Fair elections under political govt not possible in Bangladesh
Md. Abdullah Al Zobair :
As the Bangladesh Election Commission gears up for the 12th parliamentary elections on January 7 without the major opposition party BNP in the fray, it will not be fair and acceptable.
From independence to the fall of the Ershad regime, no fair elections were held, and attempts to change the regime through elections consistently failed, whether it was under an elected, military-backed, or autocratic government.
Against this backdrop, opposition political forces reached a national consensus in 1990 to arrange fair elections under a non-party caretaker government, employing unconstitutional means to safeguard the Constitution.
The 1991 general elections, conducted under such an arrangement, set a unique example of organizing free, fair, credible, participatory, and inclusive elections in the country.
Credible elections, where people’s will is expressed in an environment free of intimidation, violence, and coercion, are essential. Electoral processes ideally give voice to citizens, allowing each individual in the political community to ‘speak’ on polling day as political equals when casting their votes.
The success of an election largely depends on the independence, capacity, and impartiality of the election management body.
However, political circumstances on the ground and the influence of executive power in transitional democratic countries like Bangladesh present obstacles that hinder the Election Commission’s authority to ensure fair and free elections. Since independence, Bangladesh has seen 11 national elections under various regimes.
Until 1991, these elections failed to bring about regime changes, and the ruling party, regardless of its nature, often secured victories in elections criticized by scholars as flawed, unfair, rigged, and incredible.
In the aftermath of autocratic Ershad’s downfall in 1991, a national consensus between rival political parties led to the formation of a caretaker government (CTG) during polls. The fifth to tenth elections were held under this system, without major flaws.
History of fair elections
Following a four-point modus operandi between two rival political forces in 1990, Ershad handed over power to the then Chief Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, who later became Acting President and led an ad hoc non-party caretaker government.
This government took measures to restore people’s confidence in the electoral process, and the fifth election saw the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) winning the majority and forming the government.
In 1994, alleged maneuvering in the Magura by-election by the BNP government prompted the Awami League (AL) and Jamaat-e-Islami to demand a non-party caretaker government as a transitional arrangement.
The sixth parliamentary elections in February 1996, arranged by BNP, claimed a majority but were flawed, non-participatory, and considered illegitimate.
The 13th Constitutional amendment authorized future parliamentary elections under a CTG, and the government resigned to the CTG.
The 1996 general elections, held under the CTG led by Justice Habibur Rahman, were competitive, free, fair, and credible. The AL won, and power was smoothly transferred.
The eighth parliamentary election in October 2001, also held under a CTG led by Justice Latifur Rahman, saw a reversal of fortune for AL. The BNP-led alliance won, and the election was acknowledged as free and credible.
After the expiration of the BNP-led government’s five-year tenure, President Iajuddin Ahmed took over as the CTG’s chief. On January 11, 2007, armed forces forced the President to declare an emergency, and former Bangladesh Bank governor Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed took over as Chief Advisor.
The CTG-turned-interim government conducted elections on December 29, 2008, in which the AL-led alliance won, and the electoral process was praised as competitive, participatory, free, fair, and credible.
Suspension of the established voting system by the court
In 2011, following a partial verdict of the Supreme Court, the AL-majority parliament abolished the CTG system by amending the Constitution, triggering political uncertainty about the election-time government.
The 10th election held under a political government in 2014 was non-participatory and highly rigged, with 153 candidates winning uncontested seats for the first time. The election, marked by violence, failed to transform society towards inclusivity and peace.
The 11th JS elections in 2018, held amid a crackdown on the opposition and media suspension, involved alleged maneuvering by bureaucrats, law enforcement agencies, and armed forces. The elections were criticized as flawed, coercive, and unfair, leading to a breakdown of people’s trust in the electoral system.
Until 1991 and after 2011, none of the elections were free and fair despite the EC being constitutionally independent. It is proven that despite the EC in management, fair elections without a CTG are not practical in Bangladesh.
In the context of the last two polls, people have chanted the decade-old slogan ‘right to vote and right to choose,’ highlighting the systematic neglect of their voting rights. Most democratic institutions are not functioning properly, and freedom, rights, inclusivity, and peace are diminishing.
The country, which became independent through a nine-month-long struggle for establishing democracy, has veered off course, ironically led by the party that initiated the struggle.
Until a similar pattern to the discarded CTG is established, there is no hope of arranging fair elections, as no one wishes to lose the battle of power, where winners take all.
(The writer is a governance and election researcher, currently serving as the Executive Director of the Initiative for Policy and Development. He can be reached at [email protected].)
