Welcome advice from John McCain

The people of the country are only hoping that things would change for the better and the beginning would be made through the forthcoming general election. They are thinking that the events of the last two years, plus exposure to how politicians in other countries behave in the interest of the nation and the people, all of these events have imprinted the minds and psyche of political leaders of the country and, thus, they would finally accept the merit of taking the strong initiatives to change the political culture. They should also realise that the voters who elect them to power are very keen to see such a transformation from them.
In this context it is noteworthy that the defeated in the US Presidential election, John McCain who was in Dhaka, has left some advice for our political players who may have greater ears for the same considering that the US elections are so fresh in their memories as well as the prevailing mood of the people here. The recently-held US Presidential contest was widely watched in Bangladesh. Thanks to ample media coverage, all phases in the US election were well within the instant knowledge of their Bangladeshi audience. Thus, both contestants-Barak Obama and John McCain-are familiar names to Bangladeshis. Not only their names, people in this country witnessed in large number the pre-and post-election developments. The most important things to note were how quickly and easily all the personal attacks, tough talks and other apparent personal relations destroying activities that preceded the election dissolved away immediately after the announcement of the results and how both sides rushed to join in camaraderie and pledges to take the US forward forgetting their differences. Late last month, both the President-elect and Senator John McCain had a meeting discussing the issues that concern the American and all others.
Bangladeshi onlookers of the US election have been prone to making comparisons. Many of them have been saying how the behaviour of Bangladeshi politicians -- so far -- tended to be just the opposite. The experiences of the people of this country, until now, have been only unending feuding between the political parties, their taking to agitation on flimsiest excuses, not accepting election results gracefully or wholeheartedly and keeping alive discords on this score and, more significantly the very great personal distaste for each other among the top political leaders.
In his advice to the political leaders of Bangladesh McCain has underlined that a democracy can be viable or sustainable when the main players in it share certain core rules or values for the well-being of the country as a whole in a democratic polity. These are essentially that the winners and losers should bury their hatchets right after the election, accept the results gracefully and with a clean heart and for the triumphant in the election not to push the losers into a brutalised marginal state. There is hardly any difference of opinion in the responsible and conscious quarters of Bangladesh that the holding of the upcoming elections and transfer of power to an elected government holds out the best prospects of political stability along with the economic dividends of the same. In the context of the coming general election, it is worthwhile to point it out, again, that the cherished political stability in this country will require the opposition to emerge after the election to accept their appropriate role in good grace while the ruling party must not demonstrate that they would take the electoral verdict all home themselves, denying the opposition of a respectable role in the polity and suppressing and oppressing it (the opposition). Rather the winners in the election should be proactive to get the opposition's cooperation and seek to include the opposition in running the country in some vital areas. Only such a course will underwrite the desired political stability.