'Exceptional' general election in extra-ordinary times

---

Moazzem Hossain
The nation is at a crossroads. The country has been through an extra-ordinary time -- a 23-month period of a state of emergency. It was 'lifted' in the middle of this month. And the nation is now on the anvil to enter a new phase of 'democratic' rule.
The national election takes place tomorrow (Monday) after the shortest period of electioneering, in the history of Bangladesh. This period was preceded by various sorts of doubts and uncertainties. It (this period) has itself been marked also by scepticism expressed by different quarters particularly over the national polls taking place at all on the re-scheduled date.
Now the die is cast. The stage is all set for holding the polls tomorrow for electing the ninth parliament, the supreme representative body of the people. And this will otherwise also be an extra-ordinary election in Bangladesh, thanks to the new voters' list, backed by photo-attached national identity cards that was prepared by the armed forces rather in an enviable short period of time at the directive of the reconstituted election commission. Over ten million 'bogus' voters' that were included in last voters' list have, thus, been excluded.
Hopefully, the outcome of the national election will now usher in a new elected government, replacing a caretaker one being in power for an extra-ordinarily long period of time under "exceptional circumstances".
The prolonged "inter-regnum" of the incumbent caretaker government was 'extra-ordinary' for many reasons. Its 'distractors' or 'critics' might have points to note about its performance on the price situation in an otherwise 'unfavourable' external market environment and also on other scores. But its efforts to unearth corruption -- corruption being defined here as making of private fortunes at public expense by gross abuse or misuse of official or public positions -- have riveted the attention of all concerned. Critics may say here that the drive that started with a big bang has apparently ended in a whimper. History will gave its verdict on this. But this must be noted that the 'caretakers' would have done a better job, had they given a more focused, not diffused, attention to a better manageable agenda of actions, considering the timeframe of their rule. And the anti-graft drive could perhaps have yielded better results if a clear line was drawn between corruption and 'irregularities".
So far so good. The voters, given the opportunities for making their free choice, will be the best judge to decide who should represent them in the 'sovereign' parliament that will hopefully remain fully functional and also institutions of governance will also undergo necessary changes for ensuring delivery of better and quality services for which these are meant. At this stage, these are but a set of 'pious wishes'.
But voters are now more conscious than before; they are also more demanding. The reports in both electronic and print media from various constituencies in the course of this electioneering have, time and again, borne out this. The voters, as coverage of election campaign particularly by the electronic media shows these days, want their future elected representatives to perform better for redeeming the electoral pledges. A large chunk of voters in this election are young and first-timers. They are unlikely to be influenced much by the overt or covert 'money-power' that, according to independent observers, is still going strong in many constituencies in an uninterrupted sequence with the past, despite the 'lessons' of 1/11, while exercising their right to franchise.
The main contenders for power in tomorrow's election have spelt out their programmes through their manifestos. The voters are no naive. They know what the manifestos, in all frankness, mean. The manifestos this time do otherwise sparkle with economic populism than with anything else. It is not the promise but the past performance of the parties and the candidates that is likely to be counted most by the voters in general, while making their free choice in the election.
Anyway, there will be winners, and also losers, in tomorrow's election. The main responsibility of leading the nation, until the next periodic electoral cycle comes, will fall on the winning side. The road to people's well-being and prosperity which the major contesting parties have pledged to promote and uphold, is rocky, strewn with so many thorns. It is a challenging time, more so than anytime before, nationally and internationally. Analyses, comments and reviews in today's 56-page anniversary supplement of the FE, highlight some of those challenges.
It is no time for looking backward only. The leaders of the next elected government will have to look forward to lead the nation into the path they have promised, through their electoral pledges, to get the country move ahead steadily, by avoiding the failures of the past. Otherwise, the past will repeat itself, sooner or later. That is one bitter, unavoidable lesson of history.