In 281 BCE, King Pyrrhus of Epirus arrived at Tarentum (modern Taranto in Magna Graecia on the southern Italian coast) with 20 elephants and roughly 25,000 soldiers to defend his fellow Greeks against the advancing Romans. Pyrrhus won the initial two battles, at Heraclea (280 BCE) and Asculum (279 BCE), but at a significant cost. Gravely depleted, Pyrrhus’s forces lost their momentum and were defeated by the Romans in the final and decisive battle at Beneventum in 275 BCE.
One of the many failures of this historic land and its people is, inter alia, that they could not form a political party. The reasons could be different and diverse across the aisles. I have argued previously that we are yet to become a sufficient cohesive polity through our historical experiences, collective sufferings and fond memories; as a macro human unit, our lived past could not be translated into a nationhood which can be represented through political organizations leading to our shared vision in the future.
We, as a country and nation, are in a constant battle of “defeating victories,” like Pyrrhus. Our tribal and ethnic politics and political parties failed us all along for generations.
Successive ruling parties of this nation, largely of three dynasties by default, failed to act and rule us as a functional political party. Their own, narrow and selfish, idea of gain and losses have been portrayed as the profit and losses of this country and nation, thus, rendering our annual return, sadly of a contracted growth, far from the realization of our collective dream.
One such recurring phenomena of Pyrrhic victory has been winning the election by any means, by both major parties. Governance by organic consent has never been their prima facie motto. Manipulation of the electoral system, vote rigging, and partisan use of state institutions were never considered by them as unprofessional or undignified.
As a result, when a party, along with their respective alliance, wins an election, the country and its people lose, again and again. The winning party could have never been a governing force for all of the country and every school of political thought. Each of them in their underperforming governance is no less partisan while sitting at the treasury bench than when they were in opposition.
Their rhetoric and programs have always been designed to satisfy their own vote banks. In this cycle of wining and defeats, no political party showed any regret nor attempted to overhaul their repeated failures.
So, every election success brings significant harm to the nation by the victors with little difference from their defeats. Although the triumphant party in a Pyrrhic victory is considered the overall winner, the costs incurred and their future repercussions diminish the sense of any genuine success. It is simply a hollow victory. None of the governing cartels can spare this blame and shame over the last five decades.
The deeper question is why no political party was born in this land, or perhaps in this sub-continent, to serve the entirety of the nation and lead them towards a common vision of prosperity and belongingness. The answer may lie in close to 200 years of two-tier Colonization, by the British and local zamindars, which emptied our intellectual depth and breadth; that did not though discourage the peasants and plebeians to continue their struggles for liberation and self-rule for decades but sadly, could not form a polity to establish their own state in their desired image.
Rise of East Pakistan Awami League, current ruling party, was more of a failure of governance of then-dominant Muslim League than anything else; it was coupled with the rising aspiration of first-generation educated children of rural working class wanting to become part of the ruling urban elites and have fair share of the flourishing capital. Election win in 1970 was the manifestation of those children in search of their place in urban centres, a form of social mobility still going on. Nonetheless, that mobility had added little dynamism to our political consciousness and action.
Sadly enough, after five decades, the successive ruling parties are still to become a party for everyone. Political leadership has turned into medieval-style monarchs in every constituency; a thorough succession plan is in place through their client-patron lineage.
Thus, individuals and members of royal families are diluted not only into party positions but also in government and state, and members of the ruling families are treated like the future kings and queens. We cannot see the political party of “we, the people” taking shape.
The whole nation is anxiously waiting for a resolution of the ongoing political stalemate. So far, there is no sign of light at the end of the tunnel. The country is already bruised heavily; injuries to our state institutions are, to some extent, beyond repair by the very forces who pledged us to serve through them. The wounds to the silent majority are forecasting a looming storm.
As a result, whoever wins in the current battle, under the current climate and ongoing pre-conditions, “we, the people” lose. A repeated “Pyrrhic victory” is in nobody’s interest.
Asaduzzaman Fuaad, Barrister-at-law is Joint Member Secretary, AB Party. He can be reached at [email protected].
