Unrest to deepen if election not fair and inclusive

Unrest in the country will deepen without fair and participatory elections. It may affect diplomatic relations with western countries and the country's economy.

Panelists made this observation at a webinar titled 'Another staged election: Diplomatic and security risks' organised by Forum for Bangladesh Studies on Saturday afternoon.

Former election commissioner M Sakhawat Hossain said 60 per cent of the population is not interested about the 12th parliamentary election. A section of voters are still in an indecisive state. As a result, turnout would not be more than 30 per cent in this election.

He said Bangladesh is going to see an election where results would be the same as previous ones. It remains to be seen how sustainable the election is going to be.

“I can say the elections in 2014 and 2018 can be termed as a hybrid democratic regime. Because, democratic election entails participation. The government has fielded ‘dummy’ candidates to make this election look participatory. They will contest. We are not being able to come out of the bracket of hybrid democracy,” the former election commissioner and political analyst said.

It can be mentioned that Bangladesh was bracketed as a hybrid regime in the Economic Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) democracy index report published in February, 2022. According to the EIU, hybrid regimes are countries with regular electoral frauds where governments often apply pressure on political oppositions. The hybrid regimes do not have independent judiciaries.  Widespread corruption, harassment and pressure placed on the media, weak rule of law and civil society are existent in hybrid regimes.

Former foreign secretary M Touhid Hossain said true democracy never prevailed in Bangladesh. Elected or unelected governments exercised authoritarian rule. No accountability prevails in such a country.

Democracy does not only mean electiosn, Touhid Hossain said, adding that it also refers to decision making based on social consensus.

He, however, said that elections are also important. Various problems crop up in a country where authoritarian rule continues.

Touhid Hossain said he wants to believe a famine would not take place in the country but purchasing power of the middle and lower income people has decreased. The mega projects of the country saw excessive expenditure and a portion of the money has been siphoned off.  

About Bangladesh’s relations with the US, Touhid Hossain said different stances are being shown from different positions of the government. What the US does is derived from its own interests. The country is advocating a free and fair election in Bangladesh, which the people here also want to see.

If the US imposes even a partial sanction, most of the female garment workers would be laid off. Possibility of a famine cannot be ruled out if such a situation emerges, Touhid Hossain said.

Research fellow Mobasshar Hasan of Oslo University, Norway, said the main opposition party BNP is being repressed and this can affect the future security of the country.

Political analyst and Forum for Bangladesh Studies’ member Zahed Ur Rahman said the election commission did not utter a single word on the oppression the BNP men are going through. The election would not be a national one if only a select few participate in it.

Journalist Monir Haider conducted the webinar while Malaysia International Islamic University’s professor Mahmudul Hasan delivered the welcome speech.