Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina may be sitting at a mental cross-roads today. Likely, she is torn between two desires. The first is the desire for continued power and personal glory. The second is the desire to ensure the continued development of Bangladesh and the political party. The two are not necessarily intertwined.
Approaching her 62nd birthday and the recent passing of her husband, may he rest peacefully, may have caused her to think a bit more about the future of the Awami League without her. Any venerable leader knows when to start passing the reins of power, even if it is a slow transition.
Ten days ago, Bangla Nation discussed the Awami League's and Bangladesh Nationalist Party's sidelining of their "reformists" (see...).
Now it seems, that Sheikh Hasina is now thinking about assigning some function to the advisory council to which she banished the "reformists." The New Nation has noted that she wants to better utilize the experience and expertise of senior leadership in the interests of the country and the party. Such a turn is not unwelcome.
Sheikh Hasina will remain the President for the foreseeable future, but it is wise to engage the "reformists." For the most obvious reason, they must be engaged to keep them loyal, as the New Nation notes they are busy in their constituencies, no doubt entrenching themselves, possibly independently of the Awami League apparatus. The other reason is to engage them in a meaningful way is to incorporate their ideas and views - to progress the party and, if they continue to hold the people's trust, the country.
One wonders what Khaleda Zia, BNP Chairperson, will make of this. Her party conference will probably be held in the November-December time frame. Just far enough away to watch and judge the success of the Awami League's experiment.
Showing posts with label Reformer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reformer. Show all posts
Friday, August 14, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Quicknote: Sidelining Reform, "Revolutionary" Elites Persist... for now
There is a notion, useful to the discussion of a country's early political history, that goes: the "revolutionary" leaders who led a country to independence are often themselves subject to a revolution. To put it simply, the revolutionary leaders are cast out.
It is not time for Bangladesh to undergo such a transition, though it seems to be coming. Late last week, the ruling Awami League held a national council the outcome of which saw five "reformists" dropped (New Nation). "Reformist" members of the BNP are still with the party, though they are concerned with their political futures considering what happened to their political adversaries (New Nation). At any rate, the BNP-reformers still have time to mull their position and decide a course of action, since the BNP national council probably won't occur before December 2009 (New Nation).
Friendly MPs from smaller parties have "exchanged pleasantries" with the recently sidelined Awami MPs and there are murmurs, regarding both groups, of floating new political parties. For their part, the reformers themselves have wisely not spoken directly on the subject as it is still much to early to discuss the establishment of two completely new political parties.
How does one best differentiate from two personality-driven political parties? That is fairly easy, discuss issues of concern and crush the culture of corruption and nepotism. The "reformers" are labelled as such because they were not adverse to the so-called "minus-two formula." This idea sought to remove both former Prime Ministers Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia from politics altogether, and for a time (while they were both under house arrest on charges of corruption) it almost came to pass.
However, Bangladesh's return to parlimentary democracy is still too recent. When politics revert back to "normal:" the Opposition calling frequent hartals and refusing to take part in the Jatiya Sangsad, rampant killings of each other's supporters, and the co-opting of the groups like the Sarbaharas and militant Islamists - then perhaps the Bangladeshi electorate will decide that "enough is enough." For at this time, the old political parties will demonstrate that they really didn't learn anything from their two years exile from Parliament.
And at that point, the familial history of both venerable begums will not save their political careers.
It is not time for Bangladesh to undergo such a transition, though it seems to be coming. Late last week, the ruling Awami League held a national council the outcome of which saw five "reformists" dropped (New Nation). "Reformist" members of the BNP are still with the party, though they are concerned with their political futures considering what happened to their political adversaries (New Nation). At any rate, the BNP-reformers still have time to mull their position and decide a course of action, since the BNP national council probably won't occur before December 2009 (New Nation).
Friendly MPs from smaller parties have "exchanged pleasantries" with the recently sidelined Awami MPs and there are murmurs, regarding both groups, of floating new political parties. For their part, the reformers themselves have wisely not spoken directly on the subject as it is still much to early to discuss the establishment of two completely new political parties.
How does one best differentiate from two personality-driven political parties? That is fairly easy, discuss issues of concern and crush the culture of corruption and nepotism. The "reformers" are labelled as such because they were not adverse to the so-called "minus-two formula." This idea sought to remove both former Prime Ministers Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia from politics altogether, and for a time (while they were both under house arrest on charges of corruption) it almost came to pass.
However, Bangladesh's return to parlimentary democracy is still too recent. When politics revert back to "normal:" the Opposition calling frequent hartals and refusing to take part in the Jatiya Sangsad, rampant killings of each other's supporters, and the co-opting of the groups like the Sarbaharas and militant Islamists - then perhaps the Bangladeshi electorate will decide that "enough is enough." For at this time, the old political parties will demonstrate that they really didn't learn anything from their two years exile from Parliament.
And at that point, the familial history of both venerable begums will not save their political careers.
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