Policy Brief 2003

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Nagorik Forum 2006

Civil society hands over vision paper to BNP, AL

Two top leaders of main rival political alliances expressed similar views on curbing the influence of black money, terrorism and corruption in the election process to strengthen democracy.

On the 9 December 2006, the two leaders -- BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil also agreed with the set of recommendations of the civil society for bringing reforms in the election and politics and stressed the need for reducing the election expenditure.

Speaking at the function of Nagorik Forum, a civil society initiative for accountable development, held at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre, the leaders stressed the need for developing institutions for protecting the democracy and parliament from black money holders and terrorists.

A set of recommendations prepared through 15 dialogues across the country, a vision paper for Bangladesh in 2021 and a draft of ordinance for bringing necessary amendments to the Representative of People Order (RPO) were formally handed over to the two major political parties -- BNP and Awami League.

The civil society recommended bringing massive reforms in the political system, electoral laws, electoral code of conduct and administration.

"If we cannot reduce the election expenditure, no gentleman will come for election contest in future," said Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan.

"The dream of independence will be shattered if we can not free the politics and economy from the grab of massive corruption and terrorism," said Abdul Jalil. He called upon the political parties to be united and fight for freeing the politics from the grip of black money holders and terrorists.

CPD Chairman Rehman Sobhan presided over the Nagorik Forum while CPD executive director Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya conducted the meeting.

Mannan Bhuiyan urged for a consensus among the political parities to accept the election result and not to make the administration politicised after winning the election.

He urged the civil society leaders to take the initiative for a consensus within the parties that no party will boycott parliament or enforce any hartal and blockade, the parliamentary standing committees would be formed within three months and the government will make the tender process transparent and corruption free.

He, however, said he does not expect that the civil society leaders and intellectuals will act as brokers to any particular party.

"We politicians should be more accountable. But have the teachers, engineers, bureaucrats or others no responsibility?" he questioned while addressing Nagorik Forum, organised by Center for Policy Dialogue in collaborate with The Daily Star, the Prothom Alo and Channel i.

Bhuiyan left the programme venue just after his speech to join the four-party rally at the city's Muktangon.

Before that he told the organisers of the Nagorik Forum that he will place the proposals to his party leaders who will endorse the 'acceptable' ones.

Emphasising strengthening the institutions, Mannan Bhuiyan said, "Any reform or activity will not succeed if we do not have enough well-built institutions. For example, the future generation will not be interested to join the bureaucracy if the Public Service Commission is not strong and neutral."

Terming corruption as a 'big disease', he said the Anti Corruption Commission should be made effective and there should be social movement as well.

He also proposed making the Audit Division more effective against corruption.

On Election Commission reform, the BNP secretary general said, "All the demands raised in this regard were against a few persons. But all the commissioners are to be appointed according to the constitution so that the focus should be on the institutions.

Otherwise, everyone will look for particular persons and the movement will continue."

Criticising the tendency to compete in the election after having made some money, Bhuiyan said the gentlemen will not participate in elections if the expenditure cannot be reduced and those who have money will dominate the party.

Appreciating the civil society proposals, Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil said his party will consider the proposals and it will reflect in their election manifesto.

"We are committed to establishing an accountable and capable civil administration, independent judiciary, strong local government system, ensuring free flow of information, empowerment of women and the right of indigenous people and minority community," he said.

"You have finalised the recommendations to strengthen democracy, election and political process. We agree with you as we are fighting for a free and fair election and at least 70 people have sacrificed their lives to meet the demand. But implementation of the package proposals placed by the advisers is still uncertain," he said.

"Now you can understand that how much tough it is to hold a credible election by ensuring right of voting," he said.

He agreed with recommendation to reform the Election Commission and said the crisis could not have been created if the previous government implemented their proposals.

He, however, said the decision on amending the Representative of People Order should be kept for the elected government.

It will not be possible to implement the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) within 2015 due to the 'failure and corruption' of the immediate past BNP-led government, he said, adding that even they failed to generate a single megawatt additional power in last five years.

He said that Awami League will adopt a proper plan for implementing the MDG and ensuring energy security.

"All of our initiatives for development are failing due to corruption. Our dream of independence might fail if we will fail to make the politics and economy corruption free. Awami League will step forward with making the Anti-corruption Commission effective," he said.

Talking on the Vision 2021 proposal, Finance and Planning Adviser Akbar Ali Khan said reform in the political parties is one of the most important changes that are required to realise some of the vision's goals.

"The political parties have to take the steps for their own democratisation," Akbar said, adding that without democratisation they will not be able to take accountable decisions.

It is the political parties, rather than the civil society, have to step up to resolve political problems in Bangladesh, he said.

"I do not believe that the two leaders [Khaleda and Hasina] will threaten that the nation has earned after so much suffering," Akbar said, adding, "If the political parties are not proactive, no success will be achieved merely by formulating more and more laws."

The use of black money in politics is a problem in most places in the world, Akbar said. He cited the definite influence of campaign finance in the United States.

He, however, urged taking steps to better the situation.

Terming democracy an 'imperfect' governance system, Akbar cited 71 countries who have similar problems with the voter list as Bangladesh.

"Even the European Union which criticised us, their Spain, Portugal and Ireland have similar problems with their voter lists," Akbar said.

"We cannot provide any guarantee that there will be problems even if we correct and revise the updated voter list," Akbar said.

In this regard, he stressed the need for Supreme Court orders and guidelines for a permanent voter list.

He also made several proposals including recasting of ballots in case of abnormal casting of votes.

Member of the Nagorik Committee Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud praised Bangladesh's achievement in poverty reduction, as no other country has attempted development with such limited resources, with so many natural disasters and such widespread problems with good governance.

"The Bangladeshi peoples' entrepreneurial spirit, and their reluctance to accept that they will be stuck in the poorer section of society has driven Bangladesh's development," said Mahmud.

Mahmud observed that Bangladeshi sectors that have circumvented the government are the only ones to develop while sectors such as energy have suffered because they have been stuck in bureaucratic bottlenecks.

He predicted that Bangladesh would hopefully become a middle-income country with current trends in poverty reduction.

Nagorik Committee member and Vice-chancellor of Brac University Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury said Bangladesh has to ensure that it becomes a knowledge-based society which will be a prerequisite to survive the 2021 world.

Chowdhury stressed on the need to improve the quality of education and an essential component of it is the integration of the three streams -- Bangla, English and Madrasa -- of education through a core curriculum.

Nagorik Committee member and Dhaka University lecturer Mahmuda Islam, asked for more parliamentary seats for women so that a greater political empowerment for women is visibly brought to the political centre.

She also asked for an increase in the health and education provisions for women so that they can be and continue to be meaningful and successful representatives.

Prof Abdullah Abu Sayeed, head of Biswa Shahitya Kendro and Nagorik Committee member, said the Bangladeshi's lack political experience and the spate of political problems since independence in 1971 is largely to blame.

He said Bangladeshis are experiencing a "democratic dictatorship" that he warned is more dangerous than a "military dictatorship" because it rules under the guise of legality and democracy.

The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam, also the co-organiser of the Nagorik initiative, said the organisers of the committee and the civil society want no other forces but the political parties to be the engine of democracy in Bangladesh.

"Political parties have to shoulder the responsibility for these problems," said Anam, after lamenting Bangladesh's slide into political turmoil 15 years after what he termed "the rebirth of the dream of 1971."

Anam found hope, but was also bewildered, that Bangladesh is the home to both globally renowned success stories, such as Professor Yunus's Grameen Bank, and grim political situations.

CPD Chairman Rehman Sobhan demanded a number of dramatic changes in the current situation if "the caretaker government is to establish sufficient authority to preside over a credible election."

"The conduct of the chief adviser needs to be more transparent, the functioning of the advisory council more democratic, the integrity of the Election Commission must be restored and, above all, the conduct of major political parties has to be less confrontational," Sobhan said.

If these are not implemented, Sobhan warned, "We may end up with confrontations instead of elections or with an election which commands a diminished credibility in the eyes of the electorate as well as the international community."

He said either of these would compromise the legitimacy of future governments and would serve "neither the cause for democracy nor tranquillity in Bangladesh."

Sobhan, also a renowned economist, said the demands for honest candidates who are not associated with "acts of violence or command over a sizeable undeclared wealth" are widespread.

He said it is up to the voters to elect honest candidates when parties offer them, so that political parties are assured of not losing a seat if they nominate an "honest candidate."

Sobhan said Bangladesh's "major organs of governance are approaching meltdowns," as the administration and law enforcement agencies are being compromised by corruption and partisanship, and the judiciary is moving into a phase of partisan warfare.

He did, however, point out "areas of light which punctuate the darkness," by observing positive work of the farmers and remittance earners who have demonstrated their "commitment and professional skill that enhanced our development capacity."

Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman, also co-organiser of the Nagorik Forum, lamented the failure of the democratic process to mature over the last 15 years and the gradual worsening of the controversies surrounding the current caretaker government.

"We have seen, whether it was Awami League or the BNP who were in power, that they try to capture both the state and the state's institutions," said Rahman.

Rahman said for an effective and accountable government there is no alternative to mass awareness and a non-partisan civil society, where the role of an independent media is indispensable. He said, "It is sad but true that numerous attempts to silence and impede independent journalism continues."

The Nagorik Committee recommendations for bringing reforms in the election and politics include mandatory audit of earnings and expenditures of all political parties, bar on becoming chief of a political party for more than three consecutive terms, bar on a single person becoming head of the government and chief of a political party.

It recommended that the professional bodies should not be affiliated with political parties, issue of women empowerment and gender equality should be declared in the election manifestos and the loan defaulters should be barred from participating in the election.

It also recommended that none should be allowed to contest in more than two constituencies, and number of women seats should be increased with the provision of direct election.

The recommendations further include separate voter lists for the three hilly districts in light of the peace treaty, six days of election in six divisions, deduction of allowances for the parliament members for absent days, and making it mandatory that public representatives stay at least 10 days a month in their locality.

The president to be elected through an electoral college, ensuring vote casting by the minority community without fear and cabinet membership based on local quota, electing prime minister from the party with majority seats, speaker from second majority and deputy speaker from the third majority, are also in the recommendations.
 

Copied from The Daily Star website (Sunday, December 10, 2006)

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