Sheikh Hasina's argument
Panini Ahmed, Boston, USA
In a dinner hosted by Sheikh Hasina in honour of journalists prior to her departure for Dhaka, she made the remark that there should not be any restrictions in Bangladesh for children of politicians becoming politicians as there are no similar restrictions on the children of doctors becoming doctors, those of lawyers becoming lawyers and those of journalists becoming journalists. This parallelism is apparently impeccable but actually downright misleading and grossly erroneous.The whole thing has to do with the process. A doctor's son does not become a doctor by the mere wish or machination of the parents. It involves a competitive educational process of acquiring the required skills, passing the rigorous academic exams and acquiring the certification of the medical board etc. The same is true for a lawyer or other professions a son does not become a lawyer simply because his mom consigned him there. However, such a similar rigorous process does not exist within the two major parties in Bangladesh and for the wards of politicians who want to be politicians. It is often the wish and machination of the parents that does it in Bangladesh, as there is no internal democracy in the parties. Unbeknownst to Sheikh Hasina, in liberal democracies, there is a voting process for selecting the party leadership at all levels. In the US, you don't get the Senate or house nomination simply because your dad or mom who happens to be a big enchilada of the party wished so. You have to contest in primaries with all others aspiring for the party nomination and emerge from it. There is no parachuting, no descent from the heaven! What seems to be lost on Hasinaor for that matter, Khaledais the logic of within-party democracy, the vices of dynastic politics (as opposed to competitive politics) and the dire need for reform.
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