It’s a pity that Bangladesh’s economic strides aren’t matched by the development of democratic institutions to not just match but actually add a fillip.
With democracy limited to a parliament and a “friendly” opposition, the concept of a shadow government doesn’t work, and there’s no pressure on governments to stick fast to policies and deadlines.
State propaganda suggests nothing is wrong; opposition statements suggest nothing is right. Both extremes are contrary to reality, but where is the ombudsman in it all?
Thankfully, we’re headed towards a participatory election no matter how ragtail the opposition challenge at the hustings will be.
How adhesive the glue that patches the Oikya Front together won’t be clear till after the polls, and whichever way the majority vote goes there are challenges to a unity that in a democracy should have come much earlier.
Challenges to achievements and milestones come through constructive criticism and alternative proposals rather than abject condemnation.
Nothing is zero, and anyone thinking of voters as mindless would be sadly misguided, for they are not.
Muscle and money aside, there is a swing vote that isn’t decided till the last minute, and that will be the decisive factor -- not the so-called vote-banks.
But, having said all that, it is distressing that backgrounds, especially political persuasions of returning and polling officers, are being probed.
Most of these are school-teachers, and they, along with their predecessors, are silent witnesses to the anarchy of vote stuffing that our polls are riddled with.
That they are under scrutiny instead of those who can and do engage in the despicable act is a travesty of everything that even resembles justice.
Unfortunately, the Election Commission isn’t empowered to transfer government officials that may have bearings on elections, unlike India where the commission is empowered to stand firm in the face of even chief ministers.
And when the commission states that poll observers will be limited in their activities, it doesn’t bode well for the election process.
Observers are to observe and note, but since their reports are hardly ever acted upon, the process is left open to questions. Just as is the hullabaloo over election expenses of candidates fixed at ridiculous sums, hardly ever adhered to, and the process of adjudication takes the entire tenure of the candidates’ election.
It’s also interesting that the nomination form purchase this time round coincided with the National Board of Revenue’s Annual Income Tax fair.
As responsible political parties, should there not have been a mechanism by which anyone buying a nomination form should have had to mandatorily submit their income tax certification?
Perhaps that’s asking too much in a country where members of parliament urge people to pay their taxes and don’t make their returns public.
The background checks, if, at all necessary, should extend to the law enforcing authorities that are supposed to ensure free and fair voting and no false voting.
Mahmudur Rahman is a writer, columnist, broadcaster, and communications specialist.
