Coming election and people’s aspiration

Dr. Foqan Uddin Ahmed, Writer, Columnist & Researcher:  Article 119 of the Bangladesh Constitution empowers the Election Commission to hold parliamentary elections. International laws and treaties also oblige us to hold genuine elections. For example, according to Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civic and Political Rights, a treaty we signed in 2000, “every citizen shall have the opportunity to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors.” Similarly, according to Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we are required to hold genuine elections and “the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government.” It goes without saying that elections where voters have the opportunity to vote, and are free, fair and competitive, can be called genuine and credible.
The eleventh parliament election is knocking at the door. Voting in election is the fundamental right of citizens. Election and development are both closely related. The journey of development and its discipline must be continued. No democratic state can develop without the representative of the people. If development and election are not corrupt free, people cannot enjoy it properly. The people are in tension about the election regarding the possibility of any political unrest or turmoil; the general people will not tolerate it.
By this time, many political analysts have given their comments on the upcoming national election. But whatever the comments they are making, it should be in line with the sentiment of the general people. The general people want participatory and festive election ensuring the level playing field. In that regard, they want a strong election commission so that the poll is not manipulated as it happened in the past. There are also some bad elements in parties who cannot be accepted by the general people. The coming election will be much more challenging.
Perhaps in this election, the political parties will nominate their dedicated candidates but they will have to face from strong opposition, even a rebel candidate from within the party. People want an election in which all parties will participate, and the ruling party AL should create such an atmosphere for the sake of upholding democracy. If the ruling party and others fail to correct themselves, people may take to the streets again, seeking a change in the current perverted political culture. And if the people do so, politics must go through a real change, reflecting what the mass people sincerely expect.
Our politicians have institutionalized a culture of fear mongering by holding the people hostage through hartals. If hartal means the right to demonstrate, there is no problem. But if hartal endangers our lives and property while posing a threat to our fundamental rights, it is a direct attack on democracy and contravenes of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The hartals that we have been witnessing over the past two decades are contorting the norms of democracy. In fact hartals have already sounded the death knell of democracy in Bangladesh. I shudder to think of what awaits us in the future. In the present situation we have to find solutions to all issues that divide us, particularly the upcoming general election, through dialogue and democratic means. All parties and citizens have a sacred and collective responsibility to work for the restoration of peace and calm; let us rise above all partisan and other considerations. This is the only way for the survival of our freedom and democracy. Peace can only be achieved on the bedrock of intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind. If conflict or violence begins in the hearts and minds of the people it is in their hearts and minds that defense of peace should be built.