The January election has been the centre of attention for well over a year now. Everyone was curious how this edition would eventually pan out, especially whether BNP would finally be able to pressure the government into forming a nonpartisan election-time government, which is difficult, if not impossible. Some were just excited about the possibility of voting and it actually counting, unlike the last two elections. However, with BNP's boycott confirmed and seats distributed among Awami League's alliance, the results are almost a foregone conclusion.

Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain, former election commissioner, said this election is essentially a quest for an opposition party (read opposition in parliament). Although 27 parties are contesting in the polls, the search for a viable opposition remains the most prominent feature. The situation is so obvious that even someone without much political insight can predict that the ruling AL will form the next government with an absolute majority.

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Youth depression is a symptom of broader societal malaise

So, when the results are a foregone conclusion and winners are already known, the election has little significance. The results are predictable as the elections will be held under a range of restrictions.

The restrictions are an important issue here. The Election Commission asked the government to take measures so that no political programmes, other than for electioneering, can be held after December 18. In a letter sent to the home ministry, the EC said parties should be stopped from holding rallies and other public events that may "obstruct the election process and discourage people from casting their votes." The measures should be in place till after the election on January 7, said the letter, addressed to the senior secretary of the Public Security Division.

It is the EC's role to ensure a congenial atmosphere for people to cast their votes freely. But the way the commission is stopping the activities of political parties is merely a bid to hide its failure through other means. This type of action had not been taken by any EC, not even by the 2014 Rakib commission. But this is not unexpected, as the commission itself announced the election schedule amid high security and beefed up police protection, with the deployment of armoured personnel carriers and water cannons.

Basically, this level of security at the EC betrays the election's true nature and how congenial the prevailing atmosphere is. True, BNP and other opposition parties are enforcing hartals and blockades, demanding a nonpartisan interim government. But the political opposition is fully within its rights to demand and campaign to oust the government. Obviously, opposition parties will not support the government when elections come around.

But for the EC to also act as an extension of the political government and bar political programmes that might "discourage people from voting" betrays its inherently nonpartisan design. Holding rallies is a fundamental right not just of a political party but also of individuals, a right that should not be tainted with equivocations or conditions, or intermitted because of "special circumstances." 

Not even the home ministry can lawfully abide by the commission's request. Just like casting votes is a right, so is not casting it. And so is waging a peaceful campaign to convince people not to vote at all. Since there is no "no vote" option, as there was in 2008, citizens may not feel compelled to vote. Thus, any campaign to discourage people from voting is as lawful as the urging people to vote for a certain candidate.

To complicate this further, in a television interview, ruling party leader and agriculture minister Abdur Razzaque said BNP received a number of generous offers. The party was even told that all its leaders would be released from jail overnight if it decides to join the January 7 election. 

Distancing the ruling party from Razzaque's comments, AL general secretary Obaidul Quader, the very next day, said the remarks were not of AL's but that of the minister's alone. On the same day, Razzaque said, "I think what I said, I did not say anything wrong, not a bit. The statement is correct." 

For a long time, BNP leaders have been accusing the government of politicising the legal system and imprisoning its activists and members illegally. Razzaque's statements only vindicate what BNP has been claiming all this time.

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Turn candidates' halafnama into amalnama

As BNP is not contesting the polls, it will try to make the election controversial, demonstrating the loopholes and deficiencies. And towards that end, the opposition parties must give a big thanks to Razzaque and the Election Commission, as they are doing the opposition's work, making it easier to illustrate that the system is so tainted that an election under Awami League would never be fair. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina already said that BNP is plotting to create a famine in the country, after realising that it won't be able to thwart the upcoming election, and perhaps realising that tough times are coming a few months down the line. We are hopeful that under Hasina's iron-handed leadership, there will be no such famine in the country. But it appears there is another kind of crisis under her watch—a 10-year drought of proper elections, a drought that won't let up soon, it appears.

Mohammad Al-Masum Molla is chief reporter at The Daily Star.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

Follow The Daily Star Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions, commentaries and analyses by experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to The Daily Star Opinion, see our guidelines for submission.

With the national election still two weeks away, many national and international observers have already termed it as a farce or "staged election", and it is easy to see why. One of the key features of any election is the ability of voters to select the winner. If voters are not presented with any real options to choose from, then arguably the most important purpose of an election is defeated. That is why we saw the ruling party scrambling to field dummy candidates or bargaining with the Jatiya Party to make up for the absence of the BNP and other like-minded parties, thus giving the election some sort of legitimacy.

Let us not forget that the idea of fielding dummy candidates this time—we have, of course, heard about it in previous elections also—came from the very top of the Awami League. So, if the ruling party itself is offering voters the option to choose from either a candidate of the Awami League or a dummy, what real options do voters have? And what message are they to receive from the ones conducting this election—namely, the Election Commission—who, knowing this, is still going ahead with the election? Are people to believe that the EC is conducting it in the interest of voters? Of course not.

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Why do other parties need AL’s concessions to win election?

The EC asking the home ministry to take steps to prevent political rallies and processions of all kinds, except for electoral campaigns, from December 18 till polling day, also makes it complicit in suppressing protests against what a number of opposition parties see as being a farcical election. Interestingly, earlier on that same day, the Awami League's general secretary urged the commission and law enforcement agencies to take a strong stance against forces that the ruling party saw were against the elections—mainly the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Such a step to stop political rallies and programmes, it can be argued, is unconstitutional, as it denies political parties in the opposition camp the right to assembly, the right to protest, the right to movement and the right to free expression.

As concerning as the use of such a tactic may be, it hasn't been the only one used to set up what seems to be a staged and one-sided election. Last month, The Guardian reported how Bangladesh saw "full prisons and false charges" due to the crackdown on the opposition. Following such "a ruthless crackdown on the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party" in the run-up to the elections, it noted how few "believe the election will be free, fair or remotely democratic." This strategy, according to The New York Times, is leading to "Bangladesh's multiparty democracy…being methodically strangled in crowded courtrooms."

The expediated trials leading to the convictions of hundreds of opposition leaders and activists further validate such apprehensions. For example, on December 11, at least 42 BNP members and those of its infamous allies—Jamaat-e-Islami—were convicted in four cases. Between August-December, 961 opposition leaders and activists were reportedly sentenced to imprisonment in 62 cases in Dhaka. What makes these especially controversial is that convictions were apparently made without considering any independent witnesses or only with police deposition, and defence lawyers further alleged that less than half of the prosecution witnesses were heard. Furthermore, it must be noted that such speedy disposal of cases is unusual in a country where justice delivery has become particularly slow. This fact, and our previous history of witnessing politically motivated cases right before elections, indicate that opposition leaders are again being targeted and kept out of the electoral fray.

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Of the AL, for the AL, and by the AL

In that regard, the recent comments made by Awami League presidium member and agriculture minister Abdur Razzaque, that jailed BNP men were offered freedom if the party agreed to contest the polls, is telling. Although AL later tried to play it down and its general secretary said it was Razzaque's personal opinion, it lends further credence to the public perception that all these arrests and convictions are being made in trumped up cases for political reasons. Additionally, it raises two very important questions: 1) If we are currently in a situation where the ruling party can decide to arrest and release thousands of opposition leaders and activists, is it really conducive for a free and fair election? And 2) what has happened to the independence of the legal system?

Such an admission and the underlying state of affairs—for example, since 2009, 1,37,569 cases have been filed against 49,80,826 BNP leaders and activists—show that the Awami League is bent on ensuring its grip over power by using the full might of the state machinery. What is missing in all of this is the role of the citizens, who have all but lost their right to vote. As a result, government officials across the board are no longer accountable to the people and so, the people no longer have any say in how the state is being run, nor how the elections should be conducted. So, even though it's been the opposition that has mainly been on the receiving end of the government's high-handedness and the ruling party's vitriol, ultimately, it will be the general people who are likely to be the biggest losers of the elections.

Eresh Omar Jamal is a journalist at The Daily Star. His X handle is @EreshOmarJamal

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

Follow The Daily Star Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions, commentaries and analyses by experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to The Daily Star Opinion, see our guidelines for submission.

The culture of patronage politics that has devastated our nation over the years—fostering corruption, undermining meritocracy, and weakening institutions—begins at grassroots with the capture of public contracts and extortion by political thugs, and culminates with systemic regulatory capture by vested interest groups, all of which serves as an incentive for them to keep working for the party in power. This corrupt cycle seems to have begun again after a brief pause caused by the July-August mass uprising, with the regime change only changing the thugs and their cohorts.  

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Reforms needed in political parties and the electoral process in Bangladesh

Over the past two-three weeks, we have had a number of reports on how BNP-linked leaders and activists, civil servants, and professional groups have been trying to establish control in various sectors. This suggests that patronage politics may continue to be around even after a political government returns to power, unless political and institutional reforms are undertaken to prevent it. This is deeply alarming.

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Stop extortion in transport sector

The latest example has its setting in Nagar Bhaban, which houses the headquarters of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC). According to a report by Prothom Alo, BNP-affiliated activists and employees have been trying to establish their dominance through a mix of showdowns, intimidation, assaults, and even extortion, creating a tense atmosphere there. They have their eyes on proceeds and contracts/leasing from various public works, projects, and markets run under the DSCC. Recently, a contractor's representative was beaten over the submission of a tender. Five high-ranking officials were also harassed, and one even beaten publicly. Promotions and placements of officials are also being controlled.

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Health sector needs attention on an urgent basis

Prothom Alo has earlier reported how BNP-linked individuals forcibly took control of the Shimulia ferry terminal, fish market, and trawler docks in Munshiganj's Louhajanj upazila by allegedly threatening and assaulting legitimate leaseholders. They have established a lucrative extortion racket there, collecting hundreds of thousands of taka daily. We have heard of a similar capture of many other terminals and markets, transport hubs and associations, footpaths, slums, and such public spaces that were previously controlled by or leased out to Awami League-linked leaders.

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Govt must restore discipline in civil administration

The question is, what is BNP doing about it? Officially, the party remains committed to preventing such exploitations. Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman on Thursday issued a warning saying that there is no place for criminals and miscreants in the party. Another top leader has been more specific, vowing stern consequences for those indulging in extortion and illegal capture of the public sector. But hardly anything has come of these warnings yet. This means at least two things: either this message is not being delivered strongly enough to grassroots leaders and activists, through swift punitive actions to convey the seriousness of the message, or the party, beyond public condemnations, is still not serious enough about it.

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Extortion at slums, footpaths must stop

Both scenarios are equally concerning. We urge the BNP leadership to take action matching its strong words. It must prevent its grassroots leaders, professional groups or anyone exploiting its name to establish dominance through exemplary punishment. As the leading party in the country now, BNP has a duty to not just support but also actively take part in the reforms being envisioned by the students and people that toppled the Awami League government. It must help do away with the political culture of yesteryears that has brought nothing but misery for the country.

However, we also need institutional reforms to dismantle this entrenched culture, and for that, comprehensive actions from the interim government are essential.

This week marks one year of the incumbent Election Commission (EC) in office, which also coincided with the National Voters' Day. Far from being an occasion for celebration, however, the reigning mood appears to be one of trepidation, with the general election less than a year away. The biggest worry is, will people again be denied the opportunity to exercise their franchise? As things stand, it seems unlikely that the EC will succeed in holding free and fair elections. Despite all the talk of creating a level playing field for the political parties, so far, it has failed to make any progress in that respect. The ruling Awami League has routinely gotten away with obstructing political programmes held by BNP in the most blatant of ways.

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EC in second year must do a better job

While demands made by the ruling party have been given priority over the concerns expressed by the opposition – for example, over the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) – another factor that is of great concern is the negligible involvement of voters in the election process. Tussles between the main political parties have dominated the election narrative ever since this EC took over a year ago, just like they did during the tenures of the previous two ECs. And the role and space for voters have continued to shrink to historic lows. The appalling voter turnout in recent local elections and parliamentary by-polls illustrated the lack of confidence in the EC's ability – partly due to the partisan role of the administration and partly due to its own unwillingness to take firm action – to oversee a fair transfer of power. That, of course, should come as no surprise after what happened during the last two general elections of 2014 and 2018.

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AL needs to hold accountable its members

Besides the endless political controversies, harassment and intimidation of voters, denying them the chance to vote for their preferred candidates and, in some cases, forcing them to vote for specific candidates, fraudulent voting in secret booths, ballot-box stuffing, and many other irregularities during the last two elections have all but destroyed our democratic process, as well as voters' willingness to participate in such farcical exercises. Unfortunately, despite initial promise, the current EC has been unable to reverse that perception with its questionable handling of election-related irregularities. Many have rightly raised the question that if the EC cannot control the administration and law enforcement personnel during local elections, what hope does it have of doing so during the general elections where the stakes are much higher?

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Attacks on BNP are condemnable

The EC itself has done little to alleviate such concerns. And the recent statement by the chief election commissioner – that political parties should participate in the election of their own volition, as the EC cannot do anything more to persuade them – is deeply worrying. How can the EC expect that when the conditions it has created so far are nowhere near satisfactory? For the sake of our democracy – or whatever is left of it anyway – the EC must do more to fulfil its constitutional mandate. It must ensure that power is returned to the people after two controversial and largely non-participatory elections.