Long road to democracy

Enamul HaquebrIN 1989, all the political parties in varying degrees were united in a struggle against the autocratic rule of Gen. H M Ershad. At the peak of the movement that year, they signed an all-party declaration. The declaration pledged unequivocally to establish the independence of the judiciary through its separation from the executive, repeal all black laws and ensure autonomy for the government-controlled media.brThe subsequent history proved to be very different. They found it useful to retain the Special Powers Act (SPA). The pledge for the independence of the judiciary and the autonomy of government-owned radio and tv was also conveniently forgotten. But neither Awami League nor the BNP, whose leaders were signatories to the declaration and who led Bangladesh for the 15 subsequent years, seemed not have the slightest remorse for such failures.brMany other things need to be addressed as the countdown for holding the country's elections is drawing to a close. Without progress in these areas, democratic governance would remain difficult. It needs to be remembered that the people of this land struggled for long and sacrificed much for democracy.brThe political parties need to carry out sweeping reforms within their organisations to become the suitable vehicles of democracy. Ironically, no democracy exists within the political parties. Most of them, specially the big ones, are one-man or one-woman shows. Leaders are not elected on the basis of discussion or free voting. Rather, the leadership is a matter of succession. Being heir to famous predecessors because of family-ties counts most as it does in many other developing countries.brPolitical parties in Bangladesh continue to be dominated by families, no matter what the competence of the 'heirs' is to carry forward the mantle. As long as the democratisation of the political parties does not take place, it would be futile to expect their leaders to behave democratically in parliament or, promote the interests of the people instead of their coterie interests.brA number of surveys, conducted by the NGOs revealed the backgrounds of many members of parliament (MPs). A large number of MPs were shown to have alleged links with crimes. Many of them were alleged to possess a large amount of black money. Furthermore, there were allegations about many of them using thugs in elections to intimidate their political opponents. The educational background of many MPs were also poor. The MPs in the previous parliament were no better. brThe political parties must attempt and achieve major reforms. They need political culture to be able to strengthen the political institutions and democratic institutions. Their mutual hatred and hardened practice for no-accommodation have lead to a decadent political culture. The latest turn of events in the country, particularly the two main parties, does bear eloquent testimony to it. They are trading corruption charges against the leaders on their respective opposing side while the functionaries of both parties have been charged with corruption that they have allegedly indulged in, in the past. The socio-economic benefits that the people expect from the democratic way of life would remain difficult goals until fundamental reforms of political parties and related institutions are carried out.