The Qur'an encourages Muslims to partake in consultation for governance and public affairs. This practice is known as the shura. Consultation has been an important element in governance in the Islamic world for centuries. It is one of the Islamic justifications for democracy, particularly parliamentary democracy. The legitimacy of representative democracy in the eyes of Islamic thought can be supported by the principle of consultation.
In Bangladesh, we stand at a crossroads. Our parliament is celebrating 50 years since the first parliament of 1973. In the first parliament, lawyers made up 31% of lawmakers, followed by businessmen and farmers. Today, businesspeople make up over 60% of lawmakers, while lawyers and legal professionals constitute less than 13% of lawmakers. Even though businesspeople are good tax-payers, their law-making skills pale in comparison to those trained for it.
It is an irony that legal professionals are a tiny minority in the only law-making institution of the state. Having lawyers and legal professionals in parliament improves the quality of public consultation, which the executive branch needs to produce pro-people laws and policies.
As the next national election draws closer, the political leadership of the country must be mindful that Bangladesh has a wide array of qualified professionals who can contribute to the functioning of the parliament. Nominations should be given to people who are committed to party ideals and have formidable skills in public speaking, law-making, and public consultation.
These days, our super rich friends boast about the influence and the domination of business tycoons. Parliament should not be a club for business tycoons. Businesspeople should invest their energy in appropriate forums like corporate AGMs.
We are at risk of ceding the space for politics and public policy to the noveau super rich. We are at risk of denying the space for politics and public policy to the millennial generation, who can provide qualitatively better consultation for the government.
Campaigning should ideally be low-cost ventures in rural Bangladesh. Campaigns should be supported financially by the party. Candidates should not spend extravagant amounts to buy votes, nor even to buy attendance at their rallies (as some reportedly do). The symbols of major registered parties are enough to ensure a good public profile for the candidates.
In the interests of climate change and retaining environmental integrity, it would be ideal if candidates minimized the use of posters. Paper posters mean more emissions. Less paper equals less emissions, as well as lower costs and less harm to the environment. Social media already allows candidates to spread their messages far more easily.
Free and fair elections will be achieved with qualitatively better candidates and campaigning. Violence should be frowned upon in the strongest possible terms. The irony remains that the sub-continent was once the stronghold of political non-violence.
Umran Chowdhury works in the legal field.
