Imbalance in Political Power: How good is it for AL?

The ruling Awami League enters 2017 with an absolute grip on all elected institutions from the lowest tier of local government system--the Union Parishad-to the highest political institution-- the Jatiya Sangsad.

Since independence, no political party has wielded such powers as the present Awami League.

In the past, there was always a check and balance in the exercise of political power.  Opposition parties, both in the parliament and the local government bodies, were never in such weak position as they are today.   

The process of capturing the elected institutions began in 2014 and ended with the just held elections of the zila parishad five days ago. 

The AL easily won three-fourth seats in Jatiya Sangsad in the parliamentary election on January 5, 2014 held amid a boycott by the BNP-led alliance. One hundred and fifty-three MPs out of the 300 were elected unopposed setting an unprecedented record.

A few months later, the AL men won majority of the upazila parishad chairman posts in the elections marred by violence and various electoral irregularities like capturing polling stations and stuffing ballot boxes

The story of establishing control over city corporations by AL is different.

Held amid a boycott by the BNP supported candidates halfway though the polling day, the AL favourites won all mayoral posts in the three city corporations in Dhaka and Chittagong in April 2015.

Earlier in 2013, the AL men suffered defeat to BNP leaders in free and fair mayor elections in five city corporations of Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Sylhet and Gazipur.

All but the mayor of Barisal city were suspended in 2015 after they were accused in different criminal cases filed by police. After their removal, pro-AL city councilors took over as panel mayors.

In the municipality polls in December 2015, AL men also won a landslide victory by obtaining 198 mayoral posts in the 234 municipalities. There were plenty of reports of unlawful means in the polls like capturing polling stations and stuffing of ballot boxes.

For the ruling party, the just concluded 2016 may be considered as the final step in their monopoly control of powers.

AL now has successfully managed to secure absolute control over the local government institutions by ensuring landslide win of its candidates, however controversial.

In the first three months of the year, the party candidates won more than 85 percent of chairman posts in the union parishads, the lowest tier of the local government system.

The elections were stained by controversies as many of them resorted to violence and electoral irregularities to win. More than 100 people were killed in poll time violence surpassing all previous records.

Over a week ago, the AL won the Narayanganj City Corporation polls in a free, fair and peaceful election. This has been the first fair and peaceful election in the last three years.

But the party men again resorted to unlawful means to win the chairmen posts in zila parishads. 

Though other parties including BNP and Jatiya Party did not contest the polls, some ruling party MPs actively worked for their preferred candidates. In so doing, the lawmakers broke the electoral code of conduct that prohibits them from participating in electioneering. Many chairman and member aspirants allegedly used huge sums of money to bribe voters to ensure their wins.

The process for establishing control over all the local government bodies completed with the zila parishad election. 

Now, the AL is in an unassailable position in both the local and the national level bodies with no strong opposition to question its supremacy.  

Its archrival BNP is still shell-shocked. For its political blunder of boycotting the 2014 general election, the party had no place within the parliamentary politics for the first time in two and a half decades.

Its anti-government agitation was waged with unprecedented violence in 2013 and early 2014 and again in the first three months of 2015. It could neither stop the parliamentary election in 2014 nor "topple" the government in 2015 with its agitations. These failures have made politics a nightmare for the party leaders.

The government used the state machinery to crush the street agitations. Numerous police cases against BNP's rank and file in connection with the street violence have put the grass roots leaders on the run. Many are lying low and staying inactive.

BNP's efforts to reorganise through national council last year was of little use.

The BNP still has to seek government permission to hold any types of rallies including protesting government's activities. For the last one and a half years, activities of the party's senior leaders remain largely confined to only attending some seminars and discussion programmes.  

Inside the parliament, Awami League has been facing little challenge for the last three years, thanks to the unusual character of the main opposition Jatiya Party.

The ruling party MPs are also unable to play effective role in the House and its committees in overseeing government functions.  

The unprecedented supremacy over political powers, as many political analysts predict, may not remain pleasant for AL for long.

In their views, absolute power without effective check and balance may encourage more party men to engage in wrong-doing and corrupt practices as there is an aphorism “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

History says, possession of absolute control over all elected institutions puts the party in power in a vulnerable situation. Such situation has led to the rise of authoritarian rule in many countries. Exercise of political powers without check and balance yields good results for none.

The ruling AL, therefore, is not free from such risks. Past experiences are not inspiring either. The party could not take stern actions against its unruly leaders and activists who engaged in unlawful activities in the past.

Many dissident AL leaders took part in the local government bodies' elections in the last three years defying the high command's decisions. They paid little heed to the party high command's warnings and expulsions. This has exposed the weakness of the party's chain of command. 

There is more to worry for the party. BNP men no longer seem to be major rivals of the leaders and activists of the AL. Members of JP and even the Jamaat-e-Islami men do not pose any threat to the ruling party either. The ruling AL men now fight none but their own party colleagues.

At least 56 AL men were killed and nearly 3,500 injured in 334 incidents of internal clashes from January 2015 to October 2016, according to Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), a leading rights body. The ASK statistics are based on newspaper reports and its own investigation.

Establishing supremacy appears to be the major factor behind internal conflicts at grassroots level of the AL. Making money in unlawful ways like extortion, tender manipulation and influencing the government's development work are the main causes behind their frantic efforts to establish supremacy or retain control over a particular area, shows an analysis of the incidents of clashes.

The above situation indicates, though the party possesses absolute control over political powers, it lacks control over its own unruly leaders and activists. Over time, it might erode away the party's true political power.