In Bangladesh, elections and the countless promises that accompany them have become nothing short of a public farce. Theoretically, democracy here looks beautiful on paper, at least. But in practice, the reality is starkly different.
For decades, election season has meant a flood of commitments from candidates: Pledges to fix roads, create jobs, end corruption, ensure safety, and change lives overnight. As soon as the ballots are counted and the winners declared, those lofty promises fade like morning mist or perhaps like a pleasant daydream that everyone knows will never come true.
During the campaign period, candidates seem to transform overnight. They sweep streets, visit homes, bow to elders, and hold the hands of ordinary citizens with dramatic humility. The smallest complaint from a voter suddenly becomes their greatest concern. Every candidate seems to carry an instant solution for every problem. They claim that once elected, they will solve everything with a mere wave of the hand.
What after the election… silence. Even for the smallest public issue, the elected representatives become unreachable as rare as the moon on a new-moon night. Promised development projects stall, grievances go unanswered, and instead of solutions, new problems often arise, sometimes even fueled by corruption or extortion.
As another election season approaches, campaign posters go up, processions fill the streets, and promises once again pour in from every direction. But one question continues to haunt the public mind how much of this is truly for the people? If my elected representative does not work for me, if my vote fails to bring change to my life or my community, then what is the true value of that vote?
Until the promises of our politicians align with the lived realities of the people, our elections will continue to be more performance than democracy, a stage where words are plentiful, but truth remains painfully scarce.
(Laboni Akter Kobita, Department of Public Administration
Jagannath University,
Email: [email protected])
