Critical points raised by House of Commons

The briefing paper presented in the UK House of Commons Library by a senior research analyst recently had a lot to say about the "level playing field" that our Election Commission (EC) keeps touting. Given the way we have treated reports published abroad in the past, the ruling party will surely claim it is a conspiracy, while the party in opposition will hail it as the truth. Our position is that it has a lot of merit.

What we gather from the "research briefing" is that the harassment of political opponents is ongoing in Bangladesh. While the ruling alliance is free to break EC rules, the opposition is finding more and more of its electoral candidates in jail, with cases against some, not to talk about ordinary party activists. There is a massive dearth of trust between the government and the opposition parties about whether the December 30 polls will be free, fair and inclusive.

That questions have been raised about the jail term of former PM and leader of the biggest opposition party Khaleda Zia being extended to 10 years from five as being a ploy to keep her from participating in the election is not going to find favour with the ruling party. The brief goes on to raise alarm about human rights violations in the country, with emphasis on the misuse of criminal charges, unlawful killings and the culture of enforced disappearances. Even more alarming is that the threat of jihadist terrorism is apparently far from being extinguished.

This paper has repeatedly highlighted the dangers of the vacuum created by an opposition-less political arena and how that space is increasingly being filled up by fringe parties espousing religious extremism. It would be wise to take heed of this very real threat and strive towards an inclusive election so that politics in our country remains within the grasp of legitimate parties who answer to the people. At the risk of repetition, we say that in making the election credible and participatory, the ruling party's role and responsibility are far greater than others', save perhaps only that of the EC.

Update/Correction: A previous version of this editorial stated that the paper was based on a House of Commons report. It has been corrected