Awami League (AL) General Secretary Obaidul Quader asked his party men not to be revengeful to the opponent political parties following the ruling alliance's big win in yesterday's general election.
“We will have to consolidate this win,” Quader said while changing views with AL members in Noakhali this morning.
Qauder won Noakhali-5 constituency bagging 2,52,744 votes, his nearest contestant Barrister Moudud Ahmed got 10,970 votes.
The AL-led Grand Alliance won 288 seats, whereas Oikyafront and BNP-led 20-Party Alliance bagged only seven seats and others three seats in the parliament.
11:27 AM, December 31, 2018 / LAST MODIFIED: 11:49 AM, December 31, 2018
Don’t be revengeful to opponents: Quader
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader. File photo
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Obaidul Quader is an oft-quoted person – and for good reasons. I, too, shall quote him at the start of this column. Following the very recent by-elections to the parliament seats vacated by BNP members, he is reported to have said, "Democracy has won." And he is certain to flaunt the World Democracy Report that shows Bangladesh improving by two ranks. However, there is little to take comfort in the report since, in reality, our acquired marks remain the same; it's only that two countries have done worse than us.
The minister has cited the "peaceful atmosphere" that prevailed during the polling on February 1. Indeed, it was very peaceful. When fewer than 20 percent of voters turn up to vote, it is bound to be peaceful. When the opposition voters are told not to bother to come to the polling stations, it is bound to be "peaceful." When an opposition candidate goes into hiding, unable to withstand the pressure on him, peace is bound to follow. The recent by-polls represent the state of democracy in our country fairly accurately. The near-empty polling booths, if nothing, displays a lack of trust; in fact, it demonstrates people's apathy towards elections and voting. Most voters feel it is an exercise in futility under the present circumstances, the results a forgone conclusion.
This was the picture in 2014 and 2018 as well. "People couldn't cast their votes in that (December 30, 2018) election… They couldn't vote in the union parishad and upazila parishad polls." These are not my words but that of a leading member of the ruling party's coalition – the president of the Workers' Party. It is a sign of democratic regression set in motion a decade ago, and in this regard, the prognosis of Levitsky and Ziblatt, who in their both educative and frightening book Why Democracies Die, say, "Democratic backsliding today begins at the ballot box."
Thus, the quinquennial exercise, the national election, always brings forth pious utterances of the political parties – the two main ones in particular – about the state of democracy, how it has been reduced to nothingness by the other party, and of resuscitating it if elected to power. And the most voluble is the ruling party, who goes into overdrive trying to nullify the oppositions' criticism of its alleged disservice to political and economic egalitarianism. The ruling party has the added advantage, in addition to the public platform, of hogging the time and space of the parliament where, unlike a normal functioning legislature, it goes unchallenged in the absence of an opposition, unanswerable for its plans, policies, actions and deeds. It needs reminding ourselves that the current character of the parliament is unique in that the official parliamentary opposition is also represented in the cabinet.
It is no wonder, therefore, that democracy has come under criticism at home and is being subjected to scrutiny by our friends outside, for which the ruling party has taken umbrage. In this regard, very few can take issue with the Awami League when it decries outsiders' attempt to serve us homilies on democracy or elections. No self-respecting citizen can accept that and should vehemently oppose such attempts.
But in this regard, the Awami League has selective memory when it comes to the party's role as the opposition and its willing acceptance of foreign mediation, and at times direct intervention, in the events leading up to the general elections. It is convenient not to remember those actions since it avoids embarrassments. But we need to be reminded from time to time what the stances of the major political parties have been on various national and political issues in the past. For example, in 1994, the Awami League had no qualms in accepting mediation by the then Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku, and accepted his representative Sir Ninian Stephen to sit between it and the BNP at the negotiating table. While the Awami League may not like to remember the role India played in 2014, history has not failed to record it. Were it not for the turncoats in Jatiya Party, who rebelled against Ershad or were compelled by circumstances to do so and participate in the 2014 election, things might have been different.
While one may not like to hear our development partners say that they would be watching the next elections very carefully, we have to lump it because we have afforded them the opportunity to comment on the state of our democracy. Hopes of a new dawn following our liberation was belied, first with the introduction of, though very short-lived, one-party rule, and then by changes brought about by the tragic events of August 15, 1975. Events of 1991 brought new hopes only to be dashed. If we were to concede Obaidul Quader's accusation that it was the BNP who destroyed democracy in the country, may we ask what the Awami League has done to put it right in the decade and a half that the party has been in power?
Sometimes, Quader reveals the real state of politics in the country. He is reported to have said recently at a public meeting, "We have not been able to make politics interesting… no good people want to join politics now. No educated, honest person wants to do politics. But they should. Otherwise, politics will lack character" (Dhaka Tribune, January 8, 2023). We wonder whether the minister has ever given a thought as to why it is that the good and the educated don't join politics. Politics does not only lack character, it lacks substance too. What we have today is a hybrid democracy where people have become irrelevant and clinging to power has become the be-all and end-all of politics.
The four indicators that Levitsky and Ziblatt warn us to look out for when democracy is in regression are "rejection of (or weak commitment to) the democratic rules of the game, denial of the legitimacy of political opponent, toleration or encouragement of violence. Readiness to curtail the civil liberties of opponents, including the media." For the observant political observers, these should ring a bell.
Brig Gen Shahedul Anam Khan, ndc, psc (retd) is a former associate editor of The Daily Star.
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Awami League (AL) General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today said the pledge of AL in the 21st national council will be eliminating militancy and resisting the communal forces.
“The challenge of the present government is stamping out the poisonous root of the communal forces and militancy. The AL’s committee this time will be more dynamic through the combination of young and older leaders to overcome the challenge,” he said.
The AL general secretary said this while briefing journalists after visiting the stage set up for the party’s 21st council slated for December 20-21 at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital.
Urging the party leaders and activists to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister and AL President Sheikh Hasina for implementing the party’s election manifesto, Quader said, “The government cannot be successful if the party is not strengthened”.
The new committee will work to make the prime minister’s visions a success aiming at realizing the dream of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, he said.
Terming the upcoming council as important one, the AL general secretary said the council will be held in a festive mood while some amendments will be brought in the party constitution.
AL Relief and Social Welfare Secretary Sujit Roy Nandi, central working committee member Mirza Azam, Dhaka City South AL President Abu Ahmed Mannafi and Dhaka City North AL President Sheikh Bazlur Rahman and General Secretary SM Mannan Kachi were present, among others, during the briefing.
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Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today called upon all authorities concerned to work together to protect people from the risk of coronavirus spread --centring journey ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
The BRTA mobile court will monitor the situation round the clock and it will take action, Quader said.
He made the call while addressing a meeting of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), held at its head office in Dhaka, through a video conference from his official residence.
About safety measures, he said all vehicles must be disinfected after end of each trip and vehicles cannot stop during journey, except for emergency or taking fuel.
Passengers, drivers and their assistants will have to wear masks and maintain physical distancing rules during the journey to avoid risk of spreading the virus, he said.
He said a joint taskforce formed by all stakeholders including law enforcement agencies, Dhaka north and south city corporations and BRTA will remain active at all terminals across the capital to make the efforts successful.
Alongside, the BRTA mobile court will remain active and they will go for immediate action whenever they receive complaints or find irregularities ahead of the journey, the minister said.
Heavy vehicles will not be allowed to ply the highways across the country-- from three days before Eid-ul-Azha, he said
Besides, emergency services like vehicles carrying medicines, newspaper, perishable goods and sacrificial animals will remain out of the purview of the restriction, he said.
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Terming coronavirus situation in Bangladesh "normal", Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today said the government will take initiatives, including closing educational institutions, if needed.
Quader came up with the remarks while briefing reporters at AL's central office in Dhaka.
He said the government has taken all necessary preparations to tackle the coronavirus situation.
Later, he distributed leaflets to raise awareness about COVID-19.
Death toll from coronavirus reached 5,436 globally as of today.
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Awami League (AL) General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today said devoted persons who remained with the party in its well and woe will be made the party leaders.
“We want more disciplined and well-organized Awami League. We do not want opportunists in the party. Devoted workers will be evaluated in the party,” he said while addressing the first session of AL Chattogram District North unit’s triennial conference at the historic Laldighi Maidan in the city.
Quader said AL has a large number of workers so there is no need of wrongdoers in the party.
The party, he said, does not need workers like those who were involved with BUET student Abrar Fahad killing, who created chaos in the Chattogram University and who plunged college principal into a pond in Rajshahi.
The AL general secretary said once Chattogram was Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s strong base for achieving independence and it was also a strong base of Bangabandhu’s daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He called upon the leaders and workers of Chattogram to be united shunning quarrels.
AL Presidium Member Engineer Mosharraf Hossain inaugurated the conference while Presidium Member Advocate Abdul Matin Khasru, Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Publicity and Publication Secretary and Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, Organizing Secretary and Deputy Minister for Water Resources AKM Enamul Haque Shameem, Organizing Secretary and Deputy Minister for Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel, Deputy Publicity Secretary Aminul Islam and Deputy Office Secretary and Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Barrister Biplab Barua, among others, addressed the session.
AL Chattogram District North Unit acting President ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury chaired the function while its General Secretary MA Salam conducted it.
Speaking on the occasion, Mahbubul Alam Hanif said pro-BNP lawyers have made an unprecedented incident by creating chaos in the courtroom. People of no other countries witnessed such a terrible incident inside the courtroom of the chief justice, he added.
Dr Hasan Mahmud said world leaders including the US president, Indian prime minister, World Bank president and its chief economist have praised the unprecedented development of Bangladesh. But BNP and its 20-party alliance could not praise the achievements of the country, he added.
Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury said BNP has become a political party based on media as now the party’s only task is to hold a press conference for spreading falsehood against Awami League and the government.
Chattogram City AL Acting President Mahtab Uddin Chowdhury, Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) Mayor and City AL General Secretary AJM Nasir Uddin, Chattogram District South unit of AL President Moslem Uddin Ahmed, General Secretary Mafizur Rahman, lawmakers Didarul Alam, Mahfuzur Rahman Mita and Khadizatul Anwar Sony were present in the dais.
A huge number of leaders and workers joined the council. Later in the afternoon council session was held at the International Convention Centre in the city.
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