Our parliament and parliamentarians
IN Bangladesh political process seems to have gone aground. Besides politicians, some people from other walks of life have been deliberating on the issue of electoral reforms to suit to a system of democracy that the country would like to practice. So far little progress appears to have been made. The Election Commission, on the other hand is organising to have dialogues with some of the political parties on certain issues which have not been clearly spelled out. There appears to be a lack of courage of conviction.
The problems that we could experience in the immediate past were that of mistrust, jealousy and intolerance between the political parties. As a manifestation of these we saw the parliament sessions were boycotted for days and months together by the opposition parties on the plea of inequitable allocation of time by the speaker who according to our parliamentary practice belongs to the party in power. Taking advantage of such absence, the government party enjoyed and exercised absolute power. Lord Acton, a historian and a moralist, said 'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely'. As a result corruption pervaded all walks of life. Many of our politicians who were expected to set up examples for others themselves became champions in the art of corrupt practices. An unholy race, for amassing property beyond one's known source of income began in different classes of social constituents. In the wake of these events the people in general suffered economically, quality of development work suffered and the country became ill famed internationally. Some of the country directors of different donor agencies often got opportunity to meddle into the internal affairs of this country. It is regrettable that the country which won its freedom by shedding so much blood has lost its self respect so soon.
There was a suggestion from some quarter of having our "own brand of democracy". Democracy, however, does not preclude the influence of social circumstances and local culture. Not too long ago, Amar Musa, Secretary General, of the Arab League, made an assertion before invasion of Iraq by US that western democracy could not be imported on the wings of F16 and planted on the soil of the Middle East. As the social system in the Middle East was tribal there was an element of substance in that assertion. The instant suggestion was probably made in that sense. It is, however, too early to try any innovation in our country. We have a constitution which advocates adult franchise, and any amendment thereto requires the parliament. Changes to our democratic practice will, however, evolve in due course with the passage of time. Here we may perhaps refer to the constitution of England which is mostly un-written and dependent on traditions and customs, which developed over time.
One group of aspirants, to make the matter more confusing, is talking about formation of a national government. When the nation is preparing to have a general election, to think of a national government at this juncture, is like pouring cold water on whatever little achievement the caretaker government has so far made. One may even frown at the very motive of such a proposal. When the country has already got a constitution, how can an idea of a national government creep in which is rather extra constitutional. The country had already suffered a decade of instability and unfortunate episodes. It has come to face the present crisis due to intransigence of a few political leaders. It is high time they should come to sense and let the people have some respite.
There is no alternative to democracy. Although M. Faguet, a French academician, a well known exponent of democracy himself, said that democracy is a 'cult of incompetence' but it is the only system which provides for a peaceful transfer of power, therefore, preferable.
There is, however, more opportunity for corruption in a democracy in the context of prevalent economic management. Corruption as such has become an international phenomenon. In a democratic government, therefore, the anticorruption machinery has to be efficient, vigilant and active and a constant corollary to the government to keep corruption under control as well as to keep corrupt people under threat. The government has to devise various administrative measures as contrivances to reduce the opportunities of practicing corruption.
Coming back to the question of 'dialogue' between the political parties and the Election Commission, the matter is not understandable to an ordinary citizen. It seems logical that the Commission frames some rules and sets some procedures under the Election Laws as per the provisions of the constitution and declares the election schedule and invites the political parties or individuals to contest in the election. The Election Commission has no obligation to discuss anything with the political parties. Both sides have to adhere to the constitutional provisions, rules and procedures.
Above every thing else a will to have a peaceful election must be there and cordial relations among the candidates and their parties need be reestablished. During long training under the local self government introduced by the British with the India Act of 1935 in this sub-continent the people had shown enough progress in that respect. People even at the Union level had acquired the decency of democratic practices. These tools of democracy can be seen in our neighbouring country and Bengal's traditions then were ahead of others. The present deterioration has possibly taken place because of the fact that people without any political training and background have entered the field of politics and many have taken politics as a profession. In erstwhile Pakistan and subsequently in Bangladesh prolonged Martial Law kept political activists or democratic practice at bay. People seem to have forgotten the art of required democratic spirit to make politics free from intolerance, jealousy and animosity.
If the goal of politics is to go into power to serve the people and not self aggrandizement, it should be possible to acquire the desired virtues. Political activists must be disciplined to follow certain norms. The parliament should be the centre of political activities and street agitation must be reduced and made peaceful. Hartal of the type being practiced now a days must be banned by law. A new type of political leadership will have to grow in achieving this goal. People often talk of new leadership to take over. But it is to be borne in mind that only young leadership won't carry us anywhere. What is required is an admixture of old and new politicians. The old, barring the corrupt ones, will lend sobriety and experience and the young will bring in ideas.
It is however, acceptable to all, that a candidate to be eligible for election as a member of the National Assembly must conform to the provisions of Article 66 of the Constitution. Besides, it is necessary to arrive at a consensus on the following issues:
* Freedom of holding a different personal opinion on any issue by a member than that of his party must be permissible and to that effect Article 67 of the constitution will have to be amended. This is in consonance with the spirit of democracy.
* No member shall be entitled to remain absent for more than fourteen days without prior intimation to the Hon'ble Speaker on reasonable ground for his or her absence such as physical ailments, unavoidable social or family engagements etc. A member of the parliament remaining absent beyond that limit must not be allowed to draw his allowance for that period.
* There should be a reasonable limit of election expenditure and some ceiling on entitlement of telephone charges, energy bills, etc..
* No candidate should be allowed to contest from more than two constituencies, of which one should be his home constituency
* A candidate must be a voter, preferably, of his own constituency. A democratically elected member of the parliament must be acquainted with people and the problems of his constituency to make his representation purposeful.
Every elected M.P. must have an office within his constituency and be available to his constituents to listen to their grievances. The MP should have sanction of a budget enabling him to discharge his responsibility and to redress the usual complaint that they see their MPs only once when they come to seek vote prior to polls.
As we follow the Westminster system of democracy we may look at some of their parliamentary practices as well. Like the United Kingdom Parliament we should have a code of conduct rules for members of the parliament.
In short members of the parliament must be trustworthy, have integrity, and shall base their conduct on a consideration of the public interest. It is hoped that our future parliamentarians will do whatever needful to chart a course for sustaining democracy in turning Bangladesh into a prosperous modern state.