Borderline Democracy

Pranay Sharma Dhaka/Delhi

It took months of street protests, large-scale violence in Dhaka and elsewhere and insistent pressure from international donor countries to force the Bangladesh government to call off the controversial elections slated for January 22, 2007. Iajuddin Ahmed, who remains the president, has resigned as head of the caretaker government. He was asked to supervise the poll till a new elected leadership could take charge. As president, he imposed a state of Emergency and called in the armed forces to deal with widespread protests and violence that was spiralling out of control. But he was widely accused of being partial, and more and more people started doubting whether he was the right person to oversee a ‘free and fair’ election. Increasing national and international pressure finally forced him to step down.

Fakhruddin Ahmed, a noted economist and banker, has currently taken over as the chief advisor to the caretaker government. A team of non-partisan experts have been brought in the advisory council of the government. In the past few weeks, Ahmed has managed to restore the confidence and trust of the people to some extent. He has managed to check the deteriorating law and ordersituation, initiated countrywide manhunts against political party toughies with criminal records and undertaken a series of other measures to clean up the ‘corrupt’ system.

Chief Election Commissioner Justice MA Aziz, who was also at the centre of the controversy, has quit and there is pressure asking the other two election commissioners, Modabbir Hossain Chowdhury and Saiful Islam, to resign.

"It is a good thing that elections have been called off," Laila Kabir, of the Centre for Policy Dialogue in Dhaka said. She maintained that "elections in a democracy can’t be imposed on the people, especially at a time when doubts were being expressed on whether it will be free and fair".

The demand for early elections has come from the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and its allies. The country's main opposition, the Awami League, also wants the polls to be held as soon as possible. But it knows that its chance of beating the BNP and its allies would only be possible if free and fair elections are held. For this, it is absolutely necessary for the administration and the Election Commission (EC) to remain independent. And this too has to be backed by a voter's list that has been scrutinised and updated.

On the face of it, the fast-paced developments in Bangladesh in the past few weeks have gone in favour of the Awami League and its 4-party ‘Grand Alliance’. It was League president Sheikh Hasina who took the initiative of spearheading the countrywide movement that led to the changes. She and her partners feel more confident that the League-led alliance will definitely come to power.

There are good reasons for her to feel confident. It has become clear that if elections in Bangladesh are genuinely ‘free and fair’ then it won’t be easy for the BNP and its four-party alliance to come back to power. The spate of political killings, the rise of religious/Islamic fundamentalism and the blatantly ‘corrupt’ practices of those who were close to the ruling alliance, has spread intense discontent among the people. The spiralling prices of essential items have hit the common people very hard.