Asserting that the country was passing through an abnormal time, speakers at a discussion programme said election was not the last word for upholding democracy. Dialogue was a must to overcome any political crisis. However, as a prerequisite to that, effective democratic institutions should be set up, they opined.
The programme participants also said economic and political development should march together and political parties must do away with the culture of blame-game.
These remarks were made yesterday at a programme on releasing a study on The State of Governance Bangladesh 2013: Democracy Party Politics organised by the Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) of Brac University in the capital.
Speaking as a chief guest, Dr Kamal Hossain, Gono Forum president and an eminent jurist, called for holding constructive national dialogue to resolve the political deadlock.
“Dialogue should not only be held between the Awami League and the BNP but also among all the parties. Accepting the basic principles of the constitution, all should sit for talks,” he said.
Dhaka University International Relations Professor Imtiaz Ahmed highlighted how bad governance sometimes become profitable pushing good governance to the back seat.
“You can immediately get what you want [if you know the means]. You can be promoted. A contract can be awarded to you. But when there is good governance, these are not so easy,” the professor said.
“I do not think any political party alone will be able to do that. It is the structures that need to evolve to make good governance profitable,” he added.
Discussants also debated over whether development was possible without democracy.
Binayak Sen said ineffective democracy could not march with the economic development. “If there is lack of good governance, development cannot take place. Since the country is developing, it can be said that good governance is prevailing.”
In a counter argument, Professor Dilara Chowdhury asked what was the parameter of economic development. DU professor Asif Nazrul added that there was no democracy and the growth of development was slow in the country.
Also present in the event, Awami League advisory council member Suranjit Sengupta said: “If January 5 election were not held, situation like another 1/11 would have been created in the country. It is the government’s responsibility to avert such situation and the grand alliance government did just that.”
Replying to the suggestions about holding dialogue, Sengupta said there was no scope for dialogue with a party that called Bangabandhu a ‘rajakar’.
BNP chairperson’s adviser Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said a representative government was a must for any country along with a multi-party democracy. “But a representative government is absent in the country. Space is required for democracy to sustain but due to state-sponsored terrorism, no space was given to any party.”
Sultan Hafeez Rahman, executive director of BIGD, chaired the programme where representatives of various political parties, civil society members, and former bureaucrats were present.