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Reaching out

Abdullah A. Dewan
IT is heartening to know that both AL and BNP are planning changes in their leaderships by replacing many of the older leaders with young, honest and competent party loyalists in various echelons.
While AL's move is enthused by its desire to keep the momentum it generated through its electoral victory, BNP's move is propelled by the fear of not being taken as a strong political force following its cataclysmic debacle in the election.
The attempt to restore the glorious days of BNP while removing the stain of corruption won't be easy, but not impossible. AL's handling of the opposition and its governance may also help BNP to come back in the 2013 election.
One of the issues is that the problems of the country and the plight of the people have been caused by the failure of political institutions. All right minded politicians will agree that party leaders are to blame
In the past, governance had a special elementthe efforts to undercut the opponents and achieve self-aggrandisement without shame or fear.
Young party activists were bypassed by the party sharks, although the former built the bridges between the rulers and the ruled. Hasina made some adjustments in the nomination process and was rewarded. Pragmatically, she continued with the adjustment in assigning cabinet portfolios. Khaleda, on the other hand, stayed trapped with the aging, and allegedly corrupt, leaders.
BNP's debilitating defeat can be partly ascribed to its being in disarray on the eve of the election. Leaving aside the much talked about corruption and association with the alleged war criminals, the alliance's preparation for elections was no more than slapdash improvisation.
The party in power must give priority to managing state affairs, meeting the aspira-
tions of the people, and reaching out to political opponents and listening to their voices of dissents. Party interests have to be put on the backburner.
When it comes to reaching out to political opponents, Barack Obama has set the standard. During the primary election campaign, he told U.S. News & World Report that he would reach out to his critics including Republicans.
"You know, very rarely do you hear me talking about my opponents without giving them some credit for having good intentions and being decent people," he said. “I think that I would explicitly reach out to disaf fccted Republicans and remind them of some of their traditions. You know, a lot of the virtues I talk about are virtues that are deeply embedded in the Republican Party .. The Democrats don't have the monopoly on wisdom, but we have to make some sharp breaks from the failed administration policies of the past."
Obama has followed through his reaching out strategy immediately after getting elected as president and forming his cabinet
It seems Hasina is making every effort to reach out to her opponents as well, especially to BNP and its leader. All her post-election reconciliatory words of reaching out to BNP are well taken in all circles. But the one that became a quotable quote is the pronouncement that the opposition bench
wouldn't be treated by its size; instead parliament would be made effective by ensuring the opposition's active participation.
While this is a statesman-like gesture, what else could Hasina saygiven that the electorate is fed-up with the antagonistic politics of the past?
Under the same rationality of pent-up public pressure, BNP has no option but to respond; thus it decided to join the opening session of the ninth parliament.
The gist of my argument is that whichever party makes a misstepmore so the AL because it is the super majority partythe people and the news media will jump on it (example: Home Minister Sahara Khatun's statement concerning BNP's involvement in some post-election violence). AL must restrain itself from reacting to BNP’s insinuations and post-election misinformation campaign (e.g. AL's promise ofTk.10 per kg of rice, free fertilizer, and so on).
In a democracy, the bipartisan approach always works better and faster. The elected politicians must also remind themselves at all times that the days of getting elected and changing one's fortune may be over. There is no guarantee they will be around the next timewe don't see over 175 MPs of the eighth parliament around us any more.
Dr Abdullah A Dewan is Professor of Economics at Eastern Michigan University.
***It seems Hasina is making every effort to reach out to her opponents as well, especially to BNP and its leader. All her postelection reconciliatory words of reaching out to BNP are well taken in all circles.***