Free and fair general election a national imperative

Bangladesh really came into being on 7th December 1970 when the Father of the Nation had used Pakistan's national election to bring his people together as a monolith to elect in 167 of 169 seats in then East Pakistan the candidates of the Awami League on the famous six-point programme. That result had sent the unequivocal message to the Pakistanis that their neo-colonial rule over East Pakistan must come to an end. The Pakistanis ignored the message and instead embarked on the Bangladesh Genocide and the rest is history. Therefore, it was in denial of the country's glorious history that the general election of January 5, 2014, was held because less than 10% people were able to vote in that election and in 153 of the 300 seats there was no need for an election. In fact, the January 2014 election was the antithesis of the December 1970 election that gave the birth to Bangladesh as an independent and sovereign country.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was well aware of it al and also that the January 2014 election had taken away from the people their constitutionally guaranteed right to elect their government. Therefore, she had stated that she was forced to hold the 2014 general election for constitutional continuity to stop the extra-constitutional forces from taking power. She had further stated that a new general election would be held soon afterward to undo the mistakes done by the January 2014 election. That, unfortunately, did not happen. Therefore, the people's constitutional right to elect their government remains compromised. That makes the next general election a matter of extreme national importance with a view to restoring the most sacrosanct element of the constitution, namely the right of the people to elect their government and with it, the spirit of 1971 because it was through their right to vote that the people had come together in December 1970 to establish Bangladesh.

The Rohingya Genocide and ethnic cleansing and with it the influx of nearly one million Rohingyas into Bangladesh has created a highly volatile situation. Strategist researcher Jasminder Singh of the prestigious S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore has stated: "There is a danger that the situation in Rakhine will make the territory a hotbed of international terrorist activity, both for the IS and Al Qaeda." With the prospect that the Myanmar military would soon take the Rohingyas back unlikely, a participatory national election for electing the 11th Parliament is a national imperative because another non-participatory election resulting in domestic violence would de-stabilize politics and attract these international terrorists to the region.

Therefore, the tasks before the current Election Commission are unlike any that have befallen the other Election Commissions in the country's history. First, it has to restore to the people their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote that the last Election Commission had failed to protect through the controversial January 5, 2014, election. Second, it has to ensure a participatory national election in the spirit of 1971. Finally, it has to hold a free and fair election with the participation of all political parties in order to deal with the dangers of international terrorism that the presence of a million Rohingya refugees in the country has given rise to. These are tremendous tasks that the EC alone cannot deliver and the situation calls for the same kind of national unity that the nation had shown in 1971 to encourage the EC to successfully complete the tasks before it.

The awesome nature of the tasks notwithstanding, the Election Commission has nevertheless shown a great deal of dedication and commitment thus far to meet the challenges before it. It decided to undertake negotiations with the stakeholders within a 7-point framework that it called its roadmap to hold the next elections. The points on which it called these stakeholders separately for discussions are: (1) legal reforms to strengthen the electoral process; (2) delimitation of constituencies and finalisation of their territorial expanse; (3) updating the list of voters; (4) setting up polling stations according to regulations; (5) ensuring a level playing field; (6) allowing fresh registration of all political parties.; and (7) finalisation of recommendations made during discussions with stakeholders. A total of 40 registered political parties including the ruling party and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party met the CEC and the Election Commissioners and placed their views and recommendations for holding the next election in a free and fair manner. The Election Commission has also met the representatives of the civil society for the same purpose.

The outcome of the discussions that has filtered through to the media is a mixed bag although the Election Commission on its part expressed satisfaction over the discussions. Three key elements emerged from the discussions that would be crucial to holding a free and fair election that must be negotiated later between the Election Commission and the political parties before to give rise to a genuine hope for holding a participatory election. These are, first, the nature of the election time government; second, the fate of the 10th parliament; and third, deployment of the army during the election. According to the Commission, 9 political parties wanted elections under the government in power; 19 political parties wanted annulment of the 10th parliament to the annulled before the next election is held and 25 political parties wanted the army to be deployed during the elections.

The issue of the election time government is the most important one. In fact, the prospect of a free and fair national election depends to a large extent on resolving this issue. The 15th Amendment that the ruling party brought to the Constitution in 2011 annulled the system of caretaker government (CTG) and gave the incumbent Prime Minister/government the power to hold the new general election. Ironically, the Awami League had forced the BNP government to amend the Constitution through the 13th Amendment to adopt the CTG as the election time government. In forcing the BNP to accept the CTG through a movement that was violent, the Awami League had argued that because of the partisan nature of politics, a national election under the party in power cannot be free or fair. That argument has worsened many times over at present.

The reasons for annulling the 10th Parliament before holding the election for the 11th parliament are very simple and rational. First, otherwise, it would allow the members of the 10th parliament who would be contesting again for the 11th parliament is an unfair advantage and would derail the EC's commitment to creating a level playing ground for all contestants. Second, in parliamentary elections worldwide, the outgoing parliament is annulled first before electing a new one. Finally, without an annulment, there would be a ridiculous situation in the country where for a 300-seat national parliament, the country would have 300 members (plus the women members) of the 10th parliament and a good number of new members of parliament elected for the 11th parliament waiting to take the oath!

The EC, its ability, and goodwill notwithstanding, cannot resolve either of these two indispensable tasks without getting the government/ruling party on its side. Therefore, also notwithstanding the fact that it has held wide-ranging discussions with the other political parties and the other stakeholders including the civil society, the most important task of the EC would be to encourage the ruling party/government to reach a consensus with the other stakeholders in the election time government and the annulment of the 10th parliament. The tasks would not be easy. Predictions are there, that Bangladesh could slide into violence before or after the next general election.

A number of recent developments, however, suggest that such predictors may have been a bit hasty. The BNP has stated clearly its intention to participate in the next election that rules out the possibility of another non-participatory election. Issues such as the war crimes trials and Hefazat that had helped it in 2014 are history and no new such issues are in the wings of politics at present to assist the ruling party. There are widespread discontentment and frustration among the people to regain their voting right that the Awami League cannot deny. Finally, the Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj's assurance in Dhaka recently that India would like a free and fair national election with the participation of all the political parties brightens the prospects of a participatory election in Bangladesh considerably. In fact, she also stated that it is the duty of the government to create the conditions to encourage all the political parties to participate.

Some of CEC's statements in the media also raise optimism against Dr. Yunus' prediction. During the EC's dialogue with the BNP, the CEC stated that it was to President Zia's credit that he had restored multiparty democracy in the country. That was a politically loaded statement that led one senior AL Minister to warn the CEC to refrain from making such statements. The CEC stuck to his statement and advised a group of local election monitors to ensure that the next national election was held without any impediments or obstacles. That raised hope that the present CEC would not be as inept as his immediate predecessor.

Nevertheless, there is also no reason for complacency. The public, some hopeful signs notwithstanding, are still very apprehensive. In fact, the country is at a historical crossroad where a wrong direction could push it over the edge and bring to reality, not just violence as predicted by some people but also make the region (and Bangladesh), a hotbed of international terrorism as predicted by Jasminder Singh of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. Therefore, the next election is not just a national imperative that calls for national unity as the nation had shown in 1971, it is also one that calls for every citizen to put his/her weight behind the demand for regaining their right to vote. A demonstration of that unity could strengthen the hands of the EC to encourage the ruling party/government to hold a participatory national election.

The civil society needs to play a major role in helping achieve the indispensable national unity over the next election. But, unfortunately, it is also as disunited as the mainstream political parties. Hopefully, the civil society members would iron out their differences at this point of time and play a valuable and strong role in ensuring a free and fair election, thus proving the doomsday sayers wrong.

The writer is a former career ambassador.

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