For nearly two decades, the leadership positions in the two main political parties — the Awami League and the BNP— have been above scrutiny, even by the party rank and file. There have been some 'council sessions’, held at extraordinary intervals. The partie s have gone, through some exercise called 'elections’. But all these exercises have always been exposed to be the farce they indeed were.

FIRST, the bad news. The Wills International Cup is over and the cricket fever, which swept through the city in its wake, has subsided. Now something worse. With the passing of the cricket fever, the political temperature appears to be going up again. Whether the current round of agitation and counter-agitation is a temporary bout of 'flu' or the onset of a more protracted form of ailment, remains to be seen. The only certainty is that the leaders of both the camps are most unlikely to feel the pulse of the nation, virtually ensuring wrong diagnosis and treatment.

For the patient, getting a second opinion would be next to impossible, since the leaders prefer to turn a deaf ear to anything other than the echo of their own voice. In parliament, both the major parties extol the virtues of democracy. Out in the streets. I hey repeat the text, but spice it with blood-curdling invectives for extra effect. In both settings, they are only too happy to give "fitting replies", but not to listen in a befitting manner.

This inability to listen to dissenting views, or the unwillingness to accept the possibility that they might. Just, be wrong for once, is a disease in itself And this disease has weakened the body-politic so much that it is periodically exposed to severe infections, leading to high fever, epileptic fits, internal hemorrhage. At that point, the parties have little choice but to prescribe surgical treatment, leaving the patient - that is the public - to foot a massive bill in terms of lost economic opportunities. social peace and political cohesion.

The two major surgeries conducted in 1991 and 1996 did produce positive results, promising long-term stability. But no sooner had the patient checked out of the convalescence home and got ready for work, did the viral and bacterial attacks begin anew. The Eolitical environment seems to ave been polluted so much that outbreaks of epidemics have become almost routine affair. The poor patient is once again in danger of being haulecTto the

operating theatre, even though he is sure there is still time lor him to recover through little bit of prevention and mild but careful antibiotic treatment.

In this strange setting of the Bangladesh democracy, dialogue has degenerated into monologues and discourse has gone decidedly off-course. The disease is contagious, so much so that even seminar speakers take their roles literally, preferring only to speak.

It would have been comforting to suggest that the disease has resulted from a birth defect, which could be traced to the revolution of 1971, or a neurological disorder caused by the trauma of 1975. But such scapegoatism is no longer tenable. Instead, the current disease shows all the symptoms of an extraordinary cardio-vascular disorder, caused by too much puffing on the power-pipe.

This disease should have been an aberration in the body-politic. fit only for treatment usually meted out to gall bladder stones. Unfortunately, it has infected the very heart of the body, polluting the lifeblood that is supposed to keep it alive and healthy. Since political parties form the heart of any political system, the degeneration of these parties into power-addicted semi-feudal entities has ensured that the disease would spread to all parts of the anatomy, from the brain to the toes.

There are no shortages of proverbs to illustrate the state of the parties themselves. The Chinese say 'a fish rots from the head', the Vietnamese say a house leaks from the roof. In the case of the Bangladeshi political parties, all the huffing and puffing has made the smoke cloud the head, and the house is certainly leaking from the roof. Take the party leadership issue, for instance.

Election to the top post in a major political party should, under normal democratic cir-

cumstances. raises a great deal of public interest. Elven when the incumbent's position in the party is unassailable, there should still be some signs of debate regarding alternatives. This is Just one of many ways to ensure the emergence of new leaders and new ideas, through free and open debate. This is vital for the body-politic as a whole, because this helps pump fresh blood into the system and prevents formation of clots.

That is the theory . Unfortunately. this particular theory seems to take a backseat where leadership contests in Bangladesh political parties are concerned. The. recent, uncontested re-election of Khaleda

Zia to the top post in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) generated little public interest because it was a foregone conclusion. And because it is always a foregone conclusion, the leadership issue fails to generate any debate within the party itself.

For nearly two decades, the leadership positions in the two main political parties — the Awami League and the BNP — have been above scrutiny, even by the party rank and file. There have been some 'council sessions’, held at extraordinary intervals. The parties have gone through some exercise called elections'. But all these exercises have always been exposed to be the farce they indeed were.

Not only the posts of President or Chairperson, but also , other important posts in the AL and BNP are regularly - or irregularly - filled without even the figleaf of an electoral farce.

In the case of the BNP, the party constitution empowers the Chairperson with absolute authority to pick and choose the entire national committee. If this sounds odd. then the scenario in the AL gets weirder still. The delegates at the council empower' the president with 'full authority' to select people to fill such posts. This remained the case even when both these parties agitated themselves - and the nation as a whole - into the ground for democracy and the people's right to choose their own lead-

All these sound rather comical. and would have been treated as a Joke, had it not been

for the simple fact that these are the same parties which have ruled Bangladesh this decade, and look likely to do so for the foreseeable future.

It is perhaps clear that the body-politic is likely to remain sick, until the heart itself undergoes a by-pass operation. Reform of the way political parties are run can. perhaps, change the way their leaders think. This is not only a matter of ensuring regular council sessions - as stipulated in their respective constitutions - but also making the internal electoral process a less farcical affair. This should also involve amendment to party constitutions to strip the chairperson of arbitrary powers, so that the leadership is accountable to party rank-and-file.

Here, the Election Commission could have a role to play, by drawing up guidelines to ensure meaningful internal

democracy in parties which wish to contest parliamentary or local government polls. For this purpose, the EC in Bangladesh may take a leaf out of its Indian counterpart's book.

Prior to the Feb-Mar 1998 gmeral elections in India, the lection Commission forced the ultra-right Shiv Sena to hold its first-ever leadership polls. The EC made the SS hold the elections a second time, when the party tried to get smart by electing Bal Tha-cakray 'president for life'. Suddenly. the possibility that the once-omnipotent Thacakray could be challenged for the Sena leadership every five years has become real. And Thackaray may even begin to feel the pinch of something he had never known in his long and un-illus-trious political career - accountability.

Internal reform also needs to address the question of the parties' accountability to society at large, at all times and not just during general elections Laws whicn bar people with convictions on criminal charges, financial fraud, loan default etc., from contesting parliamentary polls should be voluntarily incorporated into party constitutions. People who are dimmed unfit for parliament should also be seen as unfit for party membership.

More importantly perhaps, laws need to be enacted to make party finances transparent. There Is a strong feeling in society that political parties have become hostages in the hands of criminals and fraudsters, by taking donations from these el* ements who have to be “repaid" in various kinds later on. Financial Iransparency would be one way to end this particular hostage drama. It should not be a crime for anyone - whether a business tycoon or rickshawpuller — to donate money to political parties, but everyone should know who is financing

whom.

Some reforms also need to take place where the parties meet parliament, because the relation between the parliamentary party (PP) and party central committees remains a gray area. (Those parties which do not make it to parliament are of little consequence, although in recent times these non entities have come to represent the "numbers" in various "alliances' i.e. Seven-party. Eight-party etc).

Even in mature democracies, this remains the subject of a tug-of-war. For instance, in the 1980s the British Labour Party rank-and-file had to wage a bitter struggle to wrest some control from the PP over leadership and policy issues. In India. the party mechanism outside the Lok Sabha exerts a strong influence over the conduct of the PP. even though different people usually hold the party presidency and PP leadership.

In Bangladesh, party presidents do not relinquish their posts once they become leaders of I heir respective PPs. and the party central committee remains the principal decisionmaking body. Naturally, the PP has to make Itself accountable to the party, as much as individual parliament members have to answer to their constituents. But there is a need to clearly demarcate between the Sarty inside and outside the ouse. with critical decisionmaking powers resting with the PPs. Ideally, party central committees should keep themselves busy with organisational activities, stimulating debate through advocacy and generating policy options for the PPs.

All these are certainly easier said than done, given the high circulation of bad blood in the system, and existence of "leaders' whose only chance to. exercise "power" may be through extra-parliamentary means. But it is in the interest of the parties themselves to keep the blood circulation good. This would reduce the chances of a cardiac arrest, and the patient would be spared the possibility of another harrowing time on the operating table.