Bangladesh’s next national election is set for 2023, but concerns are already being raised about whether the vote will be free, fair and inclusive.
The South Asian nation’s previous two general elections proved hugely controversial, with complaints of crackdowns on opposition parties and ballot stuffing in favor of the ruling Awami League party.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League won both elections, keeping her at the top of the power since 2009. International observers have expressed concern over the state of the country’s electoral system.
Last week, Ito Naoki, the Japanese ambassador to Dhaka, said he expects Bangladesh’s next election to be more transparent than in 2018.
“I heard Bangladesh police filled the ballot boxes…There is no such precedent in any other country. I expect such an incident will not repeat.” he told a think tank discussion in Dhaka. “The country needs a free and fair election,” Naoki added.
In Bangladesh, foreign ambassadors play a role in internal politics, acting as a neutral broker by putting pressure on the government to try and create a free and fair election environment. Japan has been a close development partner of Bangladesh for decades.
The Bangladesh Police Service Association (BPSA) has rejected Ambassador Naoki’s comment on police stuffing ballot boxes the night before elections in 2018.
Bangladesh — ‘We do not accept the farcical election’
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Rumeen Farhana, from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), said Transparency International Bangladesh had found proof of ballot stuffing in 2018.
“I do welcome the ambassador of Japan for recognizing this,” she told DW. “I hope our development partners’ position on this issue will help stop a repetition of the same or other forms of election rigging in the future,” Farhana added.
Deep-rooted problem
Ali Riaz, a political science professor at Illinois State University focusing on South Asia, thinks the problem is deeply rooted in Bangladesh’s electoral system.
“Law enforcement agencies and civil administration siding with the Awami League didn’t happen suddenly during the 2018 election,” he told DW. “It began after 2011, and the more the ruling party relied on them, the more they became invested in the survival of the regime,” he added.
“The line between party, government, and the state has become blurred for more than a decade. Partisan employment solidified it,” Riaz said.
Before 2011, Bangladesh had a “caretaker” system intended to prevent ruling parties from rigging and manipulating elections.
Under the caretaker system, when an elected government finishes its five-year mandate, a caretaker government — consisting of civil society representatives — takes over the state administration for three months and holds elections.
Non-partisan caretaker administrations conducted general elections in 1996, 2001, and 2008, and the polls were seen as free, fair, and inclusive by domestic and international observers.
However, the system was ended in 2011, and the ruling Awami League remained in power at the time of the general election in 2014. The vote was hugely controversial, with almost all major opposition parties boycotting it. Accusations of massive vote rigging also tainted the subsequent 2018 general elections.
Improving Bangladesh’s system?
Opposition leader Farhana and expert Riaz both advocate a return to the non-partisan caretaker government system in Bangladesh. With the next election set for 2023, there is time for electoral reforms to make it happen.
“If a non-partisan government is in charge during an election and the election commission acts as per its mandate, the situation is likely to be different. The situation is yet to be irreversible,” Riaz told DW.
He added that law enforcement agencies and civil administration will find that it is in their best interests to remain out of the fray if the uncertainty about election results can be eliminated.
Farhana said that all Bangladeshi parties, except the ruling party, consider an election-time caretaker government system to be an integral part of a fair election.
“The state institutions are in much worse condition, and the mistrust and enmity among the political parties are much higher now,” she told DW.
Geoffrey Macdonald, senior adviser for the Asia division at the International Republican Institute (IRI), a think tank, said that reform is needed to restore faith in the electoral system.
“Whether the elections occur under the current election commission, the caretaker system, or another negotiated solution, steps need to be taken to ensure the integrity of and build trust in the electoral process,” he told DW.
“Right now, the opposition doesn’t believe elections will be fair. All sides need to work together to restore faith in Bangladesh’s elections,” he added.
International community can play ‘an important role’
Earlier this month, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary Afreen Akhter said Washington is working “very closely” with Bangladeshi civil society actors to deliver free and fair elections next year.
“Our USAID mission is working very closely with the civil society actors across Bangladesh to support their efforts to provide free and fair elections in Bangladesh,” Akhter told journalists at a press conference in Dhaka.
Macdonald thinks that the international community can play an important role in ensuring free, fair, and participatory elections in the Muslim-majority country.
“Diplomats should continue to call for inclusive, transparent, and nonviolent elections and stand in solidarity with domestic organizations that are working to ensure the integrity of the electoral process,” he said
Ashikur Rahman, a senior economist at the Policy Research Institute, a think tank, said that diplomats should broaden their engagement with different stakeholders.
“There is nothing wrong if the US or any other country engages civil society leaders on critical matters such as democracy, human rights, and other social and political issues. Civil society remains an important stakeholder, and they should have every freedom to speak on key socio-political issues,” Rahman told DW.
“Diplomats must try to engage with all civil society actors and not restrict their engagement to a few core groups. In the best case, widespread engagement with different stakeholders will help them understand political nuances and our political contexts, which should help them understand what is pragmatic and feasible,” he added.
Ruling party resists change
However, many of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party leaders do not welcome diplomats talking about Bangladesh’s elections. They have asked them to not get involved in the process.
“Under national and international law, it is not permissible for the diplomats to be involved in how the election works in Bangladesh. We have sufficient legal, regulatory, administrative, and policy frameworks through which elections are conducted,” Salim Mahmud, the central information and research secretary for the Awami League, told DW.
“The caretaker government issue is a ‘past and closed chapter’ in view of the constitutional provisions of Bangladesh,” he added.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/bangladesh-ruling-party-dominance-prompts-democracy-concerns/a-63955440?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf