On the day that the new Election Commission is set to be sworn in, it is with regret and consternation that instead of optimism, one is forced to note our continuing and sheer impotence as a citizenry in the face of our rulers’ actions.
Now let us be clear, it is always and everywhere important to get the composition of any election authority right, on questions of both competence and impartiality.
It’s such a basic point to make, really.
To the extent that all elections engender a contest, not to have proper oversight for this is simply a baffling contempt for everything that goes into the whole process.
When you add the history of elections within the broader context of politics in Bangladesh, and you can see how a strong, independent EC -- “and one that is seen to be as such,” as I was grateful to be reminded over the weekend, in a private conversation with a distinguished former diplomat -- is almost uniquely essential here.
This is perhaps even more true today, when we are still in the aftermath of having removed from the constitution the caretaker government provision for conducting elections.
Now it shouldn’t require saying this, but mere removal of the constitutional provision was never going to put it to bed as a political issue.
Quite the opposite, in fact: Reinstatement of the caretaker government provision has been the principal political demand informing the overwhelming majority of political programs organised by opposition parties since June 2011, when it was revoked.
Programs that have gone on to feature unacceptable violence causing unspeakable suffering for the wider population, I should add, till some realisation set in.
This needed to be for everyone, not just the opposition.
And you would think everyone knew that. Leaders can never be out of step with those they hope to lead.
Now it is only fair and logical for people to expect the AL to put to bed political issues that result from their actions.
If they are going to remove the caretaker government system, then surely it is incumbent upon them to ensure that the Election Commission is above question.
Simply washing one’s hands of all responsibility is really not becoming of our leaders, as the AL no doubt aspires to be seen.
If they are going to remove the caretaker government system, then surely it is incumbent upon them to ensure that the Election Commission is above question. Simply washing one’s hands of all responsibility is really not becoming of our leaders, as the AL no doubt aspires to be seen
But there will always be questions and complaints about the government until we all know we have indeed re-elected the AL to lead us -- as was the case in 1996 and 2008. And believe me, we always know when we have elected someone.
It is possible the president and his search committee (surely a generous moniker, when all they seem to have done was collect names and maybe count them) know something we don’t.
But we can only go by the evidence we have before us, and all of it, in light of last week’s announcement by the president and subsequent revelations, points to disappointment.
Even more basic than the personnel chosen for the positions, would surely have to be that the ruling alliance’s preferences cannot form a lopsided majority in the commission. Even a 3-2 majority would be acceptable. What could possibly be the thinking behind 4-1?
Again, perhaps I’m being too generous. Perhaps it is naive of me to suggest there was much thinking expended at all during the entire process that played out in public.
What there was, just went into lulling the public into complacent hopefulness, it seems to me.
You know, the scheduling of the tea parties with the president, expanding the size of the committee by one, the meaningless consultations.
Was it all just to keep up appearances?
So on the day of its culmination, we suffer no illusions regarding the way we got here, although that hardly eases our sense of helplessness: It has been distressing.
For all their talk in playing up the good they have done by the people, there seems to be a painful insecurity eating away at the ruling party on the matter of going to the people. That cannot be the basis for any relationship. And in the end you can only ask of the AL: If not now, when?
Shayan S Khan is executive editor of the Dhaka Courier.
