Bangladesh has lived through decades of undemocratic rule, and has had to pay a fortune to return to a democratic process. But the outcome of such rule was the creation of two major political parties.
We are in another election year in Bangladesh. Naturally, all questions lead to whether the election will take place on time or not. If the election is one of the pathways towards democracy, then in Bangladesh the path has never been smooth.
After 1975, the military rulers made the election a joke. They formed political parties by using state funds; to stay in power, they conducted elections without voters.
It is interesting to note that those political parties which were formed through undemocratic means could not change in character when they were given the chance in the 1990s.
In February 1996, the BNP held an election in which no major political parties took part. Political agitation in the streets was rife, and at the cost of many lives, the then government was obliged to amend the constitution.
It put in place a system of a caretaker government, which, after every five years, conducted a new election. This was not a democratic solution either, but as an interim system, the people accepted it.
If a politically elected government had been able to conduct free and fair elections in 1996, Bangladesh could have established a strong democratic system at least two decades ago. However, the then government failed to do so, and the people of Bangladesh and democracy itself were failed.
In the election conducted by the non-political caretaker government, the Awami League won. After five years of running the country, the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over power to the next caretaker government, according to the constitution.
This was the most peaceful transfer of government in the history of Bangladesh. But the moment the caretaker government took authority, it started working as a partisan government.
The AL lost the election, and the BNP-Jamaat alliance formed a government. Within 72 hours, Bangladesh saw the massacre of minorities and AL party members. This not only continued for the whole tenure of the government, but led to the assassination of stalwart AL leaders throughout the country.
The August 21 grenade attack on AL leaders at a rally, led by its chief Sheikh Hasina, took 22 lives. There were 500 or more bomb blasts in the country’s 64 districts, and many extremist groups started forming at this time, with the direct help of the government.
State of democracy
There were several by-elections in which the ruling party candidates won through rigging the votes. Local and international observers were shocked to see this, but the government was totally negligent.
Before the national election, the political parties started a movement for a fair election. A new voter list was published by the government, including over 10 million ghost voters. The caretaker system was in question, as the government increased the age of one party member to make him eligible to be the head of the caretaker government.
At this point, some eminent civil society members, who were not only West-educated but also campaigners for democracy in Bangladesh, conflated the two major political parties, when it was evident that the concept and practice of democracy by the AL was totally different from that of the BNP-Jamaat alliance.
These civil society members were not only the elite, but were also funded by donors -- or at least their organizations were. Even some foreign embassies in Bangladesh openly took part in the process of the de-politicization of the country.
As a result, a non-elected, army-backed government was formed, and the constitution was put on hold. This government did everything but rule the country. However, its only real achievement was the issuing of citizens’ national ID cards and thus the ghost voters disappeared from the voter list and a free, fair, and participatory election was held.
Again, at what price? The two major party leaders were arrested and put in jail by the army-backed caretaker government, along with many political leaders, businessmen, academics, and students.
Naturally, after all these bitter experiences, the newly-elected AL government was very conscious about the next election. So they amended the constitution, and with a verdict from the country’s higher court, they abandoned the caretaker system.
In the first election under this new system, the BNP-Jamaat alliance not only did not participate, but they also tried their best to stop it altogether. On the day of the election, hundreds of polling stations were burned down and the whole country found itself in a situation of civil war.
People cared less about the election or about democracy; they were worried more about their lives, as their safety was in jeopardy. Although the main opposition party did not participate in the election, over half of the seats were won because they were uncontested. But the people were happy, or at least, not unhappy.
The government lasted for five years, and the country is now once more in the same situation as 2014. Again, a series of questions is hanging in front of all of us: What will happen in October? Will the election happen? Will the BNP come to the election? Will the election be free and fair?
If the election does happen and the current ruling party loses, will it be a situation like 2001, when hundreds of people were killed by the newly-elected government supporters?
Or from October, will there be another civil war-like situation as 2014?
Questions bring uncertainty and uncertainty brings fear. No doubt the only way to escape this fear is a credible election and political stability -- in other words, a functional democracy.
But democracy in Bangladesh has always been achieved at a high price, and the price is paid in people’s lives.
In this chaotic time, some parties are trying to bring foreign bodies into internal politics, thus, further igniting the fear. To bring back democracy from undemocratic forces, foreign bodies have often demanded a very high price. People cannot forget that either.
Masuda Bhatti is a Bangladeshi-born UK-based independent political analyst, currently working as an Executive Editor for a Bangladeshi daily. She can be reached at masuda.bhatti@gmail.com.