Even established democratic systems go through a process of permutation and combination depending on climes and conditions. Although the core issue is representative governance or management of affairs of the state or local bodies or organisations, it is not easy to get the right persons elected. National elections are so vast and at times so complicated that the majority of voters exercise their franchise with little knowledge of the contending candidates. It is the rough ideals and views of the political parties that nonetheless primarily sway the electorate's opinion in favour of the candidates concerned. But at times wrong selection of candidates by a party can cost a seat in parliament or other bodies.
However, not all polls are meant to be fought on party lines. The city corporation election is one that under the constitutional provision has no scope to be contested as a party candidate. But unfortunately, political organisations have been all-pervading in order to monopolise power and influence. So, there is hardly any leeway for a neutral candidate to emerge triumphant even in polls at the lowest tier of local government. When elections to the bar of the country's highest court and senate of public universities are contested on lines of party politics, some idea can be formed about the grasp and sweep of politics.
When academic excellence and unparallel professional skills should have been the clinching factors, partisan political consideration has been dominating in electing the office-bearers -- at times the entire panel -- of such professional bodies. The message is loud and clear: undue interference by unclean politics has been at the root of all evils now grossly manifest in almost all walks of life. Why blame the socialist or communist system then? Under such system, party is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Nothing favourite to an individual -- be it creative works such as art or literature -- can be pursued if those do not comply with the official format or diktat.
In the Westminster system, the essence of democracy is to give a free reign to individual freedom of thought and aspiration. But gradually the dominance of bipolar politics -- be it under parliamentary or presidential system of government with bicameral or unicameral arrangement -- has been giving the system an autocratic characteristic. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. A third party at times could make some space for itself in some of the more fancied democracies but the bubble burst after a while.
It is because of this, even in a model democracy like the United States a man of Al Gore's calibre had to accept defeat although he polled more votes than George Bush, courtesy of the complicated system as well as manoeuvring by Bush's brother, then a governor of Florida. Recounting of votes in the Florida counties was ordered and then stopped by higher courts.
The sub-continent of India inherited a governance system from the British. India has been following, with a break of a very brief period of emergency declared by Indira Gandhi, a stable Westminster system. But then poll violence in that largest democracy in the world is not absent. Yet transfer of power through national election has become an established factor. Unfortunately, Pakistan and Bangladesh could not maintain such an uninterrupted process of power transition. Their main drawback has been the armed forces' involvement in politics for quite a long period. Democracy has remained tenuous largely because of this legacy.
The truth is democracy needs to be tended painstakingly and prompted by the strength of such nurturing it evolves like a culture. That culture is simply missing. It is because of this no election -national or of city corporations -here is without controversy and violence. If one party loses, it has no inclination to accept defeat. Now the stake in capturing power has become so great that no party is willing to surrender the initiative to its rival. No wonder, therefore, that the political parties have so far failed to agree on an election procedure suited to the country. Election under a caretaker government or not is a case in point. The main two political parties have made the issue contentious depending on their positions -either in power or in opposition.
It is this diametrically opposite views and shift in views that mark the political imbecility of this country. Everywhere, political parties work for advancing their acceptance to the people with the ultimate aim of going to power. Nothing wrong in it. But when it becomes an obsession to capture and lord over all that is surveyed, there is a danger of becoming blind to the means to reaching the target. Healthy politics continues to elude the nation and political thuggery gets the better of all other forms of human endeavour and pursuance.
Why should violence be a part of even city corporation elections? The political culture is such that polls -any polls - are impossible without it. Coincidentally, polls to city corporations or councils in Paschimbango were also held almost at the same time. The Bangalees on the other side of the border demonstrated they do not lag behind their counterparts here in abusing the system by resorting to violence and manipulation. Politics on both sides of the border is at its worst right now.
The city corporations in Dhaka and Chittagong have got their mayors elected. But the process of holding those has remained questionable. It surely could be different if the parties involved were sincere. They wanted to reap political dividends, without meaning well to the voters and the country at large. Surely, the Election Commission has failed to give a good account of itself. Political parties, other than the ruling party, will think twice before taking this commission into confidence. That is a great loss. If controversy could be avoided, the city corporation election would have eased the tense political environment and paved the way for better interactions.
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