Parliament without real opposition

The role of the opposition parties in democracy is very important and without a strong main opposition party, a parliament simply cannot function effectively. We don't find any strong opposition party in our present parliament and such a parliament cannot be expected to fulfil the minimum expectation of the common people, who want the rule of law to be established. When a parliament has no opposition party, we cannot expect transparency and accountability from it. Our democracy is at a crossroads as we cannot claim the 5th January election an all-participatory election where more than half of the parliament members have been elected uncontested.
The election had lost its credibility much before it was held. The ruling party leaders claimed, ahead of the election, that the 10th parliamentary election would be for the sake of continuity of the constitution. But it seems, now, that the ruling party is contemplating not to hold any more election immediately. We cannot expect our democracy to flourish with a grossly flawed election; rather it will weaken democratic practice in our country and make it unstable. The government should arrange an all-inclusive, participatory election soon so that the common people can elect their leaders through their votes.
Masud Rana
Dhanmondi, Dhaka