With the election declared to be on January 5, 2014, it seems that the government and the Election Commission, much to the relief of the general public, have managed to slash their cost of conducting the national election in half, thus saving a substantial portion of taxpayer money at the expense of their right to vote.
More than 50% of the seats have been declared uncontested, and we, the electorate, are delighted to have our representatives elected without having to go to the voting centres at all. Such is the joy of democracy.
For those of you who are thinking that this sounds more like a fervent tirade of a frustrated citizen, I would like to say that you are spot on. A little bit of sarcasm never harmed anyone.
So, as the nation waits for the remaining, albeit fortunate, voters to cast their votes in January, there is no doubt about the fact that we are surely plunging into a deeper crisis. A country which is dubbed to be a beneficiary of electoral democracy where citizens only matter when they cast their votes, we seem to be heading towards a hybrid system of autocratic democracy where a democratic outfit will rule us with absolute power indefinitely and take our mandate for granted, thus deeming the electoral system to be null and void. While our political government might think that it is eventually possible to give shape to such a system, I would humbly like to say that they are grossly mistaken.
The exclusion of the general populace from the political process is a common phenomenon during an ongoing term of a government in this country. The formulation and execution of the 15th Amendment by the current government is a prime example in this regard.
The current government visibly proceeded with this almost unilaterally by virtue of the judiciary where they utterly disregarded the option of a referendum or another mode of accommodating public opinion.
In the second phase of their strategy, they concocted the system of an all-party government, which does not necessarily reflect the will of the people and looks to be rather ambiguous in its nature.
The current breakdown of candidates in all the 300 seats reveals that it is going to be a staged election of a single coalition in the absence of the BNP. It is imperative to note that the electorate remained quiet through these two phases, where their voices were ruthlessly overlooked.
Now we come to the crucial third phase, where the ultimate act of denial awaits the people of this country. The act of denying their right to vote, or rather the denial of their right to make their votes count to reflect the change they want to see. This, I must say, is chartering into a dangerous territory.
The current government can delve into relatively recent history to reconsider their strategy in this regard. On February 15, 1996, the then BNP government conducted an election without the participation of the now ruling Awami League, which eventually resulted in two prominent developments.
Firstly, it led to the constitutional inclusion of the caretaker government. Secondly, the election held under that newly constituted caretaker outfit saw the AL come out victorious, and form a government.
However, it should be pointed out that there was scope of constitutional reprieve then because a consensus was reached regarding the nature of the election period government, through which the BNP eventually handed over power.
The current AL government does not have that luxury today, because they have effectively done away with the very system which can ensure a smooth handover of power and enable a constitutional justification.
This has no doubt compounded the situation further, and put forward a new set of challenges which almost looks insurmountable for the current government. That February 15 election clearly reveals that the people of this country do not take a one-sided election too lightly.
The ball now lies in the government’s court. In the context of current political consciousness in Bangladesh, the days of holding on to power by ignoring the electorate are long gone. While we have a long way to go in terms of adhering to democratic principles that are participatory, we have, on the other hand, perfected the system of electoral democracy.
This essentially ensures the continuation of the democratic system, however imperfect, in this great country of ours. It is up to the government to take this into consideration and act accordingly, or pay a very high price.