Even without any involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war that started in February 2022, Bangladesh is still facing its adverse effects. Due to the embargoes and counter embargoes by the superpower countries, the price of essential commodities not only increased but also the supply is disrupted.
Under the circumstances, the confrontation between the government and the opposition has pushed the country's politics into deep uncertainty ahead of the 7 January election. Awami League, Jatiya Party and several parties started the election process vigorously, but the BNP and like-minded parties have rejected the election schedule and are continuing strikes and blockades demanding the resignation of the government. After the seventh phase of the blockade, BNP enforced blockade on Wednesday and hartal on Thursday.
Although the government and the opposition parties are on the opposite directions over the elections for a long time, it has not had any adverse effect on the public life. Both sides kept their programmes limited to meetings and rallies. But as the government is preparing for the elections after 28 October, hundreds of thousands of opposition leaders have been arrested.
Whether the hartal or strike of the opposition parties is successful or not, the more important thing is its impact on the public and economy. Long-route buses are not leaving due to hartal-blockade. Incidents of setting fire to vehicles are happening every day centering the opposition party's programme. Common people are in fear.
Economist Debapriya Bhattacharya said in an interview in the newspaper, "Another crisis of the economy is the decrease in income and expenditure of the government. As a result, the government is unable to implement development activities properly.
According to the election schedule, the polls are scheduled to be held on 7 January 2024. As the election is drawing near, the situation is turning violent. Its effects have also started to fall on the economy. The country's economy is already in a fragile state. The dollar-crisis is ongoing. Decline in investment and imports. The external debt burden is also increasing. In this situation, if the political conflict increases, the economic situation may take a turn for the worse.
Under the circumstances, a tolerant and restrained attitude is expected from the government and every political party. Nobody should do such a thing so that the economic structure of the country collapses, the normal life of the people is disrupted. It is necessary to think seriously whether the politics of the country can be brought back to the situation before 28 October. In this case, those who are in power have more responsibility. Law and order forces are responsible for protecting people's lives and property. This does not mean that they will resort to relentless repression to counter the opposition movement.
Similarly, the opposition parties also have to rethink their programme. The leaders of BNP said that they are peacefully observing the hartal-blockade. But they cannot avoid the responsibility for the incident of setting fire to vehicles due to their programmes. Whoever causes these incidents, they create panic among the people. The opposition party must understand that the movement has to be successful by involving the people, not by intimidation.
The political parties cannot evade their responsibilities regarding the anxiety and uncertainty that is going about the economy of the country. People are the biggest victims of this situation. We are expecting responsible conduct from all the parties considering the country and its people. There is no other option but to keep the wheel of economy rolling on.