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KALEIDOSCOPE

Political process bypassed

Menon has made a political point out of his decision to refuse the cabinet position. And as he explained in so many words, there is no political process in the running of the AL-led alliance government.

Syed Fattahul Alim
Rather than who joined the expanded cabinet after its latest reshuffle, what made news is who did not. By not accepting
ministerial portfolios, veteran Awami League (AL) leader Tofail Ahmed and AL-led grand alliance partner and Workers Party president Rashed Khan Menon have surprised political observers. Hence all the speculation as to why these two politicians behaved the way they did.
When morality, ideology and principle have become things of the past in politics, landing a coveted ministerial job, by fair means or foul, has become the be-all and end-all among many of our leaders. In such a context, non-acceptance of cabinet portfolio by Tofail and Menon is something out of the ordinary. No doubt, it marks a clear departure from the past.
This senior leader of AL has been sidelined in the party since the government took office in January 2009. Even so, an experienced and astute politician as he is, Tofail's stance cannot be dismissed purely as something done out of hurt feelings. As a seasoned politician, he cannot be unaware that with 2013's national elections round the corner, there was little he could do within such a short to turn the tide in favour of the government. Clearly, it was one reason why he declined the offer. And he has also the commonsense to realise that the government was too eager to draw him into the cabinet, so that he may not raise his critical voice against the various lapses and failures of the government.
But all attempts of Tofail at coming up with a decent explanation of his particular stance as something personal could hardly convince his party colleagues. His arguments in self-defence fell on deaf years.
Taking serious exception to Tofail's non-acceptance of ministerial job offer, AL's general secretary as well as others at the party's Central Working Committee meeting on Saturday even smelt the possibility of a "conspiracy" in it. So, in the eyes of many of his party colleagues, he remains a renegade, despite all his statements to the contrary.
Next comes the denial of another renowned left leader and one of the coalition partners of the government, Menon.
Political commentators have interpreted his instance as a sign of widespread disenchantment in the AL-led grand alliance. And that is particularly so when the embattled government is in utter desperation in the wake of a series of reverses like cancellation of World Bank's loan for Padma Bridge, share market debacle, international criticism over its handling of Grameen Bank, Hall-Mark-Sonali Bank scam, appalling human rights records, etc.
To Menon, the head of a party in the grand alliance, the manner of inviting him to join the cabinet seemed lacking in political etiquette. This is despite the justifications the prime minister has tried to make at the AL's Working Committee meeting citing examples from the practice in the previous governments' time as well as other governments in South Asia and elsewhere.
But more important than the issue of punctiliousness is what he said while explaining the reason for such behaviour on the government's part. He saw in it the absence of any political process in the decisionmaking bodies, either of the government or of the alliance.
Menon has made a political point out of his decision to refuse the cabinet position. And as he explained in so many words, there is no political process in the running of the AL-led alliance government.
It is not only to Menon that this explanation of the government's behaviour seems to be a very plausi- ble one, it is so even to observers outside politics.
In absence of a decision making process, things must remain at the mercy of personal whims of one or a handful of persons. This is undoubtedly a bad signal for the alliance government, particularly with the general election near at hand. However much Menon may have spoken in defence of the alliance and his pledge to maintain its integrity, the sign of cracks in it (grand alliance) is gradually becoming clearer.
Taking its cue from Menon, even the Jatiyo Party, the biggest partner of the ruling combine, has now divulged how it spurned the government's offer to take ministerial jobs in the cabinet.
Oddly though, despite the mess the AL-government has created in its various fronts, including the administration as well as in the alliance, it has not so far taken any lesson from its failures. It is still in a denial mode and has been stubbornly defending its every move so far. Small wonder, without giving a second try to persuade these two seniors leaders to join the government at this hour of need, it went ahead to look for alternatives.
With its composition, the expanded cabinet will remain more of the same and so will the government's performance while it braces for a rough ride during the remaining days before the election.
The writer Is Editor, Science a Life, The Daily Star. E-mail: sfallm.ds@gmail.com