Begum Khaleda Zia's visit to China is obviously a good indication of the importance the Beijing authorities attach to relations with Bangladesh. We expect the leader of the opposition to speak for Bangladesh, especially in terms of its foreign relations, when she meets the Chinese leadership. We are, however, quite intrigued that Begum Zia, just before her departure for China, made a demand for the Awami League government to quit office over what she called its manifest failure to govern. She, like everyone else, is entitled to her opinion on how she perceives the performance of the government at this point. But what we cannot quite agree with is Begum Zia's berating the government on an occasion which should have been focused on what she expects out of her visit. What kind of signal is she giving out on the kind of politics she and her party have been pursuing since the general elections of December 2008?
The demand by Begum Zia that the government quit clearly goes against some fundamental principles of democracy. Just in case anyone needs a reminder, this government, like Begum Zia's earlier, was elected to a five-year term and of that tenure three full years remain. Now, the point here is not whether or not the opposition leader and her followers should be asking for a change in the country. It is one of an observance of all those norms which keep democratic pluralism going in a country. Democracy is a whole lot more than charging a government with ineptitude and asking it to quit. In this context, one must ask why the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has failed to play the role it constitutionally should have played as the opposition after the last elections. In these past many months, the BNP has continued to stay away from parliament, thus effectively depriving its supporters of an active representation in the law-making body. The principles of democracy enjoin upon all parties in parliament the responsibility of engaging in healthy academic and political debate over issues of public interest and thereby keeping the nation abreast of developments on the political stage. Unfortunately, the BNP has failed to play this role. By not being in the Jatiyo Sangsad, it has deprived the country of an opportunity for purposeful debate on such issues as the economy, foreign policy, constitutional matters, law and order and a host of other matters. Which leads to the very important question: on what moral ground do Begum Zia and her party ask the government to quit, seeing that they have failed to engage it in debate or have not convinced the country that they are ready to serve as a government-in-waiting? The BNP has been pursuing a misplaced strategy by boycotting parliament, where it should have been, and agitating on the streets, where it was not elected to be. Since BNP has failed to play its constitutional role, should any one ask BNP to quit?
We, like the rest of the nation, still hope that Begum Zia will lead her party back to parliament and impress upon the electorate that they are ready to play an effective role as the opposition.