Apprehension about poll and youth suffrage

Apprehension and concern are increasing gradually among people whether the election will be free, fair and impartial this time. Even not only the election, many issues are also growing up. But the discussion of poll is coming forward over everything. Election is the time when people get a chance to reflect their will and choose their leadership in a festive atmosphere. But instead, people are tired of seeing the two top political parties wrangling and hostility each other. Awami League wants to participate in elections under Sheikh Hasina while BNP and other parties' demands are completely opposite.

It is true that as an opposition party BNP could not appear in front of the people in the last 15 years. Sometimes the party just passed the time threating 'movement' after Eid. Without any research, in-depth and data-based criticism of government's activities, they only demand government to resign. It seems that the party is looking for a safe way to come to the power. Question does arise naturally.

We know, BNP was in power in 1994-96. At that time Awami League demanded to hold elections under caretaker government arguing that the ruling party could not be trusted. On the flip side, BNP argued that they could not go 'outside the constitution'. The funny thing is, it’s been 27 years and we are just stuck with the same problem! This political crisis has created a serious political stalemate in Bangladesh.

The voting experience of 2014 and 2018, were not pleasant for voters. In 2014, 153 members of parliament were 'elected' unopposed. In the case of 300-seat parliament, most of the members were elected without getting a single vote. Allegedly, voting in the 2018 election was completed the night before. However, the opposition parties are yet to produce documentary evidence of vote rigging at night. Therefore, Bangladesh's democracy is now considered as a 'hybrid democracy' as the overall democracy of the country has narrowed. If such an election is held, it is hard to say whether Bangladesh will be among democratic countries or not. Meanwhile, foreign powers have suddenly become 'hyperactive' with Bangladesh's poll.

We see, Awami League is apparently gearing up for elections. For a few days, the Prime Minister as well as her party leaders started seeking votes. But apart from Awami League and their alliances, no other political party seems to be in a position to prepare for the poll. On the other side, BNP, alliance of BNP and several other small parties are in the movement to topple down the govt. Besides, the CPB, Basad and the Left Democratic Alliance are campaigning for voting rights with limited capacity.

The crisis regarding voting rights and elections of the country is nothing new. After the fall of ‘Ershad dictatorship’ on December 6, 1990, people's suffrage was restored under the caretaker government led by Justice Sahabuddin. But everyone knows how much people were able to vote themselves under Awami League and BNP govt. People's suffrage has been repeatedly damaged due to their fight for power.

More sadly, taking advantage of their power conflict, foreigners are directly interfering in our internal politics. It is humiliating for the entire country and nation and also our failure.

Voting is a human right. So naturally, ahead of upcoming election, people will talk about their expectation of a fair and acceptable poll. People, specially, the youth of Bangladesh are eagerly waiting to cast their vote. In the last two elections, 53.8 percent of youth did not get that opportunity (Civic Platform Youth Survey). This time, students and youth organizations in Dhaka are also holding regular programs for this purpose. Sometimes they speak in the assembly, sometimes raise their voices in the procession, show placards, demanding that they 'want to vote'. Left-wing student organizations and cultural organizations staged rallies and marches at Shahbagh under the banner of 'Vote Dite Chai'(I want to vote).

Right this moment, the number of youth voters in the country is more than two and half crore. Most of them had no experience of voting in national poll. But the first principle of the democratic system is that voters would have the right to choose the party or candidate of their choice in the elections. As youth emotions run high around the first vote, so their role in determining the outcome of the vote is also crucial. We directly observed that in 2008 elections. Awami Le ague's great victory was achieved by the spontaneous participation of the youth.

Party support in Bangladesh is usually family-based. However, a large part of the youth is quite independent in choosing political views. They do not even hesitate to break the family tradition choosing different party or new politics. That is why, we see that within six years after the establishment of Pakistan, the members of the Muslim League family rejected the politics of that party and joined the Awami League and left-wing politics. Global politics certainly plays a strong role in youth political decision-making. For this reason, the youth of the last few generations have been influenced sometimes by leftists, sometimes by nationalists or by religious politics.

If we look back at history, it is the students and youth who have built the foundation of politics and democracy in Bangladesh. Soon after the partition in 1947 the Democratic Jubo League was formed in collaboration with the student leadership of Kolkata and Dhaka. After that, from 1952 to 1990, the youth led all the democratic movements. Even in August 2008, students led the movement to end the emergency. However, within a decade and a half, the youth have become so disparaged in politics that they have to protest by demanding 'want to vote'.

According to the recent youth survey, (organized by the Citizen Platform) the youth are the majority of adults in the country. Neither the development philosophy of the state nor democracy is able to contain the aspirations of the youth. However, no development can be sustained if they are discouraged and excluded from the democratic process. In this survey, 18.7 percent of young people said that they would move abroad permanently if get opportunity. Most of them are highly educated. Have our policy makers ever wanted to know why they intend to leave the country? According to survey data, only 11.6 percent youth are interested in politics and student politics. On the flip side, the number of Youth who are not interested in politics is three times higher than the youth who are interested (35.2 percent). 53.8 percent of the youth said they never voted in the national elections.

Democratic Bangladesh has already passed 52 years. But in all these years the political parties have completely failed to establish an electoral system and culture. However, Nepal, which transitioned from monarchy to democracy, and Maldives, an island nation of several hundred thousand people, have developed an acceptable and relaxed electoral culture. When would our political parties learn to practice democracy without looking towards Delhi or Washington or depending on bureaucracy and law enforcement?

Recently, Obaidul Quader the governing Bangladesh Awami League (AL) general secretary, said that a compromise has been made secretly with everyone, there is nothing to worry about. He also asked the party leaders and activists to make preparations for the next parliamentary elections. So, will the Awami League hold a one-sided election again based on compromise? Or has there been a power-sharing compromise with BNP? No fear can be ruled out now. In the last 15 years we have also seen that the leading leaders of BNP are happy with the case. Their workers were beaten but the leaders enjoyed the benefits. So where are we voters? Additionally, the 'result' of the election is being 'bargained' with external forces this time. Is this how democracy works in Bangladesh?

A large number of students are involved in Chhatra League, Chhatra Dal, Student Union or other student organizations. Despite that, majority of the youth are not interested in politics. A media survey titled 'What do youth think in 2019' shows that around 57 percent of youth are not interested in politics. Being annoyed most of them are moving abroad. Why is this happening?

In recent times, we have observed that despite the antagonism between the two major political parties, the differences between them on the question of national policy ideals have narrowed to a great extent. Moreover, due to global neoliberalism, there is no fundamental difference between Awami League and BNP on the economic policy of the country. Even left-wing or socialist parties no longer speak of socialism when it comes to economic policy.

Students will become more apolitical as there is no clear political ideology among political parties and communalism obviously would fill this ideological void. The fear is that if this situation continues, extreme sectarian groups, such as Hefazat Islam and Islamist political parties, will seize the opportunity and try to capture political space as much as possible. They have already tied up with the government making various compromises. Since the elections are coming up, they will try to bring the govt and political parties to their side by luring their support in the poll.

When the political parties become unprincipled apolitical parties, fighting over poll and power capture, the young generation will grow up as apolitical and communal fanatics. Such a future would not be pleasant for Bangladesh at all.

Finally, if we can't vote this time too, the youth will pay the highest price. Annoyance, frustration and lamentations are being created in their minds. Its consequences might be very long. A large part of the youth desire to leave the country and another part is distrustful of politics. If this situation does not change, it can cause a dire danger for the country and the nation.

Author: Journalist, columnist. Presidium Member, Bangladesh Youth Union, Central Committee