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Money, Muscle and the Electoral Process

Mahmud Farooque writes from Virginia, USA
***Given that ours is a tree that is rotting at the top, the organic outgrowth in our case has to emerge from the very bottom. It is not simply a matter of providing education because a 99 per cent literate Russia is facing political problems far more severe than ours. It is also not a matter of simply aspiring for democratic representation because the present power structure will quash any efforts to undermine it. It thus involves a long drawn out process of raising a new generation that takes democratic principles to heart and equipping them with the power of grassroots level civic institutions.***
ANGLADESHI Americans are getting two contrasting views about the current state of affairs in Bangladesh politics. The version coming out of Washington and New York appears to be congratulatory in nature. Few weeks before Bill Clinton's maiden voyage to Bangladesh, the White House and the State Department jointly convened a briefing meeting for the representatives of Bangladeshi American organizations. Assistant Secretary of State Inderfurth and Special Presidential Assistant Bruce Riedel were uianimous in their assertions - a predominantly Muslim Bangladesh ought to be commended for its accomplishments in Democracy. UNDP's recently released Human Development Report 2000 was also appreciative of Bangladesh's accomplishments in the democratic front. It heralded her for the innovation of the caretaker government, a mechanism that "prevents military’s control over the electoral pbilflcsT" ’ |
Given the appreciative po!s-tufe of Western Governments and International Agencies, it is thus not a surprise that the current Prime Minister's collection of international honours and awards has earned her a permanent place In Bangladesh's history as perhaps the most decorated political leader of all times. The leader of the opposition also does not have much to complain about. Her party's boycott of the parliament and failure to organize a single successful issue driven movement in four years haven't hurt Bangladesh’s standing as an exemplary democracy In the eyes of the western world.
So what's there to complain about? More importantly, who is there to complain?
It is certainly not the party in power. Strangely enough, it is not the party in opposition either. As much as they would complain against the undemocratic practices of the ruling party, the opposition is yet to risk any political capital in asking for changes in the electoral system. They would launch a nation wide move-man removal of
the election commissioner but would remain remarkably silent about making the commissioner truly independent with power and authority to bring fundamental changes to the electoral process. The current system is the one that very much keeps the opposition in the game even when they are not in power. Changing it could put them out of politics, or more appropriately the business politics has become in Bangladesh.
In a nutshell, the last sentence summarizes what the Bangladeshi Americans heard when they wept to listen Workers Party General Secretary Flashed Khan Menon speak in an Association for Economic Development Studies on Bangladesh (AEDSB) seminar held at the World Bank on July 6. 2000.
Menon's portrayal of Bangladesh Politics was in sharp contrast with the earlier accounts expressed above. He contends that unhappiness looms large among those who are now being forced into the outer edges of the political game in Bangladesh. The Workers' Party General Secretary had to really struggle to find glimmers of hope in the quagmire of Bangladesh politics. The few that ne found were basically out of the mainstream and more of potential than actual developments, leading some to question whether or not the congratulatory gestures from the western governments and international agencies are fair or a bit premature.
The Caretaker Government
Question thus arises, why does the minority view of Bangladeshi Politics appears so much in contrast with the majority opinion? Why does vet-
erans in the likes of Rashed Khan have to struggle to cite something positive about the developments in Bangladesh politics? Is this a question of simply sour grapes or is there really something fundamental that warrants attention?
To get some insights into the problems, why not take a closer look at the darling of UNDP report card, the caretaker government. something It identifies as an "important advance In a new democracy." Objectively speaking, and notwithstanding the high accolades of the- UNDP refxxt,-the caretaker government could be termed as a negative in^tUutioqal inno-i vation because Of’seVeral fundamental reasons:
• The basic premise is that political party when in position of power cannot be trusted to place the national interest ahead of its individual interest;
• Instead of trying to overcome the lack of trust between the political parties through political means, by entering the notion of an interim regime into the constitution, it institutionalizes mistrust almost permanently:
• The measure provides central importance on the relationship between the two dominant political parties instead of between the people and the political parties:
• National elections become the only focus of the political process allowing the party in power to be autocratic and the party in opposition to be complacent in their actions in between elections:
• Critical measures to curtail the unfair political advantage of the party in power during its scheduled tenure, such as administrative reform and relinquishing control of state owned media, are made into
non-issues;
• In a country where the international donor funded Non-Governmental sector acts as a substitute to both government and market institutions, the interim administration is yet another form of relinquishing public accountability;
• Once the formula for the caretaker government is known in advance, in four and half years in which an elected party stays in power, the system can be manipulated to the extent where the neutrality of the interim administration could be - very easily-compromised.
Rashed Khan Menon, when presented-with similar argu-mehts, pointed out that he personally did not agree that the provision of interim regime be entered into the constitution. He provided the legislative history behind the idea of an interim government as it was originally conceived after the fall of the Ershad administration. The proposal at that point was that since democratic institutions will need time to form and authenticate themselves, it was necessary that the next three national elections be held under interim governments so as to establish fairness for all the participating political parties.
Menon agreed that the expectation of neutrality from the caretaker government was no longer a working assumption. Giving up on that idea, ne argued for the need of an independent election commission with powers and funds to bring true electoral reforms. Citing the case of Tongi Pourashava Elections. he pointed to the possibility of how a strong election commission could place a spending cap and force the contesting parties to play by the same rules.
Political Workers versus Others
It is indeed unfortunate that this veteran of Bangladeshi politics will give up on an idea for which he himself joined the opposition's walkout of the parliament seven years ago. But why does he feel that appointment of a neutral election commission is not enough and that it needs to be given the power and authority to bring electoral reforms? Why is it important for the election commission to put spending -caps to-ensu re fairness? - - j
It would-appear that topping JAenoh’s list oPconctrn' is the issue of lateral entry Into the power structure of the two major political parties by people who did everything but politics in their earlier lives; wealthy civil servants, military personnel, businessmen and influential members of crime syndicates. According to Menon, these entrants were undermining and to some extent replacing the political workers who steadfastly have been working their way up through the political hierarchy all their lives.
It is possible to understand Menon's concern by recognizing a subtle but important distinction between choosing a profession and choosing a career. In general, professionalism is associated with specialized knowledge acquired through lifetime of work and commitment to a cause larger than one's own self interest Career does not call for such attributes. In fact, it is often driven by opportunities of personal gains at the expense of everything else.
There are many that chose politics as a profession. They are not the ones who "entered politics" having done something else all their life; politics Is their life. One may not agree with the particular ideological stand they take, but one can seldom fault them for abandoning the high Ideals they set for themselves for quick personal gains. Many of them actually have long prison sentences in their records as proof of their convictions.
Politicians fitting such descriptions are becoming an endangered species of Bangladeshi politics. They are becoming extinct by the lateral entries into politics bv people of other profession, for whom money and not ideology is the governing motivation.
Infusion of people of different background usually provides value addition to a given professional activity Politics can benefit from the administrative skills of an ex-bureaucrat. the leadership and discipline of an ex-military and the entrepreneurship of a businessman. However, they can never replace the role and function of a dedicated political worker.
Rashed Khan believed that this is precisely what has been happening to Bangladeshi politics. People who spent a lifetime rising through the party ranks are now being outstripped and out maneuvered by tlx- Im.uh lai prowess of non-p- !m> i.his must ling their wav uno the political hierarchy. So instead of adding value to the process, they are taking away essential ingredients of the process. Most Importantly, they are converting politics into another big business.
Politics as a Business
When politics is accepted as a business proposition, it immediately establishes high corruption as an accepted behavioral norm. Why else would anyone spend one crore Taka for a single constituency in Chittagong or one and half
times that in Dhaka If he or she did not expect to double or triple the investment upon winning? But there could be only one winner in a given political contest. This means that the loser has to make up for the loss tn the consequent elections. So cost of doing elections continue to spiral upwards through each Iteration.
As the cost of political competition continues to skyrocket, only one kind of Individuals, those with means for raising money continue to gain prominence. This means that a political worker who does not have the means and connection to raise millions is forced out of the game. However, the ability to raise money rests not only with the independently wealthy bureaucrat, militaryman or businessman, but also with muscleman, terrorist and extortionist. In a high stake political game, this latter group also becomes an important factor and ends up on the payroll of all the major political parties.
',nW|^h frf6hty b^Wn'rtsthe element that binds a political party, the obvibus casualty of the political process is ideology’. So party affiliations become as tradable as stock options in a publicly held company. This in turn also makes the parties Indistinguishable in political terms, if not in rhetoric. Once the ideology of a political party is compromised, parties become conservative and similar in terms of policy and action As a result, political competition becomes a contest of symbols and not substance.
The Way Out
One does not have to subscribe to the Workers Party's ideology to accept the above prognosis of Bangladesh's politics. Money, muscle, crime, corruption, and violence have become the mainstay of the two major political parties. Ideol-ogy and national interests are taking a back seat. Symbols and personal rivalries are taking centre stage. Communalism is showing its ugly teeth. Democracy is turning into an autocracy.
Is there a wav out of this or is the process to continue indefinitely? Can further institutional tinkering like an independent and powerful election commission provide what the interim neutral government was supposed to provide? Is there any guarantee, that if the elections were fair then the outcomes would be any different?
History tells us t hat if we are pulling into a democratic svs-tem an illiterate population, an underdeveloped civil society, and widespread poverty the outcomes are seldom favourable. The great political thinker Alexis Tocqueville showed years ago that democracy evolved in the West not through the kind of moral fiat we are trying to impose throughout the world but as an organic outgrowth of development.
Given that ours is a tree that is rotting at the top. the organic outgrowth in our case has to emerge from the very bottom. It is not simply a matter of providing education because a 99 per cent literate Russia is facing political problems far more severe than ours. It is also not a matter of simply aspiring for democratic representation because the present power structure will quash any efforts to undermine it It thus involves a long drawn out process of raising a new generation that takes democratic principles to heart and equipping them with the power of grassroots level civic institutions. Anything short of that would be equivalent to buying another negative innovation like the caretaker government and the premature commendations like the ones being handed out by the authorities in Washington and New York.
The author is a doctoral candidate al the School of Public Policy. George Mason University and a cofounder of EB20b0 (www.eb2000.org). a global network of Bangladeshi Expatriates committed to the development of Bangladesh.