Editorial
BNP's vow to 'oust' government
Such language is destructive
Khandakar Delwar Hossain, secretary general of the BNP, has vowed that the people of the country will oust the government if it fails to live up to their expectations. That voters in any country have it in their power to elect and remove a government through an exercise of the ballot is a truth in our times.
What is equally a truth is that once people choose a government they think it will uphold their interests for the period in which it holds office, and it is for the political opposition to respect that electoral verdict, to go into an analysis of why it lost the election and to explore the modalities by which it can influence the electorate into giving it a fresh opportunity to govern at future elections. These being the underpinnings of democratic politics, the BNP's leading lights are unfortunately fanning an atmosphere that can only undermine our fragile democracy and only deepen further the animosities between and among political parties.
To be sure, the BNP is not the first political party to talk of ousting an elected government. The divisive history of politics in Bangladesh remains testimony to the repeated moves made by politicians and parties to strike at democratic aspirations even as they have pledged to promote democracy. It has seemed that the parties believe in democracy when they win elections and cry foul when they lose them.
We had thought that after the elections of 2008, when the people of Bangladesh made their choices clear following a difficult transition, the political classes would make a fresh new beginning through a promotion of tolerance and participation in the political process.
The BNP's vow to oust the government belies that expectation. We are indeed troubled greatly by the employment of such terms as 'oust' and 'overthrow' in the democratic dispensation we are part of today. These terms may have been potent and effective in our struggles against autocracy and dictatorship. In today's circumstances, they are absolutely misplaced.
The BNP must not get its priorities wrong. Its clear responsibility is to its voters in particular and the nation in general. That entails its meaningful participation in the Jatiyo Sangsad, where it must raise the issues it feels strongly about. Its cavalier attitude to the JS has not helped it anyway. Besides, the disarray in which the BNP finds itself ought to be reason for it to reassess its politics through offering its members and followers a new dimension in thinking.
The BNP must do something it has not done so far, namely, a necessary soul-searching that will allow it to understand the reasons why it lost the last general elections. For it to suggest that the elections were a conspiracy to keep it out of power flies in the face of objective reality. Voters do not conspire to keep a party out of power. They only go for those who they believe offer them a better alternative.
Confrontational politics does immeasurable damage to a country. For the BNP, the time has come to move away from street agitation and into parliament, to engage the ruling party in meaningful debate over the issues that affect the lives of citizens day after day.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
Related News
An alarming report on children’s exposure to climate risks
19 June 2026, 19:07 PM
Editorial
Why is safe water inaccessible for millions despite rising spending?
19 June 2026, 08:00 AM
Editorial
BB must confront bad loans’ true scale
18 June 2026, 18:38 PM
Editorial
Dolphin deaths must be investigated
18 June 2026, 08:00 AM
Editorial
Weak policing fuelling rise in crimes
17 June 2026, 18:18 PM
Editorial
Comments