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Democracy not within BNP yet

Party turns 35 today

Shakhawat Liton
The BNP celebrates today its 35th founding anniversary amid severe organisational weaknesses stemming mainly from a lack of democratic practices within the party.
Over the years, the BNP has not called its national and grassroots-level sessions on a regular basis, thereby deterring the growth of new leadership. Its failure to hold meetings of different forums of the party and thus promote debate and discussions on policy-making in line with democratic norms has also been a stumbling block.
The unbridled corruption and misuse of power by many of its leaders when the party was last in power between 2001 and 2006 are also blamed for the party's present state. For this, it paid heavily in the December 2008 general elections when it faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Awami League.
Yet the party is now dreaming of returning to state power at the next general election. This is because of the lack of a credible and strong alternative to the BNP and the Awami League as well.
Though there were many national issues, the party could not wage a strong agitation over the last four and a half years due to its organisational weaknesses. As a result, the party
high command had to rely on radical Islamists, especially the Hefajat-e Islam, in its attempts to oust the Awami League-led government. This earned the party widespread criticism.
The BNP is the first to be a ruling party by birth. It was formed to legitimise the country's first martial law regime following the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975 and the overthrow of his government.
Military ruler Ziaur Rahman formed the party in September 1978 through taking in politicians from various parties, including some anti-liberation forces such as Shah Azizur Rahman, who was installed as prime minister.
The BNP under Zia's wife Khaleda Zia made Matiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, two top leaders of the anti-liberation Jamaat-e-Islami, ministers in her government in 2001. The two are now on trial for war crimes. The party tied a knot with the Jamaat before the 2001 election. The knot remains.
Khaleda Zia has been leading the party for around three decades. Over the years, she has become the unparalleled and supreme leader of her party. She has plans to make her elder son Tarique Rahman the next chairperson of the BNP. Tarique, now in exile in London against a back-
ground of corruption cases filed against him in Dhaka, is already the all-powerful vice-chairman of the BNP, a position he was given in December 2009.
The party has, however, faced some turbulent situations in the past.
After the assassination of Zia in May 1981, Vice President Abdus Sattar was elected president in November 1981. It was on his watch as president of the country and as chief of the BNP that the army chief, General HM Ershad, overthrew the government in a coup d'etat on March 24, 1982. After the ouster, Sattar became inactive in the party. At such a critical juncture, Khaleda, who had no experience in politics, was made vice-chairperson of the party in March 1983. She was elected chairperson on May 10,1984.
Irked by her assumption of leadership, some BNP leaders, particularly Shamsul Huda Chowdhury and Dr MA Matin, who were foreign and home ministers respectively in the cabinet of President Zia, planned to split the party.
The party again faced a split in 1984, this one spearheaded by Shah Azizur Rahman. But the move did not succeed. In 1988, the party again faced split when the then secretary general KM Obaidur Rahman left the BNP and formed a new party.
But most party leaders and activists remained loyal to Khaleda and declined to
join the dissident leaders.
The BNP refused to join the 1986 parliamentary polls under General Ershad's government.
Like all other opposition parties, it also boycotted the 1988 parliamentary polls held under Ershad's government.
After the fall of Ershad on December 6, 1990, the fifth parliamentary election was held in February 1991 in which the BNP obtained a majority. With the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the BNP formed the government and Khaleda took over as prime minister.
The party again assumed power and Khaleda again became prime minister for a brief period through a controversial parliamentary election on February 15, 1996.
The BNP faced a turbulent time with calls for reforms in the political parties growing louder during the period of the state of emergency proclaimed in January 2007. The party faced a split. Then secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and some senior leaders, including M Saifur Rahman, formed a new committee of the BNP with the clear objective of pushing Khaleda to the sidelines and into irrelevance.
But their efforts failed. They only gave Khaleda more clout to run the party in accordance with her desire.