Election Manifestos of AL And BNP
What they say, don't say and should say
In its manifesto for the upcoming elections, the Awami League has pledged to strengthen the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), mass media and the judiciary. Additionally, it has claimed that it will expedite the process of institutionalising democracy—which requires strengthening all the aforementioned institutions.
However, these promises could perhaps be surprising to some (and perhaps not to others), given that they significantly contrast its actions over the last 10 years.
For example, if we look at extrajudicial killings as just one aspect of human rights violations by the state: according to the rights group Odhikar, 1,826 people were killed between 2008 and May 2018 by the country's law enforcing agencies while the AL had been in power. According to another rights group's report on November 20, 437 people were victims of extrajudicial killings by law enforcement agencies in the first 10 months of 2018 (The Daily Star). Since this problem has persisted in our country from before 2008, the NHRC had earlier given the government two specific recommendations, both of which it blatantly ignored.
In regard to the functioning of the ACC, we have all seen how the former Basic Bank chairman Abdul Hye Bacchu, among others, scandalously escaped justice despite being found guilty by the Bangladesh Bank's own internal probe for being involved in serious corruption. Why? Because he has close ties with the ruling party, which is why he was preposterously appointed as chairman of the bank in the first place.
Coming to the media, we have to look no further than a statement released by the Editor's Council earlier this year, expressing serious concern about the AL government granting law enforcement agencies absurd levels of power "to enter premises, search offices, bodily search persons, seize computers, computer networks, servers, and everything related to the digital platforms." And this relates to another pledge by the AL, which is to ensure media freedom and free flow of information, both of which have been seriously hit during its last 10 years of governance. This year alone, according to one report by this newspaper in June—which does not give the full story of how badly the media has been repressed—a total of 90 journalists were victims of torture, assault, harassment and threats while performing their duty. Regrettably, the government, in nearly all cases, has failed completely to do as little as launch an investigation, let alone bring the perpetrators to justice.
What is most laughable about this kind of Orwellian "doublespeak" is that, similar to the vaguely termed anti-freedom of information laws that the AL government has passed, its manifesto obscurely says that it will assist journalism and news media that promote "social responsibility". While that may sound unclear at first, if past actions are anything to go by, one can just as easily translate it into: "sycophancy will continue to be rewarded."
Unfortunately, it is precisely behind the veils created by sycophants that corruption tends to get hidden. And while the AL has pledged to battle corruption, what corruption has done to the banking sector over the last 10 years is so bad that it couldn't be hidden even by sycophants.
For example, non-performing loans (NPL) have "officially" increased by more than four times to nearly Tk 1 lakh crore in the past decade. According to many analysts, however, if loans that had been written off and rescheduled were considered, that figure would actually be almost double.
Now, if we look at the BNP's manifesto, we see it making similar pledges such as bringing sweeping reforms to strengthen democracy, to protect freedom of expression and scrap black laws that curb free expression. Ironically, it was the BNP, of course, that had enacted the Information Technology Act in 2006 keeping Section 57—in spite of widespread protests—which has ultimately metastasised into its current form under the Digital Security Act.
Moreover, while the BNP claims that it will stop extrajudicial killings, it seems to have forgotten that such killings had initially taken off while the BNP was in power between 2001 and 2006. And as it had also forgotten to keep its earlier promise to make compulsory for the prime minister, ministers, lawmakers and others to publicly reveal their annual wealth statements, it has now repeated that pledge in its current election manifesto—exactly as the AL did, i.e. forgetting to keep its earlier promise and thus promising it anew.
Interestingly, one new and different inclusion in the BNP's manifesto is the promise to withdraw all cases filed against students during the VAT exemption, quota reform and road safety movements. And this could attract a certain section of young voters who may feel aggrieved by the heavy-handed actions of the government and of law enforcing agencies during those movements. However, whether the BNP would keep this promise, given its poor track record of keeping promises, is a question that would surely also be on their minds.
And here is where the general public should, perhaps, reconsider their own manifestos of placing unwarranted trust in the promises of political parties, and to rethink whether having blind faith in political leaders to keep their words is a good idea or not. As regardless of what the election manifestos of political parties say or don't say, what past experiences should definitely say is that, a democracy—if it means "governance by the people"—doesn't only require for the people to cast their votes every five years. It also requires for them to hold the politicians' feet to the fire when it comes to carrying out the promises based on which they were voted to power, and on their performance of serving the public. After all, isn't that why those who work in the government are called "public servants"?
Furthermore, this may also be a good time for people to re-examine whether it is wise for them to base their decision to vote for those seeking to serve the public on political ideologies/rhetoric, party affiliations, etc. Because, as we should have learned from before, these things tend to change quite easily and frequently for politicians once they are voted to power. That is why, perhaps we should look to see who has the "character" to deliver on their promises, and the courage to take "principled" positions over popular ones, when considering who we should support and vote for.
And having done all that, to remember that when it comes to the question of "Who will govern the governors…There is only one force…that can be depended upon to keep the government pure and the governors honest, and that is the people themselves…[who] alone, if well informed, are capable of preventing the corruption of power, and of restoring the nation to its rightful course if it should go astray", as Thomas Jefferson had said. Keeping in mind also that it is precisely when people fail or refuse to do so that "the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon."
Eresh Omar Jamal is a member of the editorial team at The Daily Star. His Twitter handle is: @EreshOmarJamal