The good news is that we have had an election despite all the impediments put in its way. The better news is that a large number of independent lawmakers will now take their places in parliament. And there is the Jatiya Party, which ought to have done better. And yet its eleven seats, together with those of the 62 independent candidates, should give parliament the kind of energy and power we have not experienced for a number of years.
The 62 independent lawmakers, despite many of them possessing membership of the ruling Awami League, will be contributing to the democratic process if they decide to sit apart from the majority party either as a caucus or as a separate entity, in link with the Jatiya Party. With the election over, it should be time for these 62-plus-11 to consider the issue seriously, given that citizens expect a vibrant parliament for the next five years. And a vibrant parliament is dependent on a vocal, in-touch opposition which keeps the ruling party in check.
The new parliament should be a vehicle of change in the country’s political culture. Its members will be expected to stay away from fulsome praise of their leaders and focus on the issues which every day affect the lives of citizens. In simple terms, given that the election has been one more step toward solidifying democracy in the country, parliament should conduct itself along the principles of modern pluralistic politics. Lawmakers will need to engage with one another seriously in the house.
An important step is to devise a system through which Prime Minister’s Questions can be injected more substance. There should be a day every week when the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition will engage in meaningful debate on national issues, a task that will be the responsibility of the Speaker to supervise. The Speaker will be expected to exercise firm control on the proceedings of the house. The Speaker will limit lawmakers to a specific time frame in all parliamentary debates. PMQs should be televised through the more significant television channels in the country and broadcast on radio for the benefit of the masses.
There are a host of other ways in which parliament can play a purposeful role in national life. The various standing committees, handling as they do a number of subjects, should have their powers and responsibilities enhanced, to the extent that they can summon ministers, bureaucrats, journalists and others and have them respond to questions which exercise the public mind. The democratic structure will gain new substance through the proceedings of the standing committees carried live on radio and television. Citizens deserve to know what goes on at these committees.
Members of parliament owe it to the electorate to keep in touch with their constituencies on a regular basis, which is to suggest that rather than confine themselves to the nation’s capital they ought to be among the people who elected them as also those who did not vote for them. Ideally, an MP should be making it a regular practice to be in his or her constituency on the weekends. This link with the grassroots is crucial, for it keeps lawmakers in touch with the issues their constituents would like to be resolved.
In the new parliament, one would expect lawmakers, on both sides of the aisle, to remain informed on issues which today dominate the country and the outside world. Climate change, foreign policy, education, the economy, defence, national security, law and order, agriculture, et cetera, are subjects the lawmakers will be expected to be prepared to speak on in parliament. Ministers dealing with these subjects must be grilled on these issues; and ministers in turn should be fully prepared to respond to the questions raised by lawmakers. In effect, both ministers and lawmakers should be thoroughly prepared to speak on the issues, for the country will be watching them.
Parliament will be a forum for action against all transgressions, be the transgressors be spotted among ministers, MPs and government and non-government elements. Reports of corruption appearing in the media or in studies by different organizations should not be dismissed by the executive branch. Indeed, it should be for lawmakers to raise such issues in the house and demand satisfactory responses from ministers. Parliamentary standing committees, on a bipartisan basis, must go full steam into inquiring into all reports which undermine the nature of democratic politics.
Members of parliament, in undertaking their responsibilities, must be ready to censure any of their own who commit a violation of the law. They must be prepared to call in government officials and question them on such issues as undocumented arrests of citizens, a violation of human rights and malfeasance in government ministries and departments. Both the treasury bench and the opposition will be required to be firm but polite in their questioning, for that will be a way for them to assert the supremacy of parliament.
Parliamentary politics is fundamentally a preparation for leadership. It will therefore be of critical importance that the lawmakers elected on January 7 -- and we speak basically of the younger crop of politicians who have made it to parliament -- demonstrate their grasp of the issues and so persuade citizens into believing that the future leadership of the country will be in good hands. A good example to cite here is the constituent assembly which took charge of the country between the liberation in 1971 and December 1972 and the parliament which was in place between March 1973 and August 1975. Professionalism underpinned the working of these two legislative bodies.
The parliamentary opposition needs to measure up to modern-day requirements; and one of the ways is for it to act as a government-in-waiting. Forming a shadow cabinet and handing out responsibilities to its members will be a sign of how seriously it takes its role as a future administration for the country. The act will buttress the working of parliament, as will the regular briefing the opposition will receive on the issues from the ruling party.
The election of January 7 should inaugurate the process toward a restoration of the ideals set out in the 1972 constitution. It can be a catalyst toward unifying the nation around the broad principles enshrined in the idea of Bengali nationalism. It should be a harbinger of a new era, one that will constitutionally do away with the detritus accumulating over national politics post-1975. A fresh new beginning is an opportunity the election has thrown up.
Syed Badrul Ahsan is Consultant Editor, Dhaka Tribune.