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The Third Party

6 January 2004, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Mallik Akram Hossain, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
6 January 2004, 18:00 PM
Photo: STAR
The emergence of a third party is a much talked about topic. Here, of course, we are not referring to the unconstitutional means of capturing power as happened earlier. To some, third party is nothing but an attempt to mud water. But the discussions on the emergence of the third force and its coverage in the newspapers, and also in the political discourses, must have some solid basis. The performance of successive governments, particularly from 1991, has not been up to the expectation of the people. The country has got the top position among the corrupt nations in the world for two consecutive years. Corruption has gripped the whole nation. The Anti-Corruption Bureau cannot function smoothly. The ruling party always escapes from the corruption cases by applying political power. Deteriorating law and order situation is another aspect of the failure of the democratic government.

Improvement of the law and order situation, the first priority of any government, is the most important factor for the smooth functioning of economic activities and to attract foreign investment in the country. But the situation is deteriorating day by day, rather than improving. Evidences from the newspapers show how killing, robbery, kidnapping, rape, and extortion and so on are rampant these days. The situation is going from bad to worse. In such an ominous situation, political parties are not doing anything other than attacking each other.

The faith in the judicial system, which is the last resort of the people, has been weakened and political affiliations are getting priority in nomination of judges. Poor people are denied access to justice, as they do not have money to afford the expense of litigation.

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Last, but not the least, parliament has been ineffective due to negligence of the ruling party and the party in opposition. Political parties seem to be more interested in their own agenda rather than the people who voted them to power. They are reluctant to discuss all issues in parliament. Parliament has

been a place for only the ruling party, and streets for the opposition party.

All these factors have contributed to the chaotic situation in our society. The party in power and the opposition are playing with the fate of the people.

But how long this situation will continue? Nobody knows. In these circumstances, there is no way but to look for a third party. Of course, it is a daunting task to sensitise people against the so-called party politics, which has been ingrained in our society.

But that day is not too far away when people will realise truly why their plight is as such, and consequently they will unite for an alternative.