Twenty-nine days remain for the national parliamentary election. Yet a dialogue has raised concerns that a proper electoral environment or enthusiasm has yet to be established.
In this dialogue by the civic body Shushasoner Jonno Nagorik (SHUJAN), the speakers expressed concern over the law and order situation, particularly the failure to recover weapons looted after the July uprising and the non-arrest of fugitives. Questions also arose among the speakers regarding the administration’s impartial role.
The dialogue titled ‘Desire for People’s Uprising, Reform and Electoral Manifesto’ was held at the Siraj-Dap auditorium in the capital today, Tuesday. Various political party leaders and representatives of civil society attended SHUJAN’s divisional session.
Expressing concern over the law and order situation, BNP’s self-reliance secretary Nilufar Chowdhury Moni said that if any mob-related incident occurs now, the law enforcement agencies merely stand by and watch. Of the 1,335 weapons looted after the people’s uprising, none have been recovered yet. Of the 713 individuals who escaped from prison, none have been arrested so far. This raises questions about how free and fair the upcoming election will be.
Expressing anger over political parties failing to nominate women candidates in 5 per cent of the seats as promised, this former BNP lawmaker said, “There was discussion about women’s seats in the July Charter. No one asked why women did not receive 5 per cent of the nominations. So where, then, did we implement any reform?”
National Citizen Party (NCP) joint convenor Sarwar Tushar said, “Only 29 days remain for the election. I myself am a candidate. The election atmosphere, as it can be called, has still not been created. We are conducting public outreach and so on. But it seems to us that the people are not yet reassured about the election, because they are still asking whether the election will actually take place.”
Questioning the role of the administration, Tushar said that the local administration is leaning towards influential people.
The NCP leader said, “Joint operations to recover illegal weapons, I used to support those before. But now I feel fear, do you know why? Because there is fear that powerful people hand over a list to the administration. That list includes many people who perhaps were involved with different parties before and are now silent. The administration arrests those innocent people, while the truly influential and terrorist have already taken shelter in various parties… and this creates yet another imbalance and spreads fear.”
Ragib Ahsan Munna, a member of the presidium of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and former VP of RUCSU, highlighting the tradition of student politics, said that politicians have destroyed student politics. They are exploiting students to consolidate their own power.
Sanjib Drang, general secretary of the Indigenous Forum, called for ensuring the development and progress of those who are disadvantaged due to structural reasons before creating a ‘level playing field’ in the elections. He expressed support for the formation of a commission for the development of indigenous people.
Kazi Mahbubur Rahman, professor of political science at Dhaka University, emphasised transitioning to a democratic system through a fair election and said, “But elections alone do not make democracy. Several reforms are needed to ensure that the new arrangements are effective, inspire democratic values, and nurture leaders in the country.” He also stressed the importance of a strong opposition to strengthen the democratic system.
Jasim Uddin Khan, professor at Dhaka University, said, “We want political parties to give importance to education in their election manifestos so that a skilled and capable workforce is developed in the country. I also believe that parties should make clear commitments on forest management and environmental conservation.”
Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, professor at Dhaka University’s Development Studies Department, emphasised tackling disinformation, saying, “Disinformation is enough to spoil the election environment, as happened during Brexit in the United Kingdom. But we are seeing no initiative from the Election Commission’s side to identify disinformation. The Election Commission should formulate a policy to identify false, misleading, and incorrect information and take appropriate action.”
Senior journalist Abu Sayeed Khan said that an acceptable election is essential for a democratic transition. One of the major obstacles to holding a fair election is mob violence. Due to the government’s silence and weakness, the culture of mobs is not coming to an end. Other problems in organising a fair election include the use of black money and the failure to verify candidates’ affidavits. For this reason, he said, an election expenditure monitoring committee is necessary. He also stressed the need to set up a fact-checking cell to curb disinformation and misinformation on social media.
The keynote paper at the dialogue was presented by Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of SHUJAN and head of the Election Reform Commission formed by the interim government.
He said that a referendum would be held on a number of far-reaching reforms, and that people would have to take a position in favour of yes or no on those issues. A victory for yes would mean reforms are implemented, while a victory for no would mean reforms are not carried out. He warned that without reforms, the country could return to the previous situation, and that even a government elected through polls could not be fully ruled out from becoming authoritarian if reforms fail.
Highlighting the July National Charter and reforms, Badiul Alam Majumdar said that the aspirations of the mass uprising were threefold: free and fair elections, along with reforms and justice. He said discussions were held on what needs to be done to ensure a fair election, stressing that the election commission must become active, the influence of money must be stopped, and the criminalisation of electoral and political darkness must be ended. At the same time, the caretaker government system must be restored for a fair election to take place. However, he noted that a fair election alone does not guarantee a democratic transition. For that, a number of far-reaching reforms are required, which are included in and signed under the July National Charter.
Among the politicians who also spoke at the dialogue were Gano Forum general secretary Mizanur Rahman, Gono Odhikar Parishad acting general secretary Hasan Al Mamun, LDP presidium member Neyamul Bashir, BASAD (Marxist) coordinator Masud Rana, Nagorik Oikya joint general secretary Sakib Anwar, and Gono Odhikar Parishad spokesperson Faruk Hasan, among others.