Institutionalisation of democracy within the political parties lacking
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Md. Saidur Rahman
Despite having long historical backgrounds and experiences in politics, both the Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the two major political parties in the country, seem to lack internal democracy within the parties. According to the party constitutions of both the parties, there are four tiers of the district-level party structure: Ward Committee, Union Committee, Upazila (sub-district) Committee, and Zilla (district) Committee. According to party documents of the parties, the formation of these committees follows a bottom-up process, i.e., the Ward Committee (the lowest tier) forms Union Committee, Union Committee forms Upazila Committee, and the Upazila Committee forms Zilla Committee (the highest tier of local level party structure). In the metropolitan city, the Ward Committees form Thana (administrative unit of metropolitan cities) Committees, and Thana Committees form Metropolitan Committees. Generally, the district councilors are supposed to consider loyalty, personality, dedication, experience, honesty, education etc. of the leaders, and propose names for the district-level committee positions. Here, the reality is different. The councilors, while proposing names for committee positions, become divided into different panels, and so, the participating central leaders cannot decide easily on the choices. The centre thus receives panel nominations from the districts, fails in most cases to give decision on time, and takes decisions, if any, much later. Sometimes, for internal conflicts and misunderstanding, the district committees cannot be formed for years together. For example, the Kushtia district AL committee was formed in 2004, and the next committee was supposed to be formed after three years, but it could not be completely formed as yet. The experienced party activists identified one basic indicator of democracy, and that is the right and ability of the party people in each tier of the party to select or elect their own leaders on the basis of majority choice. Saiful Islam, a union level AL leader, laments, "The committees at upazila and zilla levels are formed, or directions for committee formation are given by the central leaders sitting in Dhaka. Here democratic practices are absent within the party. Democracy and citizen's rights are not respected. We, the local level party activists want to choose our leaders through election, which should be the very foundation of party democracy, but unfortunately, the election procedure is absent in the party. In fact, party activists cannot express their opinions in this regard." Mahatab Uddin, a lawyer and district level BNP leader, observed that democratic practice in the organisational committees of the political parties at different levels is absent because the committees are not formed constitutionally or according to the organisation's provisions. The upazila and zilla level leaders lobby with different central leaders, and thus panel-based committees are formed. In some cases, the centre selects the president and secretary for the district or upazila committees, and the latter chooses other like-minded office bearers for the committees. Such lobbies between local and central tiers are maintained in exchange of money and muscle power, and with regional or kinship identity. These committees do not reflect the democratic opinion or choice of the majority local level party workers. A patron-client relationship between the powerful moneyed people and the political parties is evident in the Bangladesh political culture. During general elections, the party high-command forgets and denies those grassroots leaders who are politically renowned figures, and nominate those with money and power in exchange of huge donations to the parties. While talking about their position for such practices of the party centres, the grassroots leaders, even though they themselves are involved in different intra-party lobbies or factions, express their dissatisfaction, concern, and sometimes grievances. Prior to the Eighth Parliament election, the BNP nomination for the Kushtia-3 constituency surprised the party leaders and activists. As responding leaders said, there were protests within the constituency and the party leaders in big group went to the center for asking for a fair nomination, but the centre did not listen. The same was the case at Rajahshi-6 constituency, where AL nomination for the Ninth Parliament election surprised the constituency leaders and activists. The constituency people were so opposed to the central decision that the party leaders did not participate in the election campaigns until little before the election. One grassroots leader of the constituency said, "We can't choose our leaders on our own. That's our political culture. We can't change it. We have to listen to the center. After all, we have to be in politics." There is a practice of the political parties to put the blame for their own faults on the opposition political party. AL leaders frequently mention the turbulent political situation during the last BNP led coalition regime, reform initiatives of the last Caretaker Government and subsequent election preparation as reasons for not forming the district level committees. In the case of formation of the Rajshahi metropolitan committees, the metropolitan AL General Secretary claimed that the committees here are formed through council and mostly through secret ballot. The current committees were formed in 2004, and though provisions are there for election of new committees every three years, new committees are not formed as yet. The Secretary said that elections were held in the positions of President and Secretary. In the case of ward committees, the metropolitan committee leaders bring their favoured people in the positions. The Secretary said that it is true that efforts are there to maintain party constitutional provisions in the Rajshahi committees, but in many other districts the provisions are ignored. AL leaders of Kushtia district noted that the concept of democracy among the political leaders at the centre is nontransparent and incomplete. They themselves do not respect the democratic norms. The centre interferes in the normal functioning of the district level committees. The discrepant behaviour of the central leaders is detrimental to nurturing of political ideals and conscience. Local level party leaders assert that there is no system in the party for the local leaders to be promoted to the central level based on their merit and experiences. If there is no promotion of leadership based on sincerity, dedication and talent, the governance system of the state would be obviously affected, and which is very much reflected in the current party organisations. BNP held its national council on December 8, 2009, after long 16 years. According to the provisions in the BNP constitution (amended in August 2009 following the Representation of Peoples Order), the National Executive Committee and Standing Committee are to be formed through election during the party national council. During the council, BNP chief Khaleda Zia was re-elected as party's Chairperson. Seemingly, the re-election followed a proposal and support from the councilors, but in fact, there was no alternative leader to seek the position, or no leader to propose an alternative person in the position. As the respondents of this study commented, in fact no leader in the party dares to propose alternative person as the chairperson, because, they think, in such a case, that leader or person might lose or is afraid of losing his position in the party. The local level leaders of BNP are happy to say that they transfer their voting power to the chairperson for forming the committees of her choice. While talking about the change in the position of the party chief, and about recommendations by party leaders for change in central positions, Khokon Khan, a local level BNP activist, sarcastically said, "Why I need to stand with laathi (baton) while the chief holds the gun in her hand." Khaleda Zia subsequently selected over 251 office-bearers and members for the executive committee and 19 members for the standing committee. During the closed-door session at the national council, former BNP lawmaker Ilyas Ali proposed that formation of the committees should be left to the chairperson's discretion. The councilors backed the proposal, ending speculations over the process of picking new leadership. "The councillors have given me the responsibility to announce new committees and I will do that soon. Those who are competent and have acceptability among people will be chosen to run the party," Khaleda Zia had said as reported in the media. As a matter of fact, the committees are supposed to be formed through voting of the councillors in a democratic manner, while transferring of voting power to the chief surely means absence of power of the party leaders. As regards the AL national council, the district leaders participated in the party's council in July 2009 with the hope that the central leaders will be elected in the important positions of the National Executive Committee. To the dismay of the party people, the central AL leaders transferred their power to the party chief for forming the committee on her own. There are arguments and counter-arguments for such process. The district level leaders think that the central leaders still have not learnt to behave democratically, and do not practice democracy among themselves, so the party chief remains the sole authority to decide on the committees. While asked about their right to hold the central committees accountable, the local leaders assert that they can put forward their demands, raise different issues for discussions, and even demand corrections in some cases, but decisions and implementation are not in their hand. Here works are done at the sole discretion of the party chief. Khokon Khan, the BNP activist, said, "The centres try to impose democratic practices at the grassroots and push for elections and changes, but most of the central positions remain unchanged for years together, or remain at the discretion of the party chiefs only. There is no concern for democracy at the centres. In this case, both BNP and AL have the same character." The article is based on a study titled "Institutionalization of Democracy in the Political Parties in Bangladesh: Does Culture Matter?" carried out by the author between January - July 2010 as part of thesis at the North South University. He can be reached at e-mail : msaidurbd@yahoo.com
Despite having long historical backgrounds and experiences in politics, both the Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the two major political parties in the country, seem to lack internal democracy within the parties. According to the party constitutions of both the parties, there are four tiers of the district-level party structure: Ward Committee, Union Committee, Upazila (sub-district) Committee, and Zilla (district) Committee. According to party documents of the parties, the formation of these committees follows a bottom-up process, i.e., the Ward Committee (the lowest tier) forms Union Committee, Union Committee forms Upazila Committee, and the Upazila Committee forms Zilla Committee (the highest tier of local level party structure). In the metropolitan city, the Ward Committees form Thana (administrative unit of metropolitan cities) Committees, and Thana Committees form Metropolitan Committees. Generally, the district councilors are supposed to consider loyalty, personality, dedication, experience, honesty, education etc. of the leaders, and propose names for the district-level committee positions. Here, the reality is different. The councilors, while proposing names for committee positions, become divided into different panels, and so, the participating central leaders cannot decide easily on the choices. The centre thus receives panel nominations from the districts, fails in most cases to give decision on time, and takes decisions, if any, much later. Sometimes, for internal conflicts and misunderstanding, the district committees cannot be formed for years together. For example, the Kushtia district AL committee was formed in 2004, and the next committee was supposed to be formed after three years, but it could not be completely formed as yet. The experienced party activists identified one basic indicator of democracy, and that is the right and ability of the party people in each tier of the party to select or elect their own leaders on the basis of majority choice. Saiful Islam, a union level AL leader, laments, "The committees at upazila and zilla levels are formed, or directions for committee formation are given by the central leaders sitting in Dhaka. Here democratic practices are absent within the party. Democracy and citizen's rights are not respected. We, the local level party activists want to choose our leaders through election, which should be the very foundation of party democracy, but unfortunately, the election procedure is absent in the party. In fact, party activists cannot express their opinions in this regard." Mahatab Uddin, a lawyer and district level BNP leader, observed that democratic practice in the organisational committees of the political parties at different levels is absent because the committees are not formed constitutionally or according to the organisation's provisions. The upazila and zilla level leaders lobby with different central leaders, and thus panel-based committees are formed. In some cases, the centre selects the president and secretary for the district or upazila committees, and the latter chooses other like-minded office bearers for the committees. Such lobbies between local and central tiers are maintained in exchange of money and muscle power, and with regional or kinship identity. These committees do not reflect the democratic opinion or choice of the majority local level party workers. A patron-client relationship between the powerful moneyed people and the political parties is evident in the Bangladesh political culture. During general elections, the party high-command forgets and denies those grassroots leaders who are politically renowned figures, and nominate those with money and power in exchange of huge donations to the parties. While talking about their position for such practices of the party centres, the grassroots leaders, even though they themselves are involved in different intra-party lobbies or factions, express their dissatisfaction, concern, and sometimes grievances. Prior to the Eighth Parliament election, the BNP nomination for the Kushtia-3 constituency surprised the party leaders and activists. As responding leaders said, there were protests within the constituency and the party leaders in big group went to the center for asking for a fair nomination, but the centre did not listen. The same was the case at Rajahshi-6 constituency, where AL nomination for the Ninth Parliament election surprised the constituency leaders and activists. The constituency people were so opposed to the central decision that the party leaders did not participate in the election campaigns until little before the election. One grassroots leader of the constituency said, "We can't choose our leaders on our own. That's our political culture. We can't change it. We have to listen to the center. After all, we have to be in politics." There is a practice of the political parties to put the blame for their own faults on the opposition political party. AL leaders frequently mention the turbulent political situation during the last BNP led coalition regime, reform initiatives of the last Caretaker Government and subsequent election preparation as reasons for not forming the district level committees. In the case of formation of the Rajshahi metropolitan committees, the metropolitan AL General Secretary claimed that the committees here are formed through council and mostly through secret ballot. The current committees were formed in 2004, and though provisions are there for election of new committees every three years, new committees are not formed as yet. The Secretary said that elections were held in the positions of President and Secretary. In the case of ward committees, the metropolitan committee leaders bring their favoured people in the positions. The Secretary said that it is true that efforts are there to maintain party constitutional provisions in the Rajshahi committees, but in many other districts the provisions are ignored. AL leaders of Kushtia district noted that the concept of democracy among the political leaders at the centre is nontransparent and incomplete. They themselves do not respect the democratic norms. The centre interferes in the normal functioning of the district level committees. The discrepant behaviour of the central leaders is detrimental to nurturing of political ideals and conscience. Local level party leaders assert that there is no system in the party for the local leaders to be promoted to the central level based on their merit and experiences. If there is no promotion of leadership based on sincerity, dedication and talent, the governance system of the state would be obviously affected, and which is very much reflected in the current party organisations. BNP held its national council on December 8, 2009, after long 16 years. According to the provisions in the BNP constitution (amended in August 2009 following the Representation of Peoples Order), the National Executive Committee and Standing Committee are to be formed through election during the party national council. During the council, BNP chief Khaleda Zia was re-elected as party's Chairperson. Seemingly, the re-election followed a proposal and support from the councilors, but in fact, there was no alternative leader to seek the position, or no leader to propose an alternative person in the position. As the respondents of this study commented, in fact no leader in the party dares to propose alternative person as the chairperson, because, they think, in such a case, that leader or person might lose or is afraid of losing his position in the party. The local level leaders of BNP are happy to say that they transfer their voting power to the chairperson for forming the committees of her choice. While talking about the change in the position of the party chief, and about recommendations by party leaders for change in central positions, Khokon Khan, a local level BNP activist, sarcastically said, "Why I need to stand with laathi (baton) while the chief holds the gun in her hand." Khaleda Zia subsequently selected over 251 office-bearers and members for the executive committee and 19 members for the standing committee. During the closed-door session at the national council, former BNP lawmaker Ilyas Ali proposed that formation of the committees should be left to the chairperson's discretion. The councilors backed the proposal, ending speculations over the process of picking new leadership. "The councillors have given me the responsibility to announce new committees and I will do that soon. Those who are competent and have acceptability among people will be chosen to run the party," Khaleda Zia had said as reported in the media. As a matter of fact, the committees are supposed to be formed through voting of the councillors in a democratic manner, while transferring of voting power to the chief surely means absence of power of the party leaders. As regards the AL national council, the district leaders participated in the party's council in July 2009 with the hope that the central leaders will be elected in the important positions of the National Executive Committee. To the dismay of the party people, the central AL leaders transferred their power to the party chief for forming the committee on her own. There are arguments and counter-arguments for such process. The district level leaders think that the central leaders still have not learnt to behave democratically, and do not practice democracy among themselves, so the party chief remains the sole authority to decide on the committees. While asked about their right to hold the central committees accountable, the local leaders assert that they can put forward their demands, raise different issues for discussions, and even demand corrections in some cases, but decisions and implementation are not in their hand. Here works are done at the sole discretion of the party chief. Khokon Khan, the BNP activist, said, "The centres try to impose democratic practices at the grassroots and push for elections and changes, but most of the central positions remain unchanged for years together, or remain at the discretion of the party chiefs only. There is no concern for democracy at the centres. In this case, both BNP and AL have the same character." The article is based on a study titled "Institutionalization of Democracy in the Political Parties in Bangladesh: Does Culture Matter?" carried out by the author between January - July 2010 as part of thesis at the North South University. He can be reached at e-mail : msaidurbd@yahoo.com