AL’s victory and the politics of splendid isolation

Afsan Chowdhury writes for DOT : 
BNP has refused to go to polls at the Upazilla and the municipal corporation level because it thinks that any polls under the current regime will be unfair. The absolutely overwhelming nature of AL’s national elections victory is now causing pressure on the political system itself as AL faces the prospect of more or less solitary rule. The way JP also and other allies won seats and overwhelmed others show that the victories and defeats are largely a by-product of the political symbol- boat- not parties. Hence it’s not one party rule but one symbol rule.
The size and scale of the win
The victory has been so huge that some people are indeed rubbing their  eyes in disbelief. Its not national media which has done extensive reporting or commentaries on it are around. However, people’s perception is that while the AL victory was certain, the size of the victory was rather extreme.
Most don’t agree with the BNP position but international news stories and doubts expressed by international bodies and media are also coming in. Local media has been quite about it but the TIB survey has been the most critical one as it is based on public perception survey. Right or wrong, that’s what people think. The ruling Government has abused and trashed it but public opinion has not thrown it away.
Meanwhile ministers, politicians and even the PM has taken pains to tell the people why the size of the AL victory was a to be expected. It seems that the need to explain comes from the desire to put to rest any doubts about the mammoth results and the overall quality of the elections.
What nobody doubts is that the AL was to be the winner. What more and more people doubt is the size of the victory. It’s a rather odd situation where the victory has almost overwhelmed the political relevance of the electoral system.
Will elections survive ?
For BNP, the future at this point looks bleak and it may not matter whether they participate in any future polls or not. Given the size of such a victory the Opposition can argue that participation is pointless so staying away and hoping that the winds will change is the best option. In fact, public interest in election in the absence of any competition may also decline.
But surprisingly, even after such a massive election , spontaneous public joy was not manifest as much as party and supporters joy was. And nor did public erupt in dismay. Which means public stake in the political system is not high. They don’t care as much about the elections as much as politicians do for whom its a ticket to power. When people are neither jubilant nor sad, the verdict is on the structure of politics and elections, not this or that party.
For the moment, its great to be AL with an opponent totally crushed and no rivalry in sight. But a political structure of the current variety based on a parliamentary system needs an opposition and there is none. With no one to speak against the incumbency, the ruling party will inevitably have to become its own critic or be very arrogant. It either has to start overlooking its own faults or reduce them seriously.
The government has said that it will have zero tolerance against corruption and other ailments but in a system where there is no accountability, and not possible to be accountable given the shape it is now, who will ask the questions ?
AL’s main problem may well be the spectacular success as public interest in electoral systems will decline but public service performance expectation will increase. There will not be many to put the blame on as AL did after 2014. With such a majority it will have less excuses than it wants if the governance quality doesn’t match its promises and performances. The AL stands splendid in victory but in political democracy, its nice to be a bit crowded not glow in isolation. The system works better that way.