Arindam Sarkar
In a democracy crowds do not necessarily translate into
votes. In the last fortnight of January 2009, the high-voltage campaign for the
ninth parliamentary elections in Bangladesh witnessed both the Awami League
chief Sheikh Hasina and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia drawing huge crowds in
their publics meetings.
In fact, the Dhaka campaign of Khaleda Zia witnessed such a
huge turnout that even the pro-Sheikh Hasina supporters felt that it was going
to be a close contest. But that was not to be. The voters casting their
franchise after two years of Emergency in Bangladesh had made up their mind.
At the end of the polls, twice Prime Minister Begum Khaleda
Zia's fate was sealed. The "Digital Diva" Sheikh Hasina, who
campaigned for a "Digital Bangladesh", swept the polls with her grand
alliance capturing 258 out of the 299 seats at fray for the Jatiya Sansad.
And a shocked Begum Khaleda Zia with her "Save Islam
and Save Country" slogan went down miserably with only 32 seats (with her
allies) in her kitty. However, even the worst of Begum Zia's critics never
thought that this time round BNP would be washed out in the elections.
Actually, as Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia took poll
guard after releasing their respective election manifestos at Hotel Sheraton in
Dhaka and picked up the election tempo, the Bangladesh intelligence agencies
and bureaucracy predicted that while Hasina had an edge, she would at best get
somewhere close to 140 to 145 seats and BNP would follow suit with 100 to 110
seats.
Therefore, under these circumstances, it was assumed that
General (Retd) HM Ershad's Jatiya Party with a possible tally of 26 to 28 seats
would be crucial in forming a coalition government. But the prediction was thrown
to the winds. People gave a massive verdict against corruption, tyranny and
mal-administration of the BNP rule between from 2001 to 2006.
This theory gained ground. Though a section of the people
felt that corruption charges alone were not such a big factor to damage the
chances of the BNP. On the contrary, the pro-BNP supporters argued that the
witch-hunting launched by the Anti-Corruption Commission of the Caretaker
Government and arrest of BNP key leaders did not go down well with the people.
And this would reflect in the elections.
But now it appears that the BNP has been punished for its
wrong doings in its last term when corruption reached its zenith, prices of
essential commodities hit the roof, development stopped, commission on
government projects became the order of the day, the BNP headquarters – Hawa
Bhawan – became the alternative centre of power, minorities were attacked,
human rights were violated, opposition leaders including Sheikh Hasina were
targetted, Islamic fundamentalism raised its heads and terrorist outfits found Bangladesh to be a safe
haven.
In fact, the rout of Jamaat in the elections proved that the
young and the middle class voters did not support the fundamentalist campaign
and instead preferred it to the secular politics of Sheikh Hasina.
Looking back, it appears that from the very beginning Begum
Khaleda Zia was on a sticky wicket. The fact that she accused the Caretaker
Government of trying to help Awami League for coming to power and not giving
her a "level playing field" was perceived as a bad sporting spirit.
Begum Zia actually was buying time to put her house in
order. With her prominent leaders in jail on charges of corruption, she
initially decided not to participate in the election. Thereafter, she changed
her mind, putting pressure on the Caretaker Government to defer the elections
that was scheduled on December 18. Begum Zia's dilemma further aggravated when
she found it difficult to field 'clean' candidates in the elections.
And finally, it was the release of the BNP's manifesto that
added to her woes. Political analysts termed her manifesto as empty promises
without any target or commitment. The manifesto said nothing new about
eradicating corruption; it talked about fighting terrorism but gave tickets to those involved
with such militant organisation like Harkat-ul-Jihad; and said nothing about
snapping ties with Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, which in 2005 had
orchestrated a countrywide bomb blasts.
Although the BNP manifesto spoke of human rights being
violated, it said nothing about giving teeth to the Human Rights Commission. It
also brushed aside all allegations of violating human rights during its tenure.
The manifesto also lacked special attention to the
minorities and the indigenous population as they suffered the most under the
last BNP government. BNP's promise to reform the judicial system was not taken
seriously – as this body was most interfered under the BNP regime.
Similarly, political analysts observed, BNP’s promise to
improve infrastructure, agriculture, poultry, fishing, small and medium
enterprises and eradicating poverty lacked specific plan of action and there
was no roadmap as to how Begum Zia was to meet these targets and mobilise
resources. People called it a bluff.
On the contrary, riding the boat (the election symbol of
Awami League) in the Land of Rivers, Sheikh Hasina with her Charter for Change
manifesto established immediate connect with the people and the intellectuals.
They said Sheikh Hasina's action plan was sincere, practical, judicious,
target-oriented and she was hailed as a "visionary," who could take
Bangladesh out of the pits.
Before the polls, the business captains made a beeline to
meet her at Sudha Sadan – Hasina’s residence at Dhanmondi. The foreign envoys
called on Hasina and wished her luck and even the donor countries felt
confident that if the daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is
catapulted to power, the greenbacks would be well-spent and not end up in the
deep pockets of the 'ten per cent men' of Bangladesh.
From the very beginning, Hasina meant business. In 2008
autumn, before returning to Bangladesh from United States, where she had gone
for medical treatment, Hasina told David Frost of BBC that people of Bangladesh
were ready to usher in democracy and Awami League was the political party of
the hour.
After that came the masterstroke, when Sheikh Hasina said
that if Awami League came to power, she would not reject the measures taken by
the Caretaker Government and hinted that neither she nor her party have any
complaints against the army that backed the interim government in Bangladesh
during the last two years of Emergency.
This came as music to army and the Caretaker Government
officials who now hoped for Sheikh Hasina to win. Then, Hasina announced that she
would not take any action against the party leaders who were for reforms in
Awami League when she was imprisoned. This move united the party behind her and
the leaders who questioned her authority in her absence now strongly rallied
behind her.
And the icing on the cake was the Awami League manifesto.
Hasina talked about inflation, rise in prices of essential commodities,
poverty, energy, good governance and terrorism. And to tackle all these, she laid out short-term
(five years) and long-term policies (2021).
She promised social safety network and poverty reduction by
2013. She said that her government would work towards attaining food security
by 2012. Hasina said Bangladesh would cruise at 8 per cent growth rates of GDP
by 2013 and 10 per cent by 2017. The country would produce additional 7,000 MW
of electricity in the next four years.
People believed when Hasina said her government would work
for independence of judiciary and strengthen anti-corruption and human rights
commission. She assured that her government would work towards formation of
South Asian Task Force to tackle terrorism.
All this, clicked with the new generation and women voters,
who outnumbered the old timers this time. Hasina's pledge to take the country
ahead in the 21st century of globalisation, despite recession, came as manna to
the fresh voters.
And most importantly, the release of her visionary document called the Charter for Change for all round development of
the country by 2021 – which is the golden jubilee year of Bangladesh's
Independence – struck the right chord with the mass.
People have reposed faith on Hasina and now it is her turn
to fulfill her promises. The powerful verdict against Begum Zia is clear and
loud that people would punish severely, if one fails to deliver. Begum Zia got
her chance after Hasina failed to live up to the expectations of the people in
her first term in 1996. And then Begum Zia failed and people have brought
Hasina back. In her second term, Hasina has to deliver or perish.
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