Congratulations to the Bangladeshi nationalist activists and organisers.
As the organisational foundation of the government, you are a significant force in the country. Previously, your party has achieved a majority in elections at least four times. In the most recent election, the BNP received almost 50 per cent of the vote and over two hundred parliamentary seats. The present and future of the country now depend on your proper thinking and actions.
There is no alternative to relying on you for the comfort and prosperity of the citizens. This letter is a humble personal reflection. You are the guardian of all those who voted for you and those who did not. The party might belong to individuals, but the government belongs to everyone. At least, it should be, and it needs to be.
Even if experts may not want it, in this country, the government and party become synonymous—hence, you are the only post office for the citizens. Furthermore, the parliamentary system and its practice here are such that when a party secures more than 150 seats, the opposition becomes a paper tiger. At that point, whatever the government desires is affirmed with a ''yes'' or ''no'' in parliament. History indicates that the consequences of this are not favourable.
In the past, when the country was devoid of strong opposition or they couldn't play an effective role, the government faced difficulties, and the citizens suffered as well.
As former organisers of the ruling party, you are aware that the nature of bureaucracy in Bangladesh is such that they don't have the courage to inform about the field's real situation—they might not even want to. In such circumstances, the clamors from the opposition about various issues help the government understand the ground reality. This is how the opposition works to protect the government in a democracy. Our 'tradition' doesn't work that way. The repeated undignified and violent exits of governments are due to the lack of a strong and constructive opposition or not allowing the opposition to function effectively. We question whether we are facing such concerns again.
It is true that there is an electoral mandate for the BNP to govern the state alone. However, it is your responsibility to evaluate and reassess if the party's policymakers are making the right decisions. There is no effective route for the evaluations of a non-partisan civil society to reach the secretariat or national parliament. In this case, you need to demonstrate the courage of a constructive opposition.
In this country, political party decisions, preferences, and dislikes all come from the top. A small same group or faction makes national decisions in most cases. If decisions made in this way result in adverse outcomes, the party's workers, along with everyone else, fall into trouble.
In 2024, certainly, there wasn't much opportunity for the grass-root workers to express their opinions on the rulers' decisions. However, they are severely suffering from that governance culture now. No one knows when this suffering will end for them, although their leaders are not in bad shape in Europe-America. There are many lessons to be learned for the future.
The way to prevent such a situation from happening again is for the workers of the ruling party to continually express independent opinions. If there is a mistake in government work, prompt the policymakers to stop and, if possible, make them stop.
A dangerous political culture has already developed in Bangladesh—where workers have to bear catastrophic liability for the ruling party's decisions. Therefore, blindly supporting everything within the party would be suicidal. Surely no ruling party workers today or in the future will want to escape like the past ones of the ousted party. That's why putting the party leadership under accountability pressure is necessary. It has become a duty for political and social security reasons. History has brought us to such a new chapter.
It might sound harsh, but politicians have made politics extremely dangerous. So, for personal and family safety, political workers must have independent assessments of and express opinions about the upper echelon's actions. The main lesson of the post-Awami League era is that honest dissent offers more security than blind 'consensus'.
The BNP has secured over two hundred seats directly in the election. With reserved seats, you have a significant number of MPs. However, many unelected individuals are in critical roles in government administration. Many who have returned from abroad are also there. This isn't a new tradition in this country. If there is no long-term, close connection between the policy-makers and society, you can compensate for it as grassroots workers-organisers-associates. Because of your active involvement at the grassroots level, you know what actions need to be prioritised for the majority of people.
Does Bangladesh currently need dozens of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, or should investment in agriculture, poultry, and fisheries be increased—that is something you should understand best. You can convey these things to MPs and ministers. Convey your thoughts on these matters now in district and sub-district committee meetings.
Surely, you have observed that in various international indices, Bangladesh's position has recently declined significantly. Though the news might be small, they carry significant messages. This year, in the World Economic Forum''s Global Gender Gap Report, Bangladesh fell 55 places in one stroke. Women represent 90-100 million of our population. Their worsening situation means decreased prosperity for the entire country. This news does not align at all with the much-discussed 23rd clause of your '31-points'.
Last week, the World Bank reported that 62 million people are barely surviving near the poverty line—any economic issue could plunge them below it. An added concern is that the poverty rate has been increasing for four years in the country. The World Bank also states that in 2026, 2.1 million people have newly become poor.
Policy-makers in the country are surely aware of these reports from the world's top organisations. Opposition leaders might also be aware. Is there any reflection of this in parliamentary discussions and decisions?
According to the World Bank, substantial employment generation is necessary to reduce the current poverty rate and future concerning poverty fears in Bangladesh. However, in the past eight months, the government opened large expenditure accounts on metro rail, state employee salaries, and the purchase of aircraft. Do these match with the actual grassroots priorities? As workers of the ruling party past, present, and future, we will ask these questions from you!
37. 6 million people voted for you. Among them, how many are state employees, and how many are unemployed youth, workers, and farmers? You will undoubtedly analyze that.
I also present for your considerate evaluation, if everything from railways to ports has to be operated by foreign and private sectors, then why should the nation bear the costs of such a large cabinet and advisory board? Although there was mention of a small cabinet at the start, it has already crossed 50 members.
There are many advisors and special assistants as well. In Nepal, following a mass uprising, one of the first steps the government took was to reduce the number of ministries to 18. Alongside reducing revenue expenditure, it brought additional speed to the administrative decision-making process.
If not on these matters, at least reconsider laws like the Prevention of Enforced Disappearance Act, Human Rights Act, or potential Cyber Security Act? These laws will remain even with a change in power! Just as the RAB created by your past government remained in subsequent regimes and you experienced its ramifications.
We know that wise people learn from the past while the knowledgeable learn from others' mistakes. We have 55 years of experience behind us. We have the recent past of the freshly ousted and 170 million hopefuls for a bright future. It's all in your hands. Best wishes.
#Altaf Parvez is researcher and writer
*The opinions expressed here are the author's own.
#This article, originally published in Prothom Alo print and online editions, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam