency caretaker government.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:10 am
Yes, it is gathered from various sources some sort of understanding has been reached, courtesy of Buetenis: this will free both ladies on bail/parole (ref: Dr. Kamal’s move in court regarding bail under EPR and US Ambassador’s hope for a settlement in few week), This will help the dialogue and eventual election, (and still BNP-Khaleda faction may boycot it, GM Shaheb (General Moeen) has learnt the lesson and was told to stop his dream of becoming president, so he may retire on time, or early. So, some sort of election will be held, it is expected, the form and shape of it unknown till date, but will gradually evolve. Even installing a 3rd CTG is on card by Sept/Oct, and a new set will hold elections by due time.A military-sponsored mass movement can not be ruled out. Military is tired, unwilling to intervene and wants to get out of this mess.The bargain is now for deep-sea port by India, including a decision on TATA, before election, and US wants Doublemooring container/ or lease of St.Martins. Wait more more drama to unfold as double-agents are also active.
May 29th, 2008 at 7:25 am
ref: #2
Wow! where are you getting all this info?
Why does the US want lease of St.Martin?
What is Doubltmooring container? And why do they want it?
(Pardon my ignorance)
Even with the third CTG in power and due elections, with the hovering shadows ‘of the powers that be’ ,will the December elections be free and fair? Will we really know who to vote for? Who are we going to choose as our leaders?
May 29th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Hello Asif,
AL already shows the reform, they took the decision on presidium table, instead from root level, this is absolutely democratic.
moreover, BNP shows political balanced with AW as a fashion of limited understanding which you can also consider a reform between them.
people don’t want Dr Yunus or Dr Kamal as their chef, you the ultimate demand 3rd CTG (may be ex justice Hasan, justice Amin now a days controversial character )
May 29th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Actually, if you read the fine print, AL has said ‘noting doing without the netri, but if she blesses us, we’re ready for anything’. And BNP’s stance is similar. So the question is really, will the regime talk to the netris? Possibilities:
- Good
Some sort of arrangemnt will be made with at least one of the netris.
- Bad
Regime is confident that the parties lack the strength to go for any andolon. Farhad Mazhar described the situation as something like this: a goat is tied to a post, the goat doesn’t like it, it brays a lot, moves it horns a bit, but it’s just not strong enough to remove the post (original Bangla is much cooler). So we get the situation Asif describes.
- Ugly
Andolon unleashes pent up anger and frustration of the ordinary people, and once there is general anarchy, who knows what kind of biplob/inquilaab/revolution awaits us.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
WAY OUT FOR CARETAKER GOVT:
# carry on with trials of netri in fair/transparent manner
# if unable to prove guilt, let them go
#Elction Commission MUST carry on with reforms: registering of parties; financial details of all parties to be made public; CODE OF CONDUCT ANOTHER MUST; requirements for candidates eg. degree, no criminal record, etc
#in order to register, parties MUST have internal democracy
These rules which are followed in all developed democracies are fair. Any party tht refuses them, people can assume tht the party does not have the country’s best interests at heart
May 29th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Should AL-BNP join the dialogue?
http://rumiahmed.wordpress.com/2008/05/29/dialogue-and-the-opportunity/
May 29th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
This is how I see it:
Imagine students DICTATING rules for college exams like this - “we want open books during exams, only 10 minute exams MAXIMUM, exams only once in 3 years, no fail grade allowed and all students MUST get 1st Class degree. Otherwise there will be ANDOLON, we will boycott exams”. Then teachers will panic, talk to student NETAS, and compromise and say “OK, whatever you want - but PLEASE dont boycott exams, because we need EDUCATION in Bangladesh!!” Thats what would happen if students dictated what they want, and authorities bowed down to their wishes. Thats exactly how I also see Bangladesh politics.
Who is dictating the rules in BD politics? - the electoral system or political parties? (worldwide, the system dictates to the parties). But why is there no discipline in BD politics? Why does the govt have to bow down to netris and not the law? Are netris the Queen of Sheeba and Cleopatra respectively, or are they representatives of democratic parties?
To compare with the goat analogy, I see the GOVT and electoral system as the goat tied to the tree, and politicians dictating the goat with threats of andolon, boycott and anarchy. Its about time that LAW and ORDER dictates the rules, and makes it clear to all who should obey whose rules.
Otherwise we are back to pre 1/11 status quo.
May 29th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Ref: #5.
(1) The army lacks stamina as they have opened too many fronts of controversial and potentially conflicting issues.
(2) Few recent, unexpected and controversial arrests (e.g. Tofail Ahmed, M.K. Anwar) of persons who have a reputation of honesty and integrity in a pool of pathologically corrupt politicians, made the understanding between AL and BNP more durable and the work of the common incumbent government enemy more difficult.
(3) Grass root resolution fortified AL’s stand against the government and triggered a ripple effect in BNP, Jamat, JP and the rest to follow. In effect, we have a single incumbent (the army backed government) and a single opposition (all major political parties of Bangladesh) under the leadership of AL. In essence, the race becomes a contest between the People of Bangladesh versus the Army backed government with the blessings of external powers. I can’t find Farhad Mazhar’s goat here but I do see a hazy prospect like that of FBCCI president Anisul Haque. The only goat being the army backed government tied by Butenis, Anwar-bhai, Pinak and others to the emergency free elections of December 2008. Let us hope Saber Hossain Chowdhury or Sayeed Khokan is elected the Mayor of Dhaka by then. DP might want to start a thread on this.
May 31st, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Politicians have no reason to bow down their head and go for a meaningless dialogue. Politicians make the system and rest live with it and never vice versa. If some fools believe that the days of politicians are gone and military will dictate the system then they need to wash their brains.
What AL has to lose from this situation? Their President is in jail, half of the popular and high profile leaders are in prison. The grassroot leaders wants no dialogue without their leader…to go against their wish will indeed prove Awami league leaders as agent of the MILITARY government. If dialogue fails then it will be another failure of the government. Politicians will not take any responsibility.
Slaping a case against Tofail and his family, letting Saifur fly ( he was the boss of FAKU) and arrest rest of the reformists in BNP is indeed double standard of the government. They are losing it in all fronts and I dont understand why ANDOLON will be impossible in such situation.
Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia stayed in politics for too long and indeed they made lots of enemies. However, this government is only 1.4 yrs old and already has more enemy then both ladies.
June 1st, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Abu Arif #10, (last para)
No use hiding behind the curtain of boycott to show their incompetence. If politicians dont like this govt then they have to reform and go to the people, for elections.
If they have a better policy than this govt or others, on how to develop BD, then they have to setup their goals of governance, and sell those concepts to the people.
Otherwise just boycotting dialogues and elections, and getting ready for andolon (jalao porao) while wearing the same old pre 1/11 T-shirt, is not going to earn much sympathy.
As is obvious - anyone who does not go to elections or dialog will be left out. The game is not for cry-babies - its a tough battle.
Bangladesh needs tough reliable workers for RE-BUILDING, its not gonna be possible with soft-core amateurs who drop their hat of “boycott” at every step.
June 1st, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Post 1/11 the initial demand from the political parties were the lifting of ban on indoor politics - the regime obliged.
The political parties demanded ban on indoor politics be lifted nationwide - the regime obliged.
The political parties demanded “shonglap”, after dragging it’s feet the ruling regime obliged and held informal talks before the official shonglap (discussion)
As usual the usual political powers AL/BNP have done a U-turn and shonglap has become a platform for them to free their currently detained netris.
Even if the netris are freed to take part in the shonglap can the parties be trusted to take part in the shonglap.!!!!!!
The military backed CTG should scrap the shonglap idea immediately and not fall into AL/BNP’s well calculated trap. They should continue with plans to hold elections by December.
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:29 pm
KGazi,
Lets see….December is not too far. This is not the worst time of politicians. They have seen worse and survived.
Parasites can’t run the country and Andolon is never impossible.
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Abu Arif and Typical political party lovers
The following links are just to revive your mind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LvDjppNH5U&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUZTEbvobTU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9pfPeKONYY&NR=1
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Abu Arif,
My definition of “Parasites” is: people who hold public office in the disguise of democracy and, along with their families, steal $Billions from govt money, ending up in Jail or escape overseas. Can you seriously trust THEM to “run the country”, and bring them back to power again in December?
This is a break to encourage POLITICIANS with a better system to enforce ‘good governance’, with anti-corruption and WITHOUT parasites. No need to create this hype of fight between “politicians” and army - its NOT.
This is a fight between incompetent parasitic thieves and law enforcers. Lets hope that in December people are smart enough to choose between genuine politicians and parasitic ones - so that we can have a cleaner nation-building system from 2009.
June 4th, 2008 at 3:48 am
“No need to create this hype of fight between “politicians” and army - its NOT.
This is a fight between incompetent parasitic thieves and law enforcers.”
- Why Saifur Rahman was allowed to leave the country? If they were such big law enforcers then why special treatment to Syed Eskander, Amir Hossain Amu and rest of the reformist gangs (who are still useful for plus-minus mission)?
“Lets hope that in December people are smart enough to choose between genuine politicians and parasitic ones - so that we can have a cleaner nation-building system from 2009.”
- Who are these genuine politicians? Dr. Yunus is not a politician and Dr. Kamal never won an election. If people can’t relate to a political leader then s/he is not a leader. This is very simple.
“My definition of “Parasites” is: people who hold public office in the disguise of democracy and, along with their families, steal $Billions from govt money, ending up in Jail or escape overseas.”
- None of those accusations were proven in an open court. So why should I believe you are illustrating the fact? The two leaders of the two grassroot political parties did not escape the country ( one actually used every possible means to return her homeland)and fighting back all those MACHO men in army and parasite cabinet. We will see what they would do when these ladies return to their people. Sooner or later!
Of course corruption is a big issue in South Asian politics. For example, in India we can see the politicians like Jayalalita, Mayawati, Lalu Prasad Yadav…(Even entire Neheru-Gandhi family was accused for corruption charges) but did Indian army ever took the “plus, minus” mission? The answer is “no” and reason is very simple. The Indian army understand better than those parasites and their supporters. You can never impose reform…it comes through practise.
Can you seriously trust THEM to “run the country”, and bring them back to power again in December?
- I don’t like Khaleda ( her parasites comment was awesome) and a huge fan of Sheikh Hasina. But do I trust them…answer is simply “no”. They are politicians..why should I trust any of them? But nothing came to them in a platter. Both ladies struggled throughout their political career. They fought against dictators, their families made highest sacrifices for the nation and did not leave the country even after knowing their fate. They have passed all those exams in politics. And people of our country don’t even know these parasite advisors and those MACHO men behind the curtain! They only know that these all men and woman were part of our past governments … one way or other…they also know that these people don’t provide them stable market…these and add many more from other issues brought in DP.. should be good enough to vote for NETHREES than accepting some unknown generals.
June 4th, 2008 at 5:15 am
#16 - “I don’t like Khaleda ( her parasites comment was awesome) and a huge fan of Sheikh Hasina. But do I trust them…answer is simply “no”.”
————
If you know somebody is a thief they should not be a leader. They should be impeached (removed) while in office.
To summarize your feelings: You dont like them, you dont trust them - but you dont know anyone else, therefore you will follow them like a worker-ant loyally follows the queen!
I often explained above syndrome in BD politics as a cult-following. People never have a chance to understand the real duty of politicians, how dysfunctional they and their govt were, and how corrupt in comparison to India or others. They only remember the Mujib Zia itihaash, and vote for a legend.
Country is reeling in poverty and corruption - Yet people’s following of these failed (criminal) politicians are unwavered, and even when absconding or in jail - people still want them back - even though NOBODY trust them!!
It is BECAUSE of this unwavered netri-puja (worship) - that corrupt politicians get away with openly stealing BANGLADESH people’s money - and never fear for REPRISAL against crime and corruption.
This why we need TERM-LIMITS and IMPEACHMENT, so that above syndrome is not permanently ingrained into the system.
June 4th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
You failed to summarize my feelings as you failed to understand the politics.
But you are right. There is no one ELSE. Its a fact. Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia did not reach to Gonobhaban within a night. They proved themselves during Ershad regime and were the elected representatives of people. I have no reason to be a blind supporter (or a supporter) of CTG, who use strong sensorship against the media, don’t allow fundamental freedom of the people, fail to solve any problem of the country but ready to recite GOOD WORDS every now and then… You can have all your fait for this government. I am sure there were people who trusted Parvez Musharaf as well…we will see the future of this CTG very soon.
June 4th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
After defeating Ershad, Hasina and Khaleda proved this: they were great for “andolon”, but were DISASTERS in national administration.
Their andolon by oborodh, boycott, shutdown hartals established a national political character for chaos and anarchy - which they wrongfully defined as “fundamental rights of people”, but which is banned across the world as ECONOMIC DISRUPTION.
With ex-ministers DAILY getting sent to jail for grand theft and corruption, (10/15 years each), it is unlikely if PM’s did NOT get a percentage of that theft from ministers. But assuming SH-KZ did not share that loot, the very fact that they FAILED to PREVENT such MASSIVE crime and corruption shows failure in their admin skills and ability. No matter how much SH-KZ cry “conspiracy” now, they clearly FAILED in govt admin, meaning its time to install better leadership, for the greater interest of Bangladesh.
However, to achieve that goal we must remove the ARMY-PHOBIA that the new leaders will be “Musharraf”, CTG or Moeen. This CTG and army has shown their genuinity in this goal, and for Bangladesh they must be fully supported to PREVENT REPEAT of the chaos, anarchy and failed admin of pre 1/11.
June 5th, 2008 at 3:02 am
Kgazi,
I will not attempt to help you to understand the reality. It was meaningless to talk with Awami Leaguers who supported Hazari…it is meaningless to talk with CTG lovers who think this government can produce a successful country.
If army could only produce the utopian Bangladesh that they are talking about then Bangladesh would have been different place by now.
June 5th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Abu Arif,
Your “reality” is limited to politics with Hasina & Khaleda alone, thats all. Any discussion of betterment of the system, people or parliament by bringing new leadership and change, is “utopia” for you.
I am outside that “reality and utopia”.
18 months ago, to think of Hasina and Khaleda in jail would be utopia, right? And today thats a reality.
While nations have surpassed the “utopia” of landing on moon - people in Bangladesh are STILL having trouble accepting the REALITY of crime, corruption, fraud dysfunctional politics - because they are having trouble coming out ‘of the box’ of limited reality, and dismissing it as “utopia” - because Hasina and Khaleda are more important to them!!
To move BD out of that box, and advance like growing nations of this Century, people will have to face the reality of national crises and not the utopia of fraudulent politics.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Didn’t the much hyped pre 1/11 Shonglap between Mannan Bhuiyan and Abdul Jalil bring about the current military backed CTG!!!!
Our political parties have never delivered anything positive through shonglap.
Many commentators here have only one agenda - criticizing the army.
Individuals like Mr. Asif/Tacit have gone absolutely quiet on analyzing the behavior of AL/BNP. The lack of any reform within the parties and both parties still dancing to the two netris whims.
What a shame!!