Press reports on the dialogue “Political Parties and Democracy in Bangladesh,” held at BRAC Centre Inn Auditorium on Saturday, 17 May 2014.
Published in The Financial Express
Revival of constitutional institutions is a must
CPD dialogue expresses concern over ‘fate of democracy’
They suggested that the political parties primarily needed to follow its own constitutions as well as the Representation of People’s Order (RPO) to promote the practice of democracy within the parties.
Although the political parities led all democratic movements, yet after the restoration of democracy in 1991 they could not institutionalise democracy and promote good governance. The failure has encouraged corruption and criminalisation of politics, they regretted.
Terming the recent incident of seven murders in Narayanganj as a wake-up call for politicians, they called upon all the political parties to refrain from using musclemen and cadres with a view to maintaining an environment congenial for nurturing democracy.
The speakers made the observations at a dialogue titled “Political Parties and Democracy in Bangladesh,” organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at Brac Centre Inn in the capital.
CPD Chairman Rehman Sobhan moderated the function where senior politicians of the country’s major political parties also spoke.
While presenting the keynote paper, distinguished fellow of the CPD Dr Rounaq Jahan said the leaders belonging to political dynasties are prominent in politics and very powerful.
“Nearly half of directly-elected women lawmakers of the 9th parliament were dynastic successors and in the 10th parliament 7 members can claim family connection,” she said.
Dr Jahan was critical of the culture of boycotting parliament by the opposition parties on a regular basis. Opposition parties now focus much on street-based politics, she said.
“Mainstream parties became increasingly clientelists and they contested mainly to capture state resources and became less interested in ideology or policy debate,” she said.
Talking about the issue of dynastic politics, political analyst Imtiaz Ahmed, also a professor of International Relations at the Dhaka University, said all the great leaders of the country came from an ordinary family which had no political connection.
He said the ABC (A meaning Awami League. B means BNP and C means Cantonment) nexus has emerged as an important tool in the present context of the country. If the parties have good relation with the cantonment, it becomes much easier to come in power, he said.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t find D (democracy) in the nexus. We need to bring it for the sake of a sustainable democracy,” he said.
Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujan) general secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumder said the RPO has prohibited the functions of the front organisations of a political party. “But the political fronts become very active even though the political parties discard the wings from the mainstream politics,” he said.
Because of lack of accountability and democratic practices among the political parties, income and wealth of the party activists and lawmakers have gone up in an unprecedented way, he said.
Lawmaker of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) Shirin Akhter lasted the power handover process as a main problem in the country, saying that all the political parties should sit and reach a consensus for a stable system to hand over power.
Former Chief Election Commissioner Dr. ATM Shamsul Huda said the main task should be to create an atmosphere to hold a free, fair, acceptable and participatory election but the political parties do not do anything regarding the issue.
“But we need to mount pressure on them from outside as the political parties might not be interested to hold dialogue in the current political context,” he said.
He said the country needs to revive the constitutional institutions like judiciary, Public Service Commission (PSC), Election Commission (EC) and Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), which, he said, have been destroyed in a systematic way over the years.
“We have positioned unfit officials or individuals in key positions of the administration and other areas in a desperate move. For this reason, political activists and public representatives like Nur Hossain come to the forefront,” he added.
Dr. Binayak Sen, Research Director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) said the candidate selection issue becomes the most important issue in the absence of campaign financing reform.
“Once a bad candidate wins an election by spending huge money, he would undoubtedly go for recouping. This will spread corruption and unethical practices,” he said.
Water Resources Minister and senior leader of Jatiya Party Anisul Islam Mahmud said the political parties have become the parties of one-man show. This has worsened the problems, he said.
“We’ve to come out of the culture and all the political leaders must come through election, not selection,” he said, adding that the Election Commission needs to be strengthened to monitor expenses spent by the candidates during elections.
BNP senior leader Barrister Moudud Ahmed said time has come to define the term politician. One cannot claim oneself as politician becoming a lawmaker or a minister.
He said the fate of democracy largely depends on a few things like whether the politicians have the mindset to practise values of democracy within the parties and the politicians have the mentality to sacrifice.
He also urged the political parties to work together to fill up the leadership vacuum, which is now persisting in the country. “Otherwise, socio-economic conditions of the country will further deteriorate.”
Speaking on the occasion as chief guest, Awami League senior leader and Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed held the two military-backed governments responsible for the deterioration of quality of politics, saying that dictators had taken away the rights of politics from the politicians in various ways.
“Yes, it has become very tough for the real politicians to do politics here. We need to work in a united way by giving up all the differences,” he said.
Talking about the process of selecting chief of the party, he said the councillors, who are the main actors, have nothing to do as none shows any interest to contest for the post of president or chairperson.
“And the councillors give the responsibility to the party chief to select his/her office- bearers,” he said, adding that the political parties should refrain the culture of boycotting the parliamentary sessions.
Other speakers also sought transparency in the mobilisation of funds by the political parties as these, provided mostly by business people, remain undocumented and often originate from black money, which builds collusive ties between politicians and businessmen and thus leads to corruption.
Published in The Daily Star
Interested only in state resources
CPD study shows top parties move away from politics for people
Staff Correspondent
Mainstream political parties, especially the Awami League and BNP, are in a race to “grab state resources”, resulting in criminalisation of politics, increased influence of black money and emergence of “godfathers”, says a study of the Centre for Policy Dialogue.
The parties have also become less interested in ideological or policy debate, finds the study titled “Political parties and democracy in Bangladesh.”
The study was unveiled at a programme at the capital’s Brac Centre Inn yesterday.
The findings were acknowledged by top leaders of the AL, BNP and Jatiya Party, who were present at the programme, moderated by Prof Rehman Sobhan, chairman of the CPD.
Tofail Ahmed, AL’s advisory council member, said the malpractices in politics began during military rule after 1975. “Political culture is lost and it will take a long time to restore it.”
BNP Standing Committee Member Moudud Ahmed said democracy is not practised within the parties. Politicians are now busy spreading falsehood.
He urged the ruling AL to take initiatives for a consensus among all political parties to consolidate democracy. Otherwise, he said, a confrontational situation would arise.
JP Presidium Member Anisul Islam Mahmud said the parties are run on the decisions of one or a few particular persons. “Democracy won’t flourish if this practice continues.”
Rehman Sobhan emphasised the need for a stable, representative and democratic political system for utilisation of the country’s potentials for development.
The CPD picked four parties — the AL, BNP, Jatiya Party and Jamaat-e-Islami — for the comparative study.
Presenting the keynote paper, CPD Fellow Rounaq Jahan, who led the study, said all major political parties, including the AL, BNP and JP, are run by dynasties.
Though political parties played a key role in the nationalist and democratic movements of the 1950s, 1960s and 1980s, they have failed to foster democratic practices in the subsequent years, she said, terming it a paradox.
The study portrays a bleak picture of intra-party democratic practice and transparency in major political parties.
“Power is concentrated in the hands of party chief. There is no change or competition for party presidency/chairmanship for nearly 30 years in the AL and BNP,” says the study.
“There is little policy/programme discussion at the party forums. There is little consultative process or collective decision-making. Key decisions are often taken by party chief, sometimes rejecting the views of senior party leaders.”
The study also claims that new breeds of political musclemen are evident in leadership positions at the grassroots level. These musclemen use violence to acquire huge wealth, which is used to establish their political clout.
Political parties generally depend on state resources and try to hang on to state power at all costs and engage in undemocratic and corrupt practices. There is also a lack of transparency in the parties’ sources of funds and their expenditures. The parties are increasingly becoming dependent on people with money and muscle power, losing touch with common citizens.
“Democracy can be sustained only when parties make a credible commitment to promote democracy in the country and practise democracy within their own organisations,” observes the study.
RECOMMENDATIONS
In a set of recommendations, the study says parties need to stop using state agencies and state resources to reward their supporters and punish opponents.
“Stop using violence to settle inter-party and intra-party conflicts,” the study recommends adding that the opposition should shun the practice of boycotting parliament.
The study also suggested maintaining a distance between the ruling party and the government. Party officials — president, general secretary and other office bearers — should devote full-time to party work and should not be given government positions like cabinet ministers.
It also suggested that parties primarily follow their own constitutions as well as the RPO guidelines and promote democratic practices within the organisations.
“Parties should get funds from the state budget to run the organisations and election campaigns. The competitions to raise huge sums of money for party/campaign activities are making parties dependent on special interests and corrupt and criminal elements,” the study observes.
Published in Dhaka Tribune
CPD: Political parties deviate from ideologies
Mohammad Al-Masum Molla
Citing the many positive contributions of political parties, the professor observed that whenever a party comes to power through elections, the system of democratic governance fumbles
Speakers at a discussion yesterday stressed the need for democratic practice and transparency within political parties to establish mutual respect and good governance.
“We are concerned about the political parties,” Rounaq Jahan, a political watcher, said while presenting a keynote paper at a dialogue on “Political Parties and Democracy in Bangladesh”, organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue in the capital. Rehman Sobhan, chairman of the CPD, chaired the programme.
Citing the many positive contributions of political parties, the professor observed that whenever a party comes to power through elections, the system of democratic governance fumbles.
“They could not do much in establishing democracy,” she said.
Regarding the challenges faced by the political parties, she said they were losing touch with the ordinary people and increasingly becoming dependent on people with money and muscle.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed described how the country’s political culture and practices had gradually changed over the years.
Recalling how he had become a party leader through a long process, the veteran Awami League politician said politics was no longer in the hands of the politicians and the parties had deviated from their ideologies.
“We lost our political culture; we have to work on it to improve the situation,” Tofail said.
Moudud Ahmed, a standing committee member of the BNP, said immorality and falsehood were dominating politics, and proper leadership and changes in attitude were needed to establish democracy.
Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of international relations at University of Dhaka, said “two types of nexuses” were creating problems for democracy and politics and they needed to be broken up.
“One is a nexus between bureaucracy, business and politics. Another nexus, what I call ‘A, B, C’ – A and B stand for Awami League and BNP and C is cantonment.”
Published in New Age
Nexus of 2 big parties with cantonment dumped democracy: roundtable
Staff Correspondent
Leading politicians and academicians at a roundtable on Saturday said a nexus of people in the two big political parties and the cantonment has ‘dumped’ democracy in the country, and if such nexus continues to exist, democratic system will not be restored.
They also said military governments are responsible for snatching democracy, and politicians have lost control over politics.
Stressing the need for separation between the party and the government, they also said there are no democratic practices inside the big political parties and people want to get rid of dynastic leadership.
The roundtable ‘Political Parties and Democracy in Bangladesh’ was organized by Centre for Policy Dialogue at the BRAC Centre Inn.
Political scientist and adjunct professor at Columbia University Rounaq Jahan presented her research findings, while noted economist professor Rehman Sobhan moderated the discussion.
Dhaka University international relations professor Imtiaz Ahmed said that a nexus of people in the Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the cantonment had ‘dumped’ democracy. ‘A + B + C has dumped democracy. A denotes Awami League, B, Bangladesh Nationalist Party and C, cantonment,’ he said, adding ‘When Awami League gets support from cantonment, they can assume state power.
Likewise, BNP also goes to power when they get support from cantonment.’ ‘If the A + B + C nexus continue to exist, democratic system will not be restored. This trio has dumped democracy,’ Imtiaz said.
Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed said military governments are responsible for snatching politics from the politicians’ hands. ‘During military rule, people have suddenly become ministers and he/she later joins politics.
This is how real politicians lost control over politics.’ Tofail said politics has become tough for politicians and the definition of politics should be rewritten.
He also said the next general election will be held in time, and he feels comfortable now. Senior BNP leader Moudud Ahmed warned there is a possibility of the emergence of fundamentalism if democratic system is not restored.
Criticising the government for what he said ‘mugging the opposition’s democratic right to hold political programmes like processions and rallies’, Moudud said a ‘choked’ environment now prevails in the country.
Hundreds of ‘false’ cases are being filed against the opposition political leaders and activists, he added. Moudud also assured the government that his party would not enforce any strike or uncomfortable political programmes if the government allows them to hold rallies and bring out processions and withdraw all the ‘false’ cases filed against them. ‘There is no democracy in the country.
Immoralities and a war of ‘false’ words is in practice in the political arena,’ he said, adding, ‘I am saying this as a citizen of the country, not a politician.’
Referring to the frequent killings and kidnappings in Narayanganj, the former law minister said such incidents were just the beginning, and if the current situation continues, there will be recurrences of such incidents in the future. Indicating to the commerce minister Tofail Ahmed, who attended the roundtable as chief guest, Moudud said: ‘I don’t believe Tofail feels comfortable with this situation.’
Former Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda, Water Resources Minister Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud, Sujon secretary Bodiul Alam Majumder, BNP vice chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, BNP chairperson’s adviser Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and CPD executive director Prof Mustafizur Rahman also spoke at the roundtable.
Published in The Independent
Moudud calls for dialogue, Tofail asks for patience
Staff Reporter
Responding to a call made by BNP standing committee member barrister Moudud Ahmed for holding an inclusive election through talks among the major political parties, commerce minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday said the BNP has to wait for talks till the end of the present Parliament’s tenure. The two senior leaders were addressing a seminar on “Political parties in Bangladesh and Democracy” at BRAC Centre Inn in the city.
Moudud alleged that the voterless January 5 parliamentary poll has murdered the country’s democracy. Excessive falsehood and immorality have entered politics and damaged the reputation of the country, he said.
“The country is going through a democratic and political void. It’s the major responsibility of the government to restore democracy in the country,” he added.
The BNP leader alluded to the seven recent murders in Narayanganj in this regard. “Such incidents are the beginning of a dangerous situation and the situation will deteriorate further if such conditions prevail,” he added.
The seminar was organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a non-government organisation, with its chairman Rehman Sobhan in the chair.
Responding to the BNP leader’s comments, AL leader Tofail Ahmed asked the BNP to wait for any dialogue. “Please wait. Dialogue would be held on time for the next election after the tenure of the present Parliament. You’ve to wait for that,” he said. He asked whether the BNP would really like to participate in a dialogue with the government, which, according to them, happens to be illegal.
He said politics is not controlled by politicians since the two marshal laws issued after 1975. Those who became ministers during the martial law were never involved in politics. They joined politics after becoming ministers, he pointed out.
Minister for water resources Anisul Islam Mahmud, BNP leader Shamser Mobin Chowdhury, former chief election commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda, Brig. Gen. (Retd) Shakhawat Hossain, Prof. Imtiaz Ahmed and Bodiul Alam Majumder also addressed the seminar.
Published on UNBConnect.com
CPD urges parties to refrain from abusing state agencies
UNBconnect
Political parties in Bangladesh need to stop using state agencies and state resources to reward supporters and punish opponents to promote democracy in the country, said Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) here on Saturday.
It observed that the rule of law, a critical element of democracy, cannot be established unless the political parties refrain from using the state to promote partisan interest.
“Democracy can be sustained only when parties make a credible commitment to promote democracy in the country and practice democracy within their own organisations. “
The observations were made at a function, titled ‘Political Parties and Democracy in Bangladesh’, at BRAC Centre Inn with Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed in chair.
Water Resources Minister Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud, BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed, Sujon secretary Bodiul Alam Majumder, BNP chairperson’s adviser Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, CPD executive director Prof Mustafizur Rahman were present at the programme.
CPD distinguished fellow Rounaq Jahan presented the keynote paper at the discussion chaired by CPD Chairman Prof Rehman Sobhan.
Rounaq Jahan said parties need to stop the practice of boycotting parliament when they are in the opposition. They need to make parliament the central agency of holding the government accountable, she said.
She observed that political parties had led democratic movements but they fell short of institutionalising democracy, promoting good governance and practicing democracy within their own organisations.
Rounaq Jahan, in her presentation, mentioned that political parties need to primarily follow their own constitutions as well as RPO guidelines to promote the practice of democracy within their own organizations. “Parties need to select leaders of all committees through regular elections using secret ballots.”
She laid emphasis on selection of candidates for the elections on basis of honesty and leadership quality by taking the opinions from grassroots committees.
The CPD fellow said the mainstream electoral parties tended to become preoccupied with the mission of capturing state power with the goal of expanding their support base through patronage distribution. “This weakened their ideological and policy orientation.”
Prof Rahman Sobhan laid emphasis on a stable, representative and democratic political system in the country to make full utilisation of potentials that the country has for further development.
The participants in the discussion suggested strengthening key democratic institutions including the election commission for making country’s democratic base stronger and ensuring a free, fair, transparent and peaceful election in future.