Are political parties really ready for reforms?

If the existing political parties are really up for reforms, they should go back to the drawing board and review their political agendas. Photo: Rajib Dhar

The anti-discrimination movement that has overthrown the autocratic regime is different from all other student-led movements in the history of Bangladesh for one particular reason -- it was an uprising solely led by the students without any influence from any political party.

In other words, it was a non-partisan revolution that challenged the existing polity and the incongruities in our political landscape, insinuating that the youth want some serious reforms in the country's political scenario.

For almost 16 years, the recently-ousted political party has subjugated people. Blanket politicisation, rampant corruption, sheer absence of empathy for countrymen and violation of freedom of speech turned the masses, as well as the youth, against the party in power.

Now that the country has attained freedom once again, the youth are demanding some serious reforms in our political culture, so that the system cannot create scope for another political party or individual politician to emerge as a despotic ruler.

For that to happen, the existing political parties will have to bring in some real changes in their vision and mission, making way for carrying out necessary reforms in their principles and agendas. The question naturally pops up – are the political parties really ready for the reforms that are expected by the youth and cross-sections of people?

First and foremost, the masses are tired of the absolutism that was very systematically established in our country. The countrymen got trapped in a political system where all the power was centred on a single person, making way for the former prime minister to emerge as a dictator.

This kind of absolutism creates scope for fascist and apologist politicians. Once a particular person or a political party gets all the power, it starts oppressing ordinary citizens. This is what we have seen during the last regime. One of the main reasons behind such a rise of absolutism is the tradition of dynastic politics in our country.

Here, the prime ministers who exercise absolute power are selected based on hereditary relations, which is antithetical to what we see in the developed countries or democracies. Now, will the major political parties advocate for organisational reforms that will put an end to this kind of dynastic democracy?

Second, the ubiquitous presence of corruption everywhere resulted in pent-up frustration among the populace. On one hand, people were tightening their belts and struggling to put food on the table. On the other hand, some quarters, especially those known for their closeness to the party in power, accumulated huge wealth. Corruption has been a major chink in AL's armour.

Do the parties have the political willingness as well as the integrity that is required of a political party to adopt a zero tolerance policy against corruption? Take, for example, the case of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is one of the two big parties in the country. Just within two days of the ouster of Hasina regime, BNP held a massive rally in front of its Naya Paltan office, where its acting chairman Tarique Rahman, delivered a speech virtually.

Despite the fact that he seems like a changed man from his recent comments on political coexistence, there is also no denying that he is a convicted criminal who was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) back in 2007. Many say that the accusations are not true, but where there's smoke, there's fire.

So, how will BNP address this issue? Will they look for alternative leadership who has a clean image? Just like the Awami League, BNP is also trapped in the same loop of dynastic leadership roles. In the face of changed realities, will they advocate for a policy or law mandating that no one can hold the prime minister office for more than twice?

Now if they are really up for such reforms, they should get back to the drawing board and review their political agendas.

Third, people were more frustrated with the role of the major political parties during the reign of the Awami League. The former government utterly failed to control inflation and other macroeconomic factors that led to an unbearable economic situation.

People struggled to put food on the table even after cutting corners. More pathetically, major political parties, including BNP, could not really raise a strong voice against this kind of miserable situation. They failed to grow collective political consensus on different national issues or wage protests that could bring the oppressive government under accountability.

Though it is true that left-leaning parties have always been vocal against issues causing public suffering, such as uncontrolled hikes in power tariffs, skyrocketing prices of essentials, and a widening gap between the rich and the poor, leftists have their fair share of organisational inefficiency.

Left-leaning parties' politics are confined within the campuses, or they are more active in the major cities. They are also detached from the masses, especially those living in the rural areas. Left-leaning parties have also failed to adopt the basic tenets of socialism or communism in our context after necessary modifications.

Do these parties have any such plans of coming out of their bubbles and establishing meaningful connections with the masses just to make their political visions more realistic and feasible?

Another major cause of concern during the last regime was restrictions on freedom of thought and expression. Draconian laws like the Cyber Security Act (previously known as DSA) were in place to muzzle anyone being critical of the government's activities.

Now, when it comes to freedom of thought and expression and other basic human rights, it also entails that people will be free to say anything reasonable, preach their belief system, live a respectful life irrespective of their religion/gender and decide lifestyle choices for themselves.

Here comes a conflict of belief or interest for the religion-based political parties. Parties like Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e Islam (a tightly-knit coalition of a dozen Islamist or like-minded organisations) have long used religion for foisting their ideologies on others and materialising political purposes.

Top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami have been hanged for their roles during the Liberation War of Bangladesh for collaborating with the Pakistani rulers, while Hefazat came up with 13-point demands back in 2013, including provisions such as banning free mingling of men and women and putting an end to setting up sculptures at intersections, colleges, and universities.

These reflect that these Islamist parties are not in favour of secularism, whereas the people of this country as well as the constitution believe in the peaceful coexistence of interfaith harmony.

Article 41 of our constitution allows religious pluralism, whereas Article 12 pledges to conserve secularism. Are the religion-based parties ready to bring about necessary reforms in their outlook, thought process, and political ideologies? Will Hefazat and other such parties adopt liberal democracy? Will they support secularism? Most importantly, will Jamaat-e-Islami seek an apology from the nation for its role during the Liberation War?

Though BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman's recent comment regarding the restoration of the freedom of drawing political cartoons and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman's visit to the Dhakeshwari temple pin some hopes, there are some other pertinent questions that the major political parties need to answer at this moment.

The students as well as people from all walks of life are now dreaming of a reinvigorated Bangladesh where there will be no place for bigotry, discrimination, communal violence, corruption and injustice.

Instead of putting pressure on the interim government for holding elections in no time, the political parties should rather start working on internal reforms, taking into account the aspirations and expectations of the mass people.

It will not be possible to forge a new path riding on nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism if the political parties do not turn over a new leaf and start listening to the roaring voices of those seeking a change.

Md Morshedul Alam Mohabat. Sketch: TBS

Md Morshedul Alam Mohabat is a columnist who likes to delve deeper into the human psyche and social incongruities with a view to exploring the factors that influence these.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.