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Editorial

Bipartisan approach to eradication of poverty encouraging

But the BNP must argue its case in JS
18 September 2010, 18:00 PM
EDITORIAL
There are moments when we as a people believe that our politics will finally eschew its divisive tendencies and get back on the right track. Such intermittent hope, whenever it is roused in us by the nation's political classes, does wonders for our collective imagination and leads us into thinking that perhaps the time has indeed arrived for democracy to actually dig deeper roots in Bangladesh. It is this kind of feeling which took hold of us on Friday, when parliamentarians from both the ruling Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party gathered on one platform to declare their unity of purpose in alleviating poverty in the country. That they came together in spirited support of the Millennium Development Goals is a positive happening the import of which was not lost on anyone. The next move should now be a refocusing on the Jatiyo Sangsad as the fulcrum of all political, economic and social undertaking. One hardly needs any reminder that it is the opposition BNP which must inform itself that all the good its chief whip spoke of on Friday regarding bipartisan political cooperation can only come through allowing Parliament to function in its constitutionally ordained way. It makes little sense for the BNP to speak of its readiness to cooperate with the ruling party in governance and yet, for reasons that do not quite appear logical or politically feasible, stay away from the House. The party has been away from the JS for a long time, which in democratic politics is surprising because of two very important reasons. In the first place, its lawmakers have failed to acknowledge their responsibility to their constituencies. In the second, by engaging in politics on the street rather than in the JS, they have sadly not demonstrated the kind of sagacity one normally expects from a party which has been in power for a large chunk of time in Bangladesh's history. We have stated in these columns earlier that if democracy is to be a meaningful and throbbing enterprise in Bangladesh, the Jatiyo Sangsad must function fully and effectively as the centre of all social and political activities. But by opting to stay away from it and asking that its preconditions be met before it can return to the House, the BNP has regrettably slowed our progress to a healthy democratic order. The attitude not only makes the party's intentions suspect in the eyes of many but also poses a grave risk to the future of democracy. Its insistence on what it considers a respectable front row presence in the House, its points about Begum Zia's residence-related issues as well as its arguments on the cases involving her children are matters that will acquire more weight and purpose when they are raised in Parliament. By being present in Parliament and taking issues with the government, they will not only prove deferential to the House of the people and their constituency, they will also testing the government's commitments to giving them space in the JS. We believe now is the time, in the light of this bipartisan approach to anti-poverty measures, for the BNP to return to the Jatiyo Sangsad and contribute to the debate on such issues as the recent judicial annulments of the Fifth and Seventh Amendments to the Constitution. Besides, there are the basic issues of governance --- price rises, law and order, corruption, et cetera --- where its input can truly contribute to a proper prioritisation of policies. The BNP's insistence that a proper environment be created before it can return to the House is mystifying. The fact is that its lawmakers were elected by their voters to be in the Jatiyo Sangsad and not outside it.

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