Toward a healthier democratic practice, and thereafter
Md Anisur Rahman
Can I make a few suggestions toward trying to improve the quality of democracy in our country as far as this objective of the nation goes?
1. It is important that democracy does not degenerate into family rule over the nation. For this, if possible some check to "inheriting" party leadership by one's spouse or son/daughter at the demise or "retirement" of an incumbent leader seem to be desirable.
2. Parliamentarians should be able to publicly discuss and debate questions of social and development policy which they will be overseeing as members of the parliament. So should aspirants for cabinet positions once elected in the parliament. Toward helping candidates for the parliament train themselves in this direction, first, all candidates may be required to join in public debates in their own constituencies on such questions. Secondly, leading members of parties should be required to appear in national television debates on such questions, directly themselves and not by proxy by some other party member.
3. There is obviously a great lack of understanding and orientation in parliamentary procedures and practice among most of our politicians who have so far followed the culture of confrontational and unruly discourse in the parliament rather than healthy debate and joint exploration with members of rival parties on relevant national issues. Perhaps, like the Civil Service Training Academy and training programmes in the armed forces as well (both of which this writer himself, like many other academicians and specialists, has had the honour to address), a Training Academy for Parliamentarians should be set up where parliamentarians will come to acquaint themselves with healthy and constructive parliamentary procedures and also be exposed to lectures and discussions on important national policy questions.
4. Some thought may also be given to reducing the term of a government to four instead of five years, which seems rather too long for the nation to suffer under negative leadership if it is ill-fated to have one.
5. And, finally, the student wings of political parties must have a holiday. In the place of this corrupted institution, may I propose a healthier alternative? We elders have so far badly damaged the future of our children by controlling all national policy decisions which affect the nation's future. In modern culture of family governance children are also given a say in running family affairs. Why not carry this principle at the state level as well? May I propose something like a National Parliament of Students for representatives of the nation's senior students -- high school upwards -- to meet once every year to debate on national policy questions that affect the future of the nation and to give their recommendations to the government? This body may also be empowered to ask cabinet ministers to appear before it for discussion and debates on questions affecting the nation's future. This practice will also train our student leaders systematically and purposefully in national affairs and contribute to preparing them to take over future leadership of the country.While all the above suggestions are made toward a healthier democracy for the nation, I should add that in the ultimate analysis the stability of democracy rests on the majority of the country's people perceiving the socio-economic system of the nation as fair. Needless to say this is not true of Bangladesh, with economic inequalities skyrocketing and social power structure terribly oppressive. Unless these basic sources of discontent of the underprivileged in the country can be decisively addressed, any benefit from improvement in the institutional quality of democratic governance will be temporary. In fact, political democracy without "economic democracy" is more a good meal for the so-called "shushil shamaj" than for the underprivileged people acutely struggling for their daily bread with visible demonstration of metropolitan life styles and also, for many of them, to preserve their very dignity as human beings. Apart from the humanitarian aspect of this question, sooner or later this glaring inequality and oppressive living conditions of the underprivileged will show again in the rise of crimes and violence, and also fatalism that invites religious fundamentalism. Then again there will be need for another army intervention, and so on, and the cycle is likely to go on and on. Md. Anisur Rahman is ex-Professor of Economics, University of Dhaka, and member of the first Planning Commission.
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