Can we try constitutional monarchy?
It seems that the present government has been trying to get the country's two politically dominant families Zia family and Bangabandhu family off politics since the interim administration came to power a year back. They have so far tried a number of options that include keeping Hasina and Khaleda out of the country and replacing them as heads of their respective political parties the AL and the BNP. I think these efforts will not succeed, as these steps by nature go against human rights and are unacceptable to all democracy-loving people both inside and outside the country or, at least, these would look odd in such an emerging democracy, unlike Pakistan. Besides, even though these are done, they will merely be temporary, as we have observed in the cases of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. Under the circumstances, the present government can try an option of setting up constitutional monarchy that will replace the current position of the President of Bangladesh with Queen or King. Under this formula, the Bangabandhu family will be made the royal family with no political powers while the Zia family will be put on the 'free market politics' (real competition in elections) where the 'market forces' (quality of competing parties and leaders) will determine the value of the BNP with Zia family at the party helm. If the present government organises a referendum before introduction of such a monarchy, the whole thing will be democratic as well as legitimate.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments