Abdul Mannan

The 12th parliament election is just about twenty four hours away. This is one election that will go down in the Bangladesh’s election history as a milestone for many different reasons.

No election in the recent times anywhere in the world has  attracted so much of attention from the foreign powers, including US, Russia and China and the international media as the would be Bangladesh’s election has done. Based on the perceptions of these countries and the media many different narratives have been published in the international media and made by the official spokespersons of these countries. Everyone viewed the ensuing election from their own perspective and interest. Some of these narratives are not only based on misinformation, half-truth, false and fabricated information but also seems to be misplaced having some hidden agenda.

On 1 January 2024 Ambarasan Ethirajan, an ex-BBCV Bangladesh, Sri Lanka Correspondent published one such commentary on the web page of BBC of London titled ‘Bangladesh:

The election that has turned into a one-woman show’. Ethirajan’s ‘one woman’ is Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. No doubt Sheikh Hasina is a woman but in the recent times based on her performance and quality of leadership she has transformed herself from a Prime Minister of Bangladesh to an acclaimed statesman who has been hailed by many international bodies and persons.

Sheikh Hasina’s meteoric rise from a simple housewife to an internationally acclaimed statesman is to some extent replication of her illustrious father, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who spearheaded the independence of Bangladesh. The events leading to the Liberation War of Bangladesh in the sixties and seventies were also virtually a one man show, the show of Mujib. It may be seen as history repeating itself.

Currently Sheikh Hasina may be seen as a person who is struggling to save a secular, democratic and militancy-free Bangladesh. After the assassination of Sheikh Mujib the country plunged into an era of darkness where subsequent rulers from the first military ruler Zia to his wife Begum Zia’s rule the country turned into a cocoon of militancy; a safe route of illegal trafficking of arms to the Indian insurgents in the North East India.

  The international media hardly mentions these facts when they publish narratives on Bangladesh crying that ‘democracy is taking a backward slide’ in Bangladesh. In no country democracy is foolproof, not even US, the country which erroneously believes they are the guardian angles of democracy and human rights. It is the same country which has the enviable record of changing democratically elected governments in other countries and assassination of political leaders for its self-interest – Iran, Indonesia, Chile, Venezuela, Pakistan, Guatemala and many more examples on record.

Dr. Leslie Vinjamuri, Director, US and the American Programme; Dean, Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs, London, writing for the Chatham House on 1 December 2023 comments ‘democracy’s demise (in US) may be one death by a  thousand cuts. But the four years of Trump’s presidency saw blatant attack on democratic norms become a regular feature of political life’.

As early as 2017, shortly after Trump was inaugurated, the Economist Intelligence Unit downgraded America’s rank from a ‘full’ democracy to a ‘flawed’ one. Such narratives abound. The recent of US’s endorsement of Israeli genocide in Gaza strip of Palestine speaks for itself where US stands on the issue of democracy and human rights.

However, Ethirajan also praises the changing face of Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina’s leadership. He writes ‘Bangladesh under Ms Hasina presents a contrasting picture. The Muslim-majority nation, once one of the world’s poorest, has achieved credible economic success under her leadership since 2009. It is now one of the fastest growing economies in the region, even surpassing its giant neighbour India.

Its per capita income has tripled in the last decade and the World Bank estimates that more than 26 million people have been lifted out of poverty in the last 20 years.’ The current focus on Bangladesh by US and its western allies seems to be the potential emergence of Bangladesh as a regional economic power house. The London based Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) recently predicted that Bangladesh is set to become the 20th largest economy in the world by 2038 and StanChart economists predicts that the country will be a US$ 500 billion by 2026. Bangladesh is expected to be the 9th largest consuming country by 2030. Whether it is US or its allies their foreign policy always rests on their corporate and economic interests.

The current impasse vis-à-vis the 12th parliament election germinated in 2011 when the 13th amendment, the election time ‘Care Taker Government’ to the Constitution was declared ultra-vires of the Constitution by the Apex court of country which was subsequently incorporated in the constitution by the 15th amendment. BNP and its allies would not take it and wanted the system to be reverted to the annulled system which was not possible. Not only BNP but a number of rag-tag parties also joined BNP’s bandwagon not only to boycott the coming election but also to disrupt it through violent means. The Election Commission and the government have taken it as a challenge to prove to the world that a free and fair election is possible under a party in power.

For the first time election observers and journalists from 90 countries are expected to oversee the 12th parliamentary election besides election observer teams from EU, OIC, African Electoral Alliance, NDI and IRI of US. To pressurise the government to hold the election under the scraped election system, BNP and its allies tried to impose programmes like ‘hartal’ ‘blockade’ and ‘non-co-operation’ movement which did not seem to have worked. They have also announced ‘hartal’ on Saturday and on the day of election which may not yield much of a result. It is up to the government now to ensure not only to ensure a free, peaceful and fair election but also ensure the safety of the voters and the officials involved conducting the election. Let us hope for the best under the prevailing circumstances.
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The writer is an analyst and a commentator