Time for introspection, not rejection

Accept the people's verdict. Photo: Munir Uz Zaman/ Afp

BEGUM Zia's rejection of the poll results has proved once again that our political culture has not changed at all. We had hoped that the losing party, whoever that might be, would concede defeat gracefully, and pledge to work with the treasury to give democracy in Bangladesh a chance. With democracy in limbo for the last 2 years it was the least we could hope from the major political parties. That, unfortunately, is not to be.
There was, however, a nagging feeling in the hearts of many, after the drubbing BNP received from the electorates, that it would find excuses to dismiss the result, but they were also hoping at the same time that the party would be astute enough to accept the reality. It has chosen to do otherwise, and by so doing has insulted the verdict of the voters whose participation has not only been spontaneous, they, perhaps after many years, had the chance to cast their vote without fear or intimidation. This was reflected in the turnout, particularly of the women voters.
It was very interesting to hear the BNP, particularly its chairperson in the run-up to the election, regarding the general conduct of the election and the condition under which the party would accept the result of the vote. "We will accept the verdict if the polls are held freely, and we will win the election if it is transparent and impartial," so she had said.
It meant that the BNP would accept the result only if it won at the polls. What a convoluted logic! This, many thought was preparing for the inevitable outcome of the election, an inevitability that even the least perspicuous of her top leadership would not have failed to notice.
As for the allegations, other than some general and rather vague accusation of irregularities, the reasons for rejecting the decision of the majority of the electorates appear as unconvincing as the demeanour of the BNP chairperson herself while giving out her party's reaction to the press on the outcome of the election late in the night on December 30. We are, however, still eagerly waiting for the details and substantive proof of the allegations, of which she claims there are plenty, and which she has promised her party would make public.
The foreign observers have given a clean chit to the way the election was conducted, though I care very little about foreigners' certificate validating our actions at various times, this time particularly, when one had the chance to visit several polling stations as well as being able to see the visuals carried by the electronic media.
We have seen no report of any irregularity which might have affected the final outcome from any of the local or foreign media, or from the nearly two lakh foreign and local poll observers.
Do the accusations carry any weight at all? The election, it is alleged, has been stage-managed, a blueprint election, not transparent, and farcical, where the result was predetermined and therefore not acceptable to the people.
One knows of no mechanism where the state machinery could stage-mange the vote of nearly eighty percent of the registered voters who turned up at the polling centers. There was, as far as one can recall, one instance of false voting. And from what one has seen firsthand, the voters had lined up well before the scheduled start and the voting continued well after the scheduled close.
There was no lull in between. Thus, the BNP allegations would find no credibility at all, at least with those that had gone to the polling centres and voted on December 29, i.e. nearly sixty five million voters.
Did the BNP really believe that the people would vote for a party that had teamed up with war criminals? That the people would repose their confidence once again in a party whose record of bad governance and corruption has become legendary? That the people were willing to entrust their safety in the hands of a coalition, which is alleged to have been responsible for the rise of extremism and terrorism in Bangladesh?
The verdict was a total rejection of the corrupt, and of obscurantism and extremism. It was an affirmation of support for a tolerant, egalitarian, democratic and secular Bangladesh. It has belied most forcefully the contentions of those that have been trying to paint Bangladesh as a failed state and those that saw it going the way of Afghanistan.
If one were to believe that the voice of the people is the voice of God then the BNP, instead of rejecting the verdict, should spend a little time in looking at the mirror and do soul-searching. One wonders whether it ever realises that in Bangladesh the opposition doesn't win the election, it is the ruling party that loses it. And no party is worth the name if it cannot comprehend why the people have rejected it.

The author is Editor Defence & Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.