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Democracy in Bangladesh: Problems & Prospects

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 Democracy in Bangladesh: Problems & Prospects

M.M. Awal Hossain

Lecturer
Public Administration
Rajshahi University
Rajshahi-6205
Bangladesh
Email: awalhossain76@yahoo.com

Abstract

Democracy is a continuous political process, which can only be sustained and

developed by giving due attention to certain issues. Though Bangladesh has passed
34 years of its independence, it has failed to establish democracy as an institution.
First of all I have discussed the conceptual framework of democracy. The main aim
of this paper is to identify what are barriers to institutionalization of democracy in
Bangladesh. Then I have recommend policy measures for overcoming these
problems. Lastly, I have also discussed in briefly the prospects of Democracy in
Bangladesh. The paper is based on secondary sources of information like books,
journals, research reports and newspapers. Relevant literature has also collected
through Internet browsing.

Key Word: Democracy & Bangladesh

Introduction

We have passed about thirty-four years since independence but our achievements in
the spheres of democracy and development are not noteworthy. In Bangladesh every
political leader or party, civil or military, popular or unpopular, big or small, in or out of
power, talk about democratic incessantly. Even so the nation has failed to put it into
practice. Parties voted into power to strengthen democracy have all failed to encourage its
values. Taking advantage of this situation, military leaders intervened to practice their own
version of democracy, which only exacerbated the crisis. The country today is riddle with
numerous problems threatening the very development of democracy. Our society with an
under developed political culture and poverty ridden illiterate and incompetent masses is
lacking democratic political organizations, institutions and practices. However, the
prospects for a politically developed and economically prosperous nation is marked by
people’s eagerness to democracy and progress, nations march toward a two party system
and politicians realization that there is no way but election capture power.
 2

Conceptual Analysis
Democracy: Meaning & Concept

The term democracy is derived from the Greek words, demos and Kratos, the
former meaning the people and the latter power. Democracy thus means power of the
people. It is now regarded as a form of government in which the people rule themselves
either directly, or indirectly through their representatives. Definition of democracy, as a
form of government, are various, But like many other definitions in political science, they
differ in their content and application (Kapur, 1993). Democracy, according to the Greeks,
is the Government in which people rule over themselves. Aristotle considered it as a
perverted form of government. Herodotus says, the democracy denotes that form of
government in which in the ruling power of the state is largely vested in the members of the
community as a whole. In the words of President Abraham Lincoln, it is a government of
the people, by the people and for the people (Agarwal, 1991). According to Bryce,
“Democracy is that form of government in which the ruling power of a state is legally
vested, not in any particular class or classes but in the members of the community as a
whole”. Prof. Seeley says, “Democracy is a government in which every body has a share.”
According to Dicey, “Democracy is a form of government in which the governing body is a
comparatively large function of the entire nation. One the other hand Gettell’s opinion,
“Democracy is that form of government in which the mass of the population possesses the right
to share in the exercise of sovereign power.

Among the definitions of democracy given above, the definitions of Dicey, Bryce,
Abraham Lincoln and Gettell are more important and popular. In brief, we can say that
democracy is that form of government in which the sovereign power of the state is in the
hands of the people and people are the source of the state power and the people take part in
the government directly or through their representatives. Lastly, we can say that democracy
is the government of the majority and the majority safeguards the interests of the people. In
this form of government, the interests of minorities are not ignored.

Forms of Democracy

There are two types of democracy: (1) Pure or Direct, and (2) Indirect or Representative.

Direct Democracy: When the people themselves directly express their will on public
affairs, the type of government is called pure or direct democracy. The people formulate
laws in a mass meeting. Hearnshaw has said, “A democratic form of government, in the
strict sense of the term, is one in which the community as a whole, directly or immediately,
without agents or representatives, performs the functions of sovereignty.” Direct
Democracy was established in ancient Greek city-states. In India, direct democracy was
seen in Vajji Sangha during the Buddhist xriods. Today when large and complex societies
have emerged and when area of the State is very extensive, direct democracy is
impracticable. This system now prevails only four cantons of Switzerland. They are
Appenzell, Unterwalden and Glarus.

Representative or Indirect Democracy: In a Representative or Indirect Democracy the

will of the state is formulated and expressed not directly by the people themselves, but by
their representatives to whom they delegate the power deliberation and decision-making.
 3

John Stuart Mill has said in this regard the “Indirect or representative democracy is one in
which the whole people or some numerous portion of them exercise the governing power
through deputies periodically elected by themselves.” Another writer Bluntschli has said,
“In the representative democracy the rule is that the people govern through its official while
it legislates, and controls the administration through its representatives.

This type of government was established in England in the seventeenth century. In

France, it was established in 1830 and in Italy in 1948. In Germany it was established after
the First World War according to Weimer Constitution. Again this system was established
in West Germany after the Second World War. In India direct democracy was introduced in
the Minto-Morley Reforms of 1909. Today this system is seen in many countries like
Japan, Sri Lanka, India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America,
West Germany, Italy, France, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria and Belgium.

Basic Principles or Requisites of Democracy

1. Liberty: The main basis of democracy is liberty and equality. The people enjoy
maximum liberty and equality because criticism of the people is not only tolerated in
this system, but it is also encouraged. In Great Britain, the government pays the leader
of the opposition and the Prime Minister consults him in national emergency. For
example, when south Rhodesia threatened to declare the freedom unilaterally and
when later on it declared its freedom; the British Prime Minister consulted the leaders
of the Conservative Party and Liberal Party. When Pakistan invaded India during
August-September, 1965, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri consulted the leaders of
Opposition parties. The late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri conferred with the
leaders of the Opposition Prime parties before leaving for Tashkant for talks with
President Ayub Khan of Pakistan of January 5, 1966. In Monarchies, Dictatorships,
Aristocracies and Oligarchies the people and the Opposition parties have no say in
matters of national importance.

2. Equality: Special emphasis is laid on equality in democracy and there is no disparity

among the people on the basis of caste, religion and position of status. Besides this, all
are equal before law and there is no privileged class in UK &USA. It is essential to
establish political and economic equality along with social equality. Thus, in order to
establish political equality, all disparities on the basis of caste, religion, color and sex
have been removed in India and Adult Franchise has been introduced in order to give
opportunity to all the citizens to contest election to Provincial Assembly and Lok
Sabha (Agarwal, 1991). Efforts have also been made to establish social and political
equality in democracies like England, Japan, France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark,
Sweden, Norway, West Germany, the United States of America and Italy. Politics and
social equality is useless without economic equality. The Indian National Congress
passed a resolution in its Bhubaneshwar Session in January 1964 to bring about
socialism through democratic means. Sincere efforts are now being made to
implement this resolution.

3. Fraternity: Democracy can become successful only in a peaceful atmosphere;

otherwise democracy has to face many difficulties. For this purpose Jawaharlal Nehru
placed an idea of Panch Sheel before the world in 1954. Our government and many
other democratic governments of the world are making efforts to promote world
 4

peace. India is the President of the Non-Aligned Movement and propagating this
policy.

4. The people as ultimate source of sovereignty: In a democracy, people are the

ultimate source of sovereignty, and the government derives its power from them. For
this purpose elections take place in democracies at certain intervals. In India and
England, General Elections take place after every five years and in U.S.A. after every
four years.

5. Fundamental rights to the people: In a democracy people are given fundamental

rights because in the absence of these rights the development of an individual is not
possible. Fundamental rights have been granted to the people in their Constitutions in
India, Japan, U.S.A., France and Italy. In England the rights and freedom of the people
are protected through the Rule of Law, Charters, Acts of Parliament, and Judicial
Decisions given from time to time.

6. Independence of Judiciary: In a democracy, it is responsibility of the judiciary to

protect the fundamental rights of the people. In our country the Supreme Court and the
High Courts protect the Constitution and the fundamental rights of the people.
Wherever judiciary is not free, the protection of fundamental rights is not possible.

7. The people are considered as an end and State as the means in a democracy: This
is one of the main characteristics of democracy that individual is a mean and the state
is an end. It means that the state makes use of the individual for its own interest. In a
dictatorship no attention is paid to the freedom of the individual.

8. Welfare State: Democracy is a welfare state and in it special attention is paid to the
welfare of the people as a whole and not to a particular class.

Conditions for the success of Democracy

To make the democracy a success in any country, the following conditions should
be fulfilled:

(1) Sound System of Education: Where there is illiteracy, it becomes difficult to make
democracy successful because many qualities are needed to make democracy a
success. The citizens can acquire these qualities only through literacy. The people
should have the sense of understanding political problems. They should possess such
qualities as sacrifice, sympathy, selfless service of the country., discipline, fraternity,
etc. As far as possible, education should be free and the rich and the poor should be
given equal opportunities for their development. The citizens should strive for
mental and physical development through education. Otherwise employment shall
prove harmful for democracy. In short, ideal citizens are prepared through education
without which democracy cannot become successful.

(2) Enlightened Citizenship: People should have the knowledge of their rights and
duties to make democracy as success. So long as the citizens do not perform their
duties is essential, it is equally essential for the citizens to become conscious of their
 5

rights, without which there is every possibility of the government becoming autocrat.
Therefore, it is said that ‘Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.’

(3) Political Awakening: It is essential to inculcate political awakening among the

citizens to make democracy a success. Where there is no political awakening, the
citizens fail to understand the political problems. They are also unable to elect their
representatives properly. Political disinterestedness does not help the citizens to
understand the economic and political problems of the day and contribute their mite
to the implementation of various national plans defense efforts of the country.

(4) Freedom: Democracy guarantees the citizens the freedom of expression, freedom of
profession, freedom of religion and freedom to form associations. A free and fearless
press is the basic need of democracy in order to keep under checks the autocratic
activities of the government. In the countries where press is not free, citizens cannot
criticize the government with the result that they cannot fully enjoy much freedom.
In Russia, china and other Communist countries, the press is not free to criticize the
government. Press is also not free in the countries where there is military
dictatorship.

(5) Equality: Democracy does not recognize class distinctions. It is based on social,
economic and political equality. In democracy all are equal before law and there is
no discrimination on the basis of caste, color, religion, sex and economic status.
Economic equality does not mean that everybody should be given equal
emonuments; it means equality of opportunity and a fair and open field for all. This
kind of equality ensures social justice, which is the very life-breath of a democracy.
Equality thus means giving everybody right to vote and contest election irrespective
of caste, religion, property, sex, color and creed.

(6) Law and Order: The maintenance of law and order in society by the government is
another essential condition for the success of democracy. Anarchy prevails where
government fails to maintain law and order and the people’s faith in government is
shaken. They look towards dictatorship in order to get rid of anarchy.

(7) Spirit of Co-operation: Every democracy has to face many economic, social,
religious and political problems. In dictatorship, these problems are solved b y the
dictator according to this own whim. In absolute monarchy, the situation is similar to
dictatorship, but it is different in a democracy. In democracy the Prime Minister or
the President cannot act arbitrarily but they have to find the solution of problems
according to the wishes of the Parliament or of the people. These problems can be
solved by the co-operation of the people. further, a democracy can flourish only if
there is no big gap between the thinking of the people and of the government and
when there is a spirit of co-operation between them.

(8) Decentralization of Powers and Local self-government: For the success of a

democracy, decentralization of powers is essential. The concentration of power
makes the government autocratic. With the division of power between he center and
the provinces, the burden of the Center is reduced and the provinces get autonomy,
which ultimately brings efficiency in the administration. With the introduction of
local self-government, people take interest in the administrations and they give full
 6

support to the government. The French writer De Tocqueville has rightly said that,
“Local institutions constitute the strength of free nations. A nation may establish a
system of free governments but without municipal institutions cannot have the spirit
of liberty.”

(9) High Moral Standard: The success of democracy also depends upon the high moral
standard of the people as well as of the government. Where there is dishonesty,
black-marketing, hoarding and smuggling and where the ministers and public
servants are corrupt, the question of the success of democracy does not arise. People
should have the spirit of patriotism, discipline, self-control, and honesty in payment
of taxas and willing obedience to the laws of the land. The government should
follow the ideal of service to the community, because a welfare state and a
democracy are two inseparable things.

(10) Social and economic Security: Economic security is essential for the success of
democracy. The people should be given the right to work and it is the duty of the
government to provide them with suitable employment. In case the government is
unable to provide it to the people, it should at least provide them with shelter,
clothing and food. In Russia and in many other Communist countries, the
government has given this right to the people in their constitution. Our government
should also recognize this right of the people for the success of democracy in our
country.

Besides, social security is also essential. Now a days, the government fixes hours of
work, salary, bonus, paid holidays and compensation for fatal accidents in order to
save the laborers from exploitation by the capitalists. The government should
provide social security to the people in case of their being disabled due to old age,
illness, accident or any other cause. Without this provision, democracy shall be
considered useless. People in Russia have full social security. In India, too, some
concrete steps have been taken in this direction.

(11) Tolerance and Spirit of Unity: It is the responsibility of the people to make
democracy a success. For this, the spirit of tolerance and unity is needed in a country
like India where we have a number of religions, languages and castes, and where we
find a disparity between the rich and the poor, these qualities are very essential. In
spite of mutual disagreements, the people should join together to face a national
crisis. In case of foreign aggression, the people should forget their differences of
caste, religion, language and province and try to preserve the freedom of their
country with a spirit of devotion and sacrifice.

(12) Sound Party System: In a democracy difference in views is not only tolerated but it
is encouraged, because constructive criticism has an important place in a democracy.
For this reason, many parties crop up in a democratic set-up. In the countries where
there is only one party, and where other parties are banned democracy cannot
develop, only dictatorship develops there. It happened in Germany during the time of
Hitler and in Italy during the regime of Mussolini Now-a-days, this type of
dictatorship is found in Russia, China, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
Rumania, Bulgaria and Poland. In order to make democracy a success, a healthy and
influential opposition is a must; otherwise the ruling party will become an autocrat
 7

after winning the elections. The Opposition keeps a check on the autocratic activities
of ministers. Without it, there is every likelihood of their being power-corrupt.
Where there is a bi-party system, the task of making democracy a success becomes
easier because on party rules and the other keeps an effective check over its
activities. Where there are many parties, the legislature is divided into many small
groups and no single party is in a position to form the government. The result is that
coalition governments are installed which is not stable. Therefore, bi-party system is
better than multi-party system. There is a bi-party system in England and in the
U.S.A. There is a multi-party system in France, Italy and West Germany. That is
why democracy is more successful in England and the U.S.A, than in other countries
where there is multi-party system. In France during the Third and Fourth Republics
the government was very instable. As compared to France, there are fewer problems
in Italy and West Germany, because certain parties are very powerful in these
countries. In India, after he Fourth General Elections, we witnessed political
instability because the Congress Party was unable to secure majority in some states.
In certain states opposition parties established coalition governments, which could
not survive long (Agarwal, 1991).

(13) Written Constitution and Independent Judiciary: For the successful functioning
of democracy, people are given fundamental rights and written constitutions are
introduced with a view to checking autocratic activities of the government. Where
there are no written constitutions, the government can extend and exercise its powers
in an autocratic manner. Judiciary is the guardian of Constitution and fundamental
rights, and the independence of judiciary from the control of executive has been
guaranteed. Where judiciary is not independent, there is no guarantee of the
fundamental rights of the people and the constitution becomes useless. This is the
condition in Russia, China and many other Communist countries.

(14) Independent, impartial and periodical elections: Independent, impartial and

periodical elections help in establishing faith of the people and the opposition a
democracy, otherwise the opposition party will not get an opportunity for forming
the government and there will be no respect for public opinion. In the absence of
independent, impartial and periodical elections, the opposition parties shall try to
change the government by a revolution with the help of military or by the use of
violent force. In Pakistan, elections were not held for many years. The result was that
military dictatorship of General Ayub Khan was established in 1958, which have a
severe blow to democracy.

(15) Political security, good administration, economic prosperity and wise

leadership: Efficient administration is another condition for the success of a
democracy. In fact, the success of democracy depends upon efficient administration.
People’s faith in democracy is shaken in a corrupt administration. Political security
is also essential because people start feeling the necessary of dictatorship, if a
democratic government is unable to protect the sovereignty and integrity of the
country at the time of foreign invasion. If a government fails to remove the scarcity
of essential commodities, if the prices of these commodities are abnormally high and
if people starve owing to abject poverty, the people’s faith in democracy is shaken
and they start feeling the necessity of some other type of government. Thus to
 8

protect democracy from being usurped by dictatorship intelligent leadership is very

essential. For example, when Hitler started invading other countries, England was
not prepared to face the challenge, but under the able and enlightened leadership of
Winston Churchill not only democracy was saved but Hitler’s dictatorship was also
smashed. At the time of the Pakistani invasion is August-September, 1965 our late
Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri provideed very able leadership to the country.
Similarly, at the time of Indo-Pak War in 1971, Mrs. Gandhi provided very strong
leadership. It protected our country and inspired our army to give a crushing blow to
the Pakistani army. An able leader can bring about economic prosperity in his
country and give a clear administration to the people. Thus, he can make democracy
very stable. Democracy has taken deep roots in our country, while it has not become
strong in Pakistan because Pakistan had no leader of the stature of Jawaharlal Nehru,
Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.

Democracy in Bangladesh: An Overview

Historical Background

Bangladesh, like most of the third world countries, has a twin challenge to face:
institutionalization of a democratic order and at the same time attains a target rate of
economic growth for development. So democracy and economic development has to
develop in parallel. The level of poverty, illiteracy, starvation, disease and malnutrition that
prevails among nearly eighty percent of the population certainly does not make it easy for
any country or government to undertake such a challenge. Since independence in 1971,
democracy has been in crisis in Bangladesh. The country was born out of a long democratic
movement initially aimed at achieving autonomy for the rights of the majority population of
Pakistan. Towards the end of this movement almost the entire population of Bangladesh
was drawn in an armed struggle to establish their rights of self-determination as guaranteed
in the charter of the United Nations. The cherished goal of democratic rights of the people
were enshrined in the constitution of the country in 1972 but in less than two years after the
first parliament was elected, the structure and character of the fundamental law of the land
was changed and the country’s political system was turned into a one-party monolithic
structure. All political parties were dissolved and all newspapers were band except four to
be retained by the state; the fundamental rights were suspended and made non-enforceable
and the judiciary was reduced into a subservient agency of the executive branch of the state
(Ahmed, 1994)

The crisis of democracy deepened further with successive army interventions when
military leaders (Zia & Ershad) ruled the country. During all these years various social,
economical and political forces have operated and influenced the course of democracy in
Bangladesh. Not only did the leaders, both civil and military, create a crisis of democracy
but they had aggravated it by trying to shape the laws and events to suit their own designs,
disregarding the urgent need for development of democratic institutions and failing to
provide the commitment required for accelerating the economic growth. During the long
term (1976-1990) of military rule the institutions which have been mostly damaged but
which are considered as the pivotal force for developing constitutionalism is the party
system in the country. Since the political activities were banned repeatedly, the strength and
cohesion within the most famous parties was destroyed. On the one hand, mashroom
 9

growth political parties devoid of any ideology or program were created by money power
just to give a democratic poster to the election of the military ruler. Finally, however, the
Ershad regime was toppled by a popular man-movement in December 1990 when the
military withdrew its support (Halim, 1998).

Thus in 1990 the country was freed from the clutches of military rule and the
peoples’ sustained struggle for democracy has at last triumphed with autocrat president
Ershad and the time came to lead the nation on a new journey in search of constitutionalism
and democracy. The second start of constitutionalism had its democratic and peaceful
transit through the historic 5th parliamentary election under the Acting President Justice
Sahabuddin Ahmed. 1991, by the 12th Amendment of the constitution government was
reverted again to parliamentary form after 16 years. The starting of the second
parliamentary democracy seemed fine and enthusiastic but lastly the celebrated 5th
parliament also like every other previous parliament in the country could not complete its
constitutional duration; it was to dissolve under the pressure of the opposition movements.
The ruling party BNP has, in many was, and failed to make a positive turn towards the
development of constitutionalism and democracy.

The case of 5th parliament, the major opposition party Awami League (AL) was not
given adequate time in parliamentary deliberation and as a result they boycotted the
parliament. The ruling elite did not show much tolerance as was necessary for bringing the
opposition into parliament and they forcefully run the parliament as long as two years
without the opposition i.e. ignoring the opposition. Lastly the BNP government denied to
hold the 6th parliamentary election ignoring the opposition and it proceeded to contest the
election with some sudden hand-picked parties as the military dictator Ershad frequently
did. This was a flagrant wrong done by a democratically elected government and this
showed the ruling elite’s lock of political foresight. This is why the 6th parliament had only
7 days life. This negative trend in parliamentary democracy i.e. the trend of political
intolerance done by the BNP government has proved the crisis of constructive leadership in
the development of constitutionalism in Bangladesh (Halim, 1998). Later, the 7th
parliamentary election was held under the neutral Caretaker Government with some hopes
and aspiration and the majority voted for the AL. The new government of Al (1996) also
practiced like the before BNP govt. without opposition participation. For example:
ordinance making power is being used in the same way, policies concerning national
interests or economy e.g. making water treaty, making CHT agreement declaring two days
public weekly holidays, declaring 30% quota in public services for freedom fighters’
families etc. have been declared in public gatherings and press avoiding the parliament;
sessions of parliaments are being held for a very shorter period; the opposition BNP is
boycotting the parliament and Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister, is Just provoking this
opposition trend. Thus the trend is still in the negative direction, the parliament, as the most
important institution of democracy still remains a mere Cinderella body. The important
mass media like radio, T.V. are being used as government mouthpieces; the lower judiciary
is still depended on the executive though the government is repeatedly promising to take
steps to separate judiciary from the executive. But it has not been implemented even today.
After completing the term 5 years, the 8th parliamentary election was held under the
caretaker government of Justice Latifur Rahman on October 1, 2001. And the BNP formed
the qualision government. After formation of government they try to exercise democratic
 10

culture but the path is not moisturized till now. The present status of democracy in
Bangladesh has discussed by the following features.

Present features of Bangladesh Democracy

For better understanding of our democracy we should known the present situation of our
country. Among various features the most noticeable and important conditions may be
identified as under:

i) Absence of democratic political culture: Bangladesh is lacking a democratic

political culture. Democratic orientations and practices are not seen in our polity
and society. People’s competence to cope with the democratic norms and values
is not adequate. Even opportunities for democratic learning are not available in
our educational as well as political institutions. Thus, democratic norms and
values could not strike root in our society and polity.

ii) Absence the rule of law: In our country, rule of law became merely a frace
instead of making up the sun that shines on democracy. Today it has become the
part of our political culture that police took action against oppositions and
turned a blind eye to the real perpetrators. In case of bails to the political
activists, the judge simply to the wishes of political masters.

iii) Lack of political morality: Our politicians lack political morality which is
marked by special provision for caretaker government instead of political
government to arrange national election. It is a sign of popular distrust on our
p0liticians. However, the provision for caretaker government is positive for
democracy enough to each our politicians about the lack of their political
morality and trust on themselves.

iv) Absence of strong civil society: Bangladesh has failed to establish a strong civil
society, which could ground the liberalism and put flesh on the skeleton of
democracy. Even we are lacking a civil culture which structure the social space
of civil society in public regarding ways, anchoring individual identify and
conscience in shared norms of solidarity trust and reciprocity. Our intellectuals
are merely the prop of ruling classes.

v) Absence of strong political leadership: Bangladesh is lacking of strong

patriotic political leadership essential for leading the nation toward progress and
stability. Our leaders do not hold image to unite the nation in a platform.
Because they consider themselves as leader of there party not the nation as a
whole.

vi) Confrontational politics: Politics in our country is confrontational in nature

where there is no cooperation, trust and solidarity among political parties and
groups. There is no census among political parties on issues of national interest.
They oppose each other only for the sake of opposition.

vii) Ineffective political institutions: Our political institutions are not strong and
developed enough to render required services on way of democratization and
 11

political development. Our parliament does not work effectively due to

continuous boycott by opposition and its role as a ground for deliberation
proved to be ineffective. Our political parties are safe shelter of vested interests.
Thus their role to institutionalize democracy is not only inadequate but also
unacceptable.

viii) Corruption and terrorism: Corruption and terrorism are two terrible barriers
to democratic development in our country. Al though the then govt. refused the
claim, Transparency International has ranked 4th times Bangladesh as most
corrupt nation of the world. Terrorism is not unconcerned to none of our
citizens. thus, greatest challenge. Before the nation is to uproot corruption and
terrorism from our society.

ix) Negativity/Double standard: Double standard attitude is a great barrier to

democratic development as it discourages to accept others. Everything is just if
it favors one’s own interest, otherwise it is wrong. A election is fair if the result
is favorable otherwise it is unfair. Such kind of attitude forces our politicians to
stereotyped enmity and distrust.

x) Lack of tolerance and reciprocity: There is a lack of tolerance, mutual respect,

trust and reciprocity among our politicians and political parties. Compromise
and consensus is absent from our polity, which inflames enmity among
politician and endangers the growth of democracy in the country.

Other Major Problems & Impediments of Democracy

Beside the above trends and impediments of parliamentary democracy in

Bangladesh there are some other institutions of democracy, which are beset with hazardous
problems hampering the development of democracy in Bangladesh.

1. Parliamentary Committee System: It is through the functioning of the committee

system that bureaucracy comes under the direct scrutiny of the parliament since the
committee concerning a particular ministry along with its associated bodies can
send for any official or bureaucrat to appear before it to justify his action or send for
any paper or document.

The rules of Procedure of Parliament of Bangladesh were adopted in 1974 and it

provided for almost 25 committees in parliament of these 11 are departmental
standing committees. But though in thinking and insecting provisions for
committees Bangladesh was well ahead of all other parliamentary system in the
commonwealth, the effective working of the committee system has not yet been
developed. The cruse of the problem lies with the provision in Rules 247 of the
procedure which provided that Minister of State in charge of a subject relating to
particular committee shall e ex-offico provided for almost 25 committees in
parliament Chairman of every such standing committees. These undemocratic
provisions were made by the same government, which piloted the constitution
making. Of course, recently a change has been made to the provision providing that
a minister shall not be the chairman of the committee but he may be a member of
 12

the committee which still remains as an undemocratic provision Again there is no

provision in Bangladesh allowing taking evidence in public by committees which
need to be remedied in order to make the administration accountable to the people
through the committee hearings. This will help bringing transparency in
government, which is a sin qua non-for growth of parliamentary accountability.

2. Problems of Bureaucracy and Public Administration

The Bangladesh bureaucracy is well known as hot bed of corruption. Corruption in

the administration of Bangladesh worse than anywhere in the world. According to
Transparency Inte4rnationa, Bangladesh has already been 4th times identified as a
number one corrupted nation of the World. Interestingly the politicians blame the
bureaucrats for corruption and inefficiently in the public administration. On the
other hand, bureaucrats blame politicians for corruption and inefficiency. Who are
then really responsible? I would say that our politicians are responsible for the
problems in bureaucracy. Because bureaucracy is like a cage of pet and trained
animals to obey the orders of their masters, but to keep these animals always loyal
and obedient masters must not forget to apply, some controlling devices. Our
master-like politicians have not applied and sometimes have applied improperly
those controlling devices to keep bureaucrats within their bounds. There are some
universally recognised methods of ensuring accountability of bureaucrats. But
Bangladesh administrative system lacks those methods from very inception of
course, it is the fact the war of independence that created Bangladesh was actively
participated by Bengalis civil and military personnel and the result was that the new
Bangladesh government inherited a politicized administration. It was also the fact
that the leaders of the newborn country had little administrative experience.
Recently it has been observed by the Bangladesh Aid consultative group at Parish
that ‘Bangladesh Public Administration has not been able to deliver on some of the
most important targets the government has set for it. Decisive action is now required
at the highest level of government to being to break the bottleneck. The problem
which beset our public administration today are (i) corrupted by bureaucrats; (ii)
inadequate accountability; (iii) inefficiency; (iv) centralization of decision-making
power and bureaucrats master-like interference in it; (v) politicization of
bureaucracy and administration etc.

3. Problems of Political Parties

Political parties are backbone of democracy without democracy within the party-
unit it is quite impossible to expect democracy at the governmental level. But in
Bangladesh political parties are mostly fragile and fragmented. (Halim, 1998).
There are more than 100 political parties in Bangladesh but very few of them have
definite ideology or programmes to be followed by supporters and future
generation. Though one or two parties have ideologies and programmes, the leaders
often defy them for their selfish end. Almost all political parties are based around
individuals and most of them do not have any grassroots organization or sufficient
support to claim public representation. Mostly political parties are characterized by
the politics of conspiracy, self-interest, greed and power-expectation.
 13

The nature and composition of major parties reveal a disappointing state of affairs.
The constitutions of the most of the parties are absolutely monolithic in nature. The
party chairman can make and dissolve any committee from the highest to the lowest
level. The party structure and committees are filled by nomination not by election.
Political parties in Bangladesh are considered as safe abode for criminals, terrorists
and extortionists, for these types of people are always given shelter in parties.

Another great impediment to the growth of democracy is the hereditary to dynastic

element in the party leadership. Khaleda Zia became leader because she is the wife
of late President Zia who founded the BNP and Sheikh Hasina because of her father
who founded Bangladesh. The leaders of these two political parties are permanently
settled in their respective positions canceling all the possibilities of emergence of
any new leadership in their respective parties. This anti-democratic dynastic feature
in the party leadership has been the greatest impediment to the development of
constitutionalism in Bangladesh. This is on the one hand, destroying our political
institutions and one the other hand, preventing and discouraging honest and
dedicated people to come into politics.

All these are the factors in party politics in Bangladesh, which are discouraging as
well as preventing educated and honest people to come into politics.

4. Problems of Press and Media

Transparency and openness is government transaction is a necessary part of

effective democracy. And press and media fulfill these two necessary elements of
government. ‘A popular government without popular information or means of
acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both’. So there
should be unhindered flow of information of government transactions (Halim,
1998). Since independence both radio and TV have been using as mouthpiece of the
government. This is why there appears to be a fairly large audience for non-
Bangladeshi radio-sources, including All India Radio, BBC and VOA. Both BNP
and Al had avowed commitment to the people that they would give autonomy to the
state-controlled radio and TV. But nothing positive has yet been done.

5. Problems of Local Government

Local government is one of the most vital institutions of democracy. Modern state
administration is almost unthinkable without devolution of power to the local
governments. Due to increase of population as well as to huge expansion of
governmental activities certain matter of policy and administration concerning
national and international interests as5re reserved for central administration and the
rest wide range of governmental functions are vested in local authorities (Jones,
1989).

The system of local government helps in different ways to bring transparency and
efficiency within the state administration. First, it helps to solve local problems
locally and relieves the central government much of its responsibility to deal with
 14

trifle and local matters. Second, it relieves MPs much of their burden of local
responsibilities, which people usually expects from MPs. If local government are
institutionalized, they will help develop leadership from the grassroots level giving
gradually a strong base in democracy.

Article 59 of the Bangladesh constitution provides that local government of every

administrative unit ‘shall be entrusted to bodies composed of persons elected in
accordance with the law’ and they will perform functions relating to:

a. Administration and work of public officers;

b. The maintenance of public order;

c. The preparation and implementation of plans relating to public services and

economic development.

Article 60 also empowers the local government to exercise ‘the power to impose
taxes for local purposes’, to prepare their budgets and to maintain funds. But no
government so far has taken proper initiative to fulfill the aspirations expressed in
the constitution with regard to institutionalization of local government.

Elected local government should be autonomous and independent of the executive

and the local administration should be under the control of the local government.
But in Bangladesh every government has kept colonial mentality in respect of
nourishing this institution.

6. Problems of Unconstitutional Laws and the Control Over Delegated Law: The
comptroller and Auditor-General, Election Commission. Public Service
Commission, Local Government etc. are constitutionally created essential
institutions of democracy. Institutionalization of democracy depends on the full
independence and proper functioning of these institutions. The constitution has
given these institutions full independence but statutory laws, which deal with their
composition and functions, are vitiating all aspirations of the constitution. In most
cases these Laws have been made violating the provisions of the constitution.

To give democracy a positive turn these unconstitutional laws should immediately

be repealed and democratic laws in accordance with the provisions of the
constitution should be made (Halim, 1998). The largest portion of laws in the
country is covered by delegated legislation. Now over country is run almost by S.R.
Os and these are often contradictory and they sometimes violate even constitutional
provisions. This is the area where the executive is abusing its power almost
rampantly. A statutory instrument Act should, therefore, immediately be made and a
standing committee should be established to scrutinize these delegated laws before
they are applied.

7. The Leadership Problem

The problem of democracy in Bangladesh as discussed above is politico-legal in

nature. From socio-economic point of view Bangladesh is an underdeveloped
 15

country. There is plethora of problems like over-population and its rapid growth,
illiteracy, poverty, disease, malnutrition, unemployment etc. But our leaders have
created almost all these problems. On the other hand, there are huge possibilities
and factors in favour of industrialization and economic growth in the country. Many
third World countries started tyheir jhourney towards constitutionalism and
economic development with fragile institutions as was in the case of Bangladesh
still lags behind. The basic reason behind such a position is leadership crisis, which
these nations have been suffering since its independence. The Malaysian Prime
Minister Maha there is a classic example of a prudent and intelligent leader, He
transformed his country from rudimentary stage of this ‘tiger’ status. Malaysia was
beset with many problems earlier. South Korea’s economy was no better than ours
in the 60s. Its per capita income was lower than that of Bangladesh in 1953. But by
virtue of solid leadership skill, it has surpassed us long back (Ahmed, 1997).

The age of our Independence is 34 years, which is a pretty long time. Unfortunately,
we still talk about food, cloths, and shelter-three basic needs of the people. This 34
years period was enough for any civilized and hard working nation to change its
luck and rise to glory. Ironically we failed even to meet our minimum heeds over
this long period. Our people are no less hard working than those on industrial
nations. They do not know the way to do it. The leaders in our country only
‘aggravate the crisis of democracy by trying to shape events to suit their own
exigency while disregarding the urgent need for economic growth. Their
commitments were limited to speeches and the ritual of annual plans are drawn up
and implemented by bureaucracy … No political effort was made to inspire the
people towards sacrifice and growth and no serious national plan was envisaged to
deal with these problems. The leaders remained too busy with small, peripheral,
petty personal politics and ignored the fundamental issues of development and
democracy (Ahmed, Moudud, 1995).

It is the fact that democracy cannot be established overnight. Those who have firmly
established democracy have developed their traditions of social and political justice
over the period of many ages. Although 34 years has been passed arte
independence, Bangladesh was under military and presidential ruled near about 20
years. Parliamentary form of government has been started since 1991 but till now no
viable dedicated leader nor any viable constitutional government has yet evolved.
Still politicization in the administration goes on. Both Khaleda Zia and Sheikh
Hasina have adopted the policy of creating a support-base within the bureaucracy
and administration. Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina _ there two ladies are
struggling, as their activities show, not for the cause of democracy; rather for
finding them in power any how (Halim, 1998). Both are showing their narrow
outlook and are adopting the policy of provoking each other. They have also
stopped the way to emerge any viable leadership in democratic way. Democracy
may be captive at the hand of these two ladies if they do not come out from their
narrow out look for the cause of democracy.

Now the condition of these two parties are one will be in power and other will be in
opposition. And now more they will be intolerant against each other, more they will
se the emergence of a third power, more people will be dismayed and more they
 16

will bring possibilities of unnecessary, there will be no scope for economic

development. The nation is still ardently looking forward to a dedicated leader who
would take responsibilities to liberalize all-important institutions of democracy.

Suggested Policy Measures for Overcoming the Problems of Democracy in

Bangladesh

To remove the difficulties and to institutionalize the democracy following measures

should be taken immediately.

1. The system of allowing Ministers to act as Chairmen of standing Committees of their

respective Ministries has to go. Instead, the Standing Committee on each Ministry
ought to be comprised of eleven fifteen members drawn from each political party in
proportion to their respective strength. Once the number of such committees and
Chairman is determined, each committee will then elect its Chairman from among the
members of the party to which the post of chairman has been designated and these will
be no party whip in this regard. Each Committee may also decide to elect the
Chairman by rotation among the parties on an annual basis.

2. The Public Accounts Committee and the Public Undertaking Committee must always
be chaired by senior members of Opposition (Ahmed, 1995). The proceeding of such
committee meetings will be open to public and media unless the committee itself
decides to meet in camera on any particular matter.

3. The power to issue ordinance under Article 93 of the Constitution is being regularly
misused. Except in an emergency such as war or total breakdown of law and order
which calls for a proclamation of emergency, any ordinance the government intends to
make under Article 93 of the Constitution must go through the scrutiny of the relevant
Standing Committee and obtain its approval before its promulgation.

4. The political will of the government must be demonstrated in a way so that the
bureaucrats cannot dare defy Minister’s orders (Halim, 1998). The constitutional
independence and autonomy for CAG must be ensured so that it can independently
work in the way to make bureaucrats accountable in respect of financial matter and
monitor their financial responsibilities.

5. A department of Ombudsman should immediately be created which will work as an

all time watchdog against misadministration, red-tapism and inefficiency in the
bureaucracy.

6. Directly elected local governments should be established according to Articles 59 and

60 of the constitution with proper powers and independence and the respective local
administration with its officials and staff must be vested in the direct control of the
local governments. This will on the one hand, decentralize administrative power,
functions and responsibilities and as a result channel-based corruption, conspiracy and
red-tapism by the bureaucracy would be reduced and on the other hand it will relieves
MPs much of the burden of local responsibilities and they will therefore, be able to
concentrate more in committee functioning whereby the central bureaucracy will
come under the direct control of parliament.
 17

7. Democracy within the party must be gradually strengthened so that leadership from
grassroots levels can develop and leaders can gradually gather knowledge over
administrative accountability and that they should not depend on bureaucrats.

8. Lower Judiciary should be separated from the executive. This will relieve the
bureaucrats of exercising Judicial Power on the one hand, and on the other people will
get rid of the problem of corruption in Magistrate’s court where Justice for the poor
people in almost captive at the corrupt hand of magistrate’s. Separation will bring
accountability in the Judicial Sector.

9. Corruption is the main problem in Bangladesh administration for implementation of

any develop0ment programme. Corruption has engrained in our society. But this evil
cannot be wiped out overnight. No Leader, howsoever powerful or charismatic he may
be, will be able to wipe corruption out overnight. Only it can be wiped out gradually
through the process of institutionalization of controlling institutions and it needs a
dedicated leader for institutionalization of institutions, which controls the
administration.

10. In accordance with the provisions of Articles 11,59 and 60 of the constitution local
government institutions should be set up for ensuring people’s participation in the
development of the country and there should be three tiers of local government at
Thana, Union and Zilla levels and all the liers should be composed of elected
representatives of the people by direct election. Every local government should be
autonomous and maximum devolution of power to be made to the local government.
Local government institution should be made free from government interference
except audit and inspection of funds provided by the government.

11. Local governments should be so designed that MP can also become the Ex-Offico
adviser of the Thana and District Council. This will keep the Linkage between the
local government and the MP and help MP to remain in touch with the development
work in his constituency. This will also help develop relation between the parliament
and the local governments.

12. Hereditary nature of leadership should be abolished and the party constitution should
be amended to allow change in the leadership after each specified term. The party
structure and committees should be filled only by election and this will encourage as
well as develop leadership from grass-root level.

13. For the transparency within the government fabrics Radio and TV should immediately
be given autonomy. Operation of private TV channels should be allowed. All
restrictive Laws concerning press and media should be allowed to be self regulated by
them through a code of ethical practice.

14. Our politicians should realize that they have responsibility to build up the nation and
they should pay due respect to people’s will and expectations. Both the government
and opposition should work under democratic norms and values instead of
confrontation and egoism. Our politicians should be positive in playing their role in
the polity. They must realize that politics is not a zero-sum game rather it is a
cooperative business for the greater will being of the nation.
 18

Prospects of Democracy in Bangladesh

In spite of numerous problems and obstacles in the run up of democracy in our

country, there are cheers for democracy envisaged in the vary process of our politics and
governance, Such as -

1. Homogeneous character of the people

The people of our country are almost homogeneous in their origin, socio-economic
and political belief. Except some minorities in CHT, almost all the people are from Bengali
origin and about 85 percent of our people are Muslims. Such homogeneous character of the
people is a positive side for democratic development.

2. Provision for caretaker government

In spite of some preordained blames of defeated parties, caretaker government has

to be credited for holding a free and fair poll which given nation confidence on very
process of election and politics.

3. Peoples eagerness for democracy

The presence of voters in polling centers, their enthusiasm about e4lection and
politics and their verdict against misdeed of govt. both in 1996 and 2001, proved that
people are eager to democracy and it is increasing day by day.

4. Peaceful transition of power

After completion of five years term, the AL government has transferred power in
the hand of a non-party caretaker government and after a free and fair election, the CG has
transferred the power to an elected government. Such process of peaceful transferred the
power to an elected (BNP) government. Such process of peace4ful transition of power is
positive sign of democratic development in the country.

5. March toward too party system

Although there are too many political parties in Bangladesh, the result of recent poll
envisage the march of nation toward a two party system.

6. Response of civil society

Now a day’s civil society is very conscious about various issues of democracy and
governance. Very often-civil society response against government for any anti public
interest. It is a good sign of democracy.
 19

7. Independence of press, media and newspaper

Today all the press, media and newspapers are enjoying the full independence
except govt. Radio and TV. So we can say it is another light of hopes for democracy.

8. Party campaign at the grass root level

Now a days Major Political Parties are campaign about political culture and aware
the grassroots level people to their rights and duties to the state. They also aware them how
to develop the socio-economic condition of our rural Bangladesh as well as the hole state.
For example, we can mention both BNP and AL who are already meetings, seating and
campaign every district and thana level one after another respectively with local level
workers and leaders.

9. Privatization

Bangladesh has a long experience of carrying the privatization programme. The

privatization programme starts in mid 70s and is still continuing. Since then it has
privatized more than one thousand units. Privatization can ensure decision making for
purely economic rationality rather than from political ground or personal ego at enterprise
level. As globalization of the world economy is taking place, to keep peace with the other
countries of the world, the economy should be made more market oriented. The privation is
in right to move this end.

10. Role of NGO

A number of NGOs are working in Bangladesh. Most of the NGO's target is to

organize the rural people and increase awareness to them for development of their socio-
economic conditions. They have a lot of program like as, mass education, health and
sanitation, micro credit programs etc. Name of some prominent NGOs are Grameen Bank,
Proshika, BRAC, ASA, CARE etc. Most of the NGOs are working for democratic
development.

11. Women Empowerment

The constitution of Bangladesh contains the provision of gender equality,

prohibition of gender basis of discrimination and extension of opportunity of women in all
spheres of civic life. It is also stated in the constitution that the local government
institutions be composed of representatives of peasants, workers and women (Article 9);
steps will be taken to ensure participation of women in all spheres of national life (article
10); right to guaranteed employment at a reasonable wage having regard to the quality of
life [article 15 (b)]. Our political parties are fond of making room for women in their party
politics. Both two women head the government and opposition parties, women's
representation in the party committees and other bodies is noticeable. The participation of
women in electoral politics is significant.
 20

Conclusion

From the above discussion we can say that from very early of civilization democracy was
discussed from various viewpoints and applied it various way. Today most of the people
want to enjoy this form of government. The people of Bangladesh are not out of them. But
Bangladesh has been facing various problems to institutionalize democracy since its
independence. Yet it, prospects of democracy in Bangladesh today are not insignificant. I
think the suggested policy measures given above would be helpful for the policy makers of
the state for democratic development. For this the media, civil society and socio-political
organizations and institutions must play the pioneering role.

References

1. Agarwal, R.C. 1991. Political Theory. New De4lhi: S. Chand & Company Ltd.

2. Ahmed, Moudud, 1995. Democracy and the challenge of Development. Dhaka:

UPL.

3. Halim, M.A. 1998. Constitution Constitutional Law and Politics: Bangladesh

Perspective. Dhaka: Rico Printers.

4. Kapur, A.C. 1993. Principles of Political Science. New Delhi: S. Chand &
Company Ltd.

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