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It's the people

Radwan Siddiq
IT'S not good to underestimate voters or political parties. It seems even less sensible when the objects of your underestimation include the oldest and most resilient political party of a country and citizens who have shown time and again that they will never accept any form of political system but democracy. Yet political analysts, seasoned and budding, and domestic and foreign policy makers decided first in 2001, and then in 2007, that the Awami League was finished.
In 2001, the AL suffered a heavy electoral defeat, while in 2007 an engineered and flawed political system paying lip-service to democracy was imposed on the Bangladeshi people. Most recently, many speculated that in the 2008 elections the voters would not be sophisticated enough
to vote for a vision of the future which focused on development, secularism, education and an end to destructive politics.
The AL did not waste any time after losing the 2001 elections. The party used its formidable organisational capability and grassroots network to start charting its path back into office. A process of engagement with party members from every level, professionals from across the board and independent academics, researchers and policy-makers was started.
The party listened, commissioned reports, conducted interviews, created databases and painstakingly analysed the mountains of information it gathered. Every effort was put into ensuring that this flow of information remained accurate and continuous. Most importantly, a grassroots-led, multi-step selection pro-
cess for all party election nominees was put into place.
The party was changing. And by using the party apparatus as a conduit of information it understood that the electorate was changing too. It was this understanding and knowledge, coupled with the courage to do things differently, which formed the basis of flic 2009 election campaign.
The 2009 Awami League election manifesto and campaign was focused firmly on the future. And it was different. The party grassroots were invited to put in their recommendations for the nominations for all parliamentary candidates. There were agreements, disagreements and lively discussions, which were widely covered in the press and provided a level of transparency in party decision-making which had never been seen before. A record number of women and first-time candidates were nominated.
The manifesto contained specific, time-lined targets. The campaign was positive, technology-driven and in tune with the demographics of the electorate. The concerns of women and first-time voters were addressed. Video-conferencing was used to reach greater numbers and gave people the opportunity to have frank question and answer sessions with the party leader Sheikh Hasina.
Not everyone was convinced, some
argued that this was a risky strategy. The campaign was too positive, too secular and above all, too sophisticated. Calks for a "digital Bangladesh" wouldn't excite people, it would just alienate them because they wouldn't understand what it meant. Forget about women, first-time voters, swing votes and all the rest, people said.
The BNP had the right idea; scare people by saying Islam would be destroyed and that the country would be ruled by India. After all, this is a country with low levels of literacy and high levels of poverty. A message of change, hope and technological advance would not resonate with the people here.
Incredibly, there was even a suggestion that the interregnum had served to erase the memory of the BNP’s mis-governance. Maybe people had forgotten why the Awami League was predicted to win a land -slide victory in 2007.
Armchair pollsters decided that the polls were too close to call, some even put forward the idea of a miraculous victory for the four-party alliance. AL did not waver, and avoided any knee-jerk reactions to the negative campaigning of the BNP They were confident, they were prepared, they were listening to the people and they were determined to restore a political system, which focused on democratic values and not on the competition of illegal wealth creation.
The Awami League won the elections
because it offered the voters a vision of the future and convinced them that they could achieve it They won because they did not underestimate the electorate's understanding of politics and knew that they could not be fooled nor bullied into making the right choice.
The Awami League changed the way they ran an election campaign, they changed the way they nominated candidates and they have made it clear that they plan on changing the way a party acts once in power. There were no over-exuberant
celebrations, party members have been told in no uncertain terms how they are expected to behave and the opposition has been offered the post of deputy speaker to ensure that they take their rightful place in parliament and in the political system. The cabinet has been appointed on merit No favours, no appeasing the old guard and no baggage. This is the way politics must continue.
Radwan Siddiq has acted as spokesperson for Sheikh Hasina in the UK and Europe, including doing interviews on BBC and al-Jazeera
***The Awami League won the elections because it offered the voters a vision of the future and convinced them that they could achieve it. They won because they did not underestimate the electorate's understanding of politics and knew that they could not be fooled nor bullied into making the right choice.***