A presidential vow for the ruling party

President Zillur Rahman. Photo: Sm Gorki/ Drik Net

WITH assuming of office by the new president, we have completed full cycle of democratic transition that started with last year's elections. We, the Bangladeshis, have renewed our faith in democracy in spite of disappointments that have haunted us for more than one and half decade. The office of the presidency has been repeatedly belittled by partisan and reckless politics of successive ruling parties. Since AL has come to power with promise of change, for a change, let's propose the following presidential vow for the ruling party.

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We, the party in power, acknowledge with gratitude the massive mandate the people of Bangladesh have given in our favour on December 29, 2008. We have promised to bring in positive changes in the political culture of Bangladesh so that events like 1/11 never recur. One of the key factors resulting in 1/11 was the partisan and irresponsible role played by the then president who appeared to be hostage to the wishes of the immediate past ruling party who elected him. Had the then president and shadows behind him had their way, we would not be where we are today. We vow not to do to them what they tried to do to us.
The office of the presidency is more of prestige than of power. The prestige is that of the nation, as the president is the head of state. We pledge to uphold the dignity of this office and not to drag the president into partisan issues. We would support presidential acts that are meant for the overall well being of Bangladesh and not any particular party or group. The new president led our party with wisdom during one of our most difficult times and managed to keep the party united. Because of his leadership during crisis, we could be successful in elections that followed when our prime minister returned and led the campaign. We understand that he is no longer a party man and he is the president of a country and not of a party. No matter how much heart of the president is with us, his mind has to be just and fair so that everybody receives equitable treatment from his office. We promise not to create any obstruction in letting him discharge his duties responsibly and honestly. We will put country first and party second when it comes to our expectations from the office of the presidency.
We will not belittle either our party or the nation in front of the international community by bickering over trivial partisan issues like whose grave the president should or should not visit, whose name the president should or should not mention in his speeches, whose contribution he should or should not recognise. Most importantly, we will not judge presidential performance by standards of how well he has served party interests above national interests. Last time we earned praise when we elected a respectable man of integrity to the presidency. This was a man who played an important role in our transition to a parliamentary democracy and his nonpartisan words of wisdom during his presidency received due attention from the nation. We were credited for being able to rise above party interests and electing a revered man to this prestigious office.
We recognise that our newly elected president will play an important role during the next elections. We suffered most when the immediate past president was discharging his duties under partisan influence. We remained anxious whether there would be free and fair elections under such an environment. We went through the pain of struggling between limited options whereby elections were inevitable and so was the distorted outcome had elections been held under such partisan administration. We vow not to inflict the same injustice to others that was meted upon us. We also have seen that such manipulative schemes do not work and one can end up in a messy situation like 1/11. Being the oldest political party of the country, which played a vital role in the independence of Bangladesh, we promise to respect people power over party ambitions. Hence, when time comes, we will encourage and support the president in his endeavors to hold the next parliamentary elections in a free and fair manner. We will try to win the next elections by our performance and not manipulation in the next five years.
The president has sacrificed utmost for our party, including losing his most loved one who gave her life for our party's cause. The last thing he deserves is for us to become a source of embarrassment and discomfort in his efforts to act as a president respected by all Bangladeshis. We will leave him alone when he needs to be left alone just as he has been coping with emptiness of his life alone. He deserves this space which we promise to provide so that he can act guided by conscious and free from undue influence. May God help us all.

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Oops, was I daydreaming in expecting that such a vow could ever be made by a ruling party in Bangladesh? Last time when there were elections with an AL-elected president in power, AL could not accept defeat gracefully. Verbal attack launched by AL party stalwarts towards this well respected and unassuming man was so acrimonious that he retired from public life in disgust and hurt.
In a country where there are few who can match his integrity and honesty, the nation lost access to the wisdom of a man who could have continued to be a voice of sanity in an insanely partisan culture. We sincerely hope that this time AL has really changed and will not put the new president through the unfortunate ordeal that the respected former chief justice ultimately faced after becoming president at AL's request. When anybody talks about change, people judge them by acts and not mere words. Let's hope this time that change is for real and not only wishful thinking.

The author is a Professor at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka.