Bangladesh Heading For December Elections — Finally – OpEd
After ten months of dithering over holding early parliament elections, Bangladesh’s interim government finally looks to be preparing to hold the polls in December this year.
Bangladesh intelligence officials say the government’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has issued instructions to the Home Ministry to prepare fo parliament polls in December.
Citing the instructions, they said that 8 lakh security personnel will have to be mobilised to provide for ‘fool-proof’ security during the polls.
The army chief Gen Waker-u-Zaman is known to favour polls on multiple dates to make possible intense security coverage across the various regions.
During his meeting with Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP) Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman in London on June 13, Yunus had agreed to hold the polls in early February before the holy month of Ramzan, instead of June that he had earlier offered. But that offer came with a rider — only if the interim government could complete necessary reforms by January.
The BNP however continued to press for polls in December, though in somewhat muted fashion.
Yunus’ detractors however say the ‘reforms first’ pitch was to confront the BNP with a delayed elections to build pressure on it to come to a favourable seat sharing arrangement with Yunus’ main backers, the Jamaat-e-Islami and smaller Islamist parties backing it as well as the newly-formed National Citizens Party helmed by the student-youth brigade that brought Yunus to power.
With the erstwhile ruling Awami League now effectively barred from political activity including contesting elections, the BNP has clearly emerged as a frontrunner to win the parliament elections.
All For A Seat Sharing Deal!
Realising the BNP leadership was in obvious hurry, Yunus used the ‘reforms first’ pressure to push them to come to a seat sharing arrangement with the Islamist parties and the NCP. Not only have these parties emerged as his most trusted backers but also because they would most enthusiastically back Yunus as the next President of the Republic .
Already 85, Yunus would be only too eager to be President and helm the Republic even if only as a figurehead not only because it helps him avoid the daily governance pressures and still stay important, but also because it guarantees him immunity from prosecution.
As head of the Grameen Bank conglomerate, Yunus has faced prosecution on various charges like labour law violations, graft and embezzlement of workers welfare funds and was initially sentenced to six months in prison before his bail cane through.
As Chief Adviser, Yunus has been accused of influencing government decisions to secure tax waivers for the Grameen group, earn it a license for manpower export and for setting up a Grameen University — issues that could be interpreted as dishonouring the conflict of interest code and used by a future government less than well disposed to the Nobel laureate.
With the Awami League out of the contest and its small party allies demoralized and under immense pressure, the BNP and its allies are expected to sweep the polls that would make it possible for them to impeach the current President Shahabuddin Chuppu and pave the way for a replacement by someone of their choice.
Political sources suggest the Jamaat-e-Islami and other Islamist parties are seeking at least 50 seats in the 300-member parliament and the NCP around 30 seats, leaving the rest to BNP and its current crop of fraternal parties.
No Contest Though
But for Bangladeshis expecting a restoration of democracy , there is not much to look forward to. With the Awami League out, the electoral results are a foregone conclusion. With everybody who is somebody in Awami League booked on some criminal case or another, there is hardly possible for any of their important leader to contest even as Independent candidate.
The foundational ideology that led to the creation of Bangladesh is under challenge. Every other day, reports of some mob smashing up Liberation War monuments float in. The Jamaat-e-Islami and its Islamist allies are the ones are already looking forward to boosting their role in the post-election stage , pushing for reforms that effectively takes the country towards an radical Islamised polity.
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