Politics at the cost of principles?

No matter how popular a political party may be, after the fall of the autocratic rule, none of the parties has been able to come to power singly. They have had to come to power with the support of other parties. This is true both of ruling Awami League and of the opposition BNP. That is why as the election draws nears, there is a flurry of alliance efforts in the political arena.

The two main political parties, Bangldesh Awami League (AL) and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are taking up all sorts of endeavours to expand their respective alliances. Then, again, there are also efforts for a third force too.

However, in most cases, principles are blatantly discarded. For example, Awami League is known to be the proponent of Bangali nationalism, yet it is in alliance with Jatiya Party, the ousted autocratic party which introduced Islam as the state religion. Despite sharply differing ideologies, the two parties have been in close alliance over the past 10 years, both inside and outside of the parliament.

Similarly, BNP, founded by the freedom fighter Ziaur Rahman and the proponent of Bangladeshi nationalism, has long been in alliance with the fundamentalist Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. This alliance is so strong that the BNP cannot conceive of contesting in the election without Jamaat, even though the latter is not registered.

A minimum of shared values and ideals is expected in any alliance. But in the strange matrix of Bangladesh’s power politics, liberals and fundamentalists, left and right and centre, all merge as one. That is why the autocrat, who had been toppled by the people in the 1990 mass uprising, today boasts that no one can come to power without his support.

In a democracy, it is the people who are the definitive force in an election. Preparations for the election have begun, but the parties, whether in power or not, are least bothered about the people’s aspirations. With no concern for any sort of principles, surely these parties cannot be expected to do good for the people.

If the democratic political parties adhered to democratic principles, they wouldn’t have had to turn to the autocrats and the fundamentalists.

The fundamental objective of an election is to select representatives of the people. This can only materialise if there is a level playing field for all the contesting parties and if the environment is conducive for free and fair polls. But ground reality tells another story. The ruling party began their campaigning by train three months ago, while the opposition rallies and meetings are obstructed at every step.

Leaders of the political parties are more interested in forging greater alliances than ensuring an environment for free and fair elections. Their speeches and statements say nothing about the people. In the past, the political parties had very characteristic manifestos and programmes. But with alliances of such diametrically different parties, all of this has lost significance.