Parliamentary democracy : Values and practices

For making democracy effective, institutional framework and requisite elements need to be prepared and based on strong foundation. Unless democracy is nurtured in a proper way and all the principles are correctly adhered to, it will lose its character and may turn into autocracy. It should always be remembered that the autocratic rule may seem to be beneficial for a time being but ultimately it leads to destruction of human values, growth of fascist elements, suppression and deprivation of people's right leading to weaken the nation internally and impede overall nation-building activity. So democratic values and practices should be given top most priority and care should be taken so that the growth of democratic process and principles are not at all hampered.

To nourish and develop democratic values, not only the people but also all political parties, both government and opposition, must be respectful to democratic values and have commitments for achieving democracy and should refrain from any activity that may hamper it. They must always remember the great doctrine of Abraham Lincoln -- government of the people, by the people and for the people -- and it should be adhered to by any means and should be practiced in day to day activities. Any deviation from this basic principle will definitely harm the system and will lead to the growth of undemocratic forces, violence and instability hampering the overall nation building efforts.

The people of Bangladesh, by and large, felt a sigh of relief by getting rid of long autocratic and dictatorial rule. Since 1991, the people have been expecting that the dream of having a full-fledged democratic system will be established and the political leaders will carry out their nation building programmes following at least minimum democratic norms. The people thought that people's right will be regained and rule of law and justice will prevail and the country will march forward towards achieving much cherished effective parliamentary democracy. But that cherished desire and aspiration of the people have not been fulfilled. The country has lost the image and creditability by not having a transparent and accountable parliament.

The government by constitution remains the custodian of parliament and the main responsibility rests with it to make the parliament effective and transparent. In democracy, parliament happens to be sovereign and all issues of the country must be resolved in the parliament having full participation of all representatives of the people. It is the only place to ensure people's right and government's accountability.

But, unfortunately, the parliament has been made ineffective and inactive. The mainstream opposition Awami League continues to remain absent and the ruling party remains indifferent to opposition's demand. It should be kept in mind that the ruling party has the responsibility to make the parliament functional by creating an environment where all the MPs can join and participate in discussions on all national issues.

In order to make the parliament transparent and effective, the people in general and leaders of political parties and their activists in particular must follow some basic principles of democratic behaviour and acquire some essential attributes which include -- tolerance to opposition views, peaceful coexistence, respect for people's will and opinion, equal opportunities to all irrespective of religion, caste and creed, upholding and safeguarding human rights, no discrimination between men and women, upholding people's right, accountability to people, respectful to freedom of press and media, sovereignty parliament and neutral administration and policy decision.

Now, it is only the people of Bangladesh who can judge whether these traits and attributes of parliamentary democracy have been adhered to and reflected in the activities of the political leaders and whether roles and activities of the leaders of political parties and their activists conform to the basic requirements of parliamentary democracy. It will not be unfair to say that in every step the democratic principles and values are being violated in Bangladesh even though all the time everyone is claiming that he/she is working for people's right and for democracy.

But if someone observes the present political scenario of Bangladesh, one must admit that some abnormality and uncertainty have now grabbed the body politic and the parliamentary activities and normal democratic behaviour seem to have been strangulated to make it non functional and inactive. Consequently, the country, day by day, is heading towards uncertainties impeding the development of human and democratic values based on equality and justice.

The reasons for such fate of the country are not far to seek and may be understood from few examples about what is happening in the political arena particularly in the parliament.

The Parliament happens to be sovereign under democracy. Can the present parliament be called sovereign and normally working? For years together the parliament is being run without the participation of mainstream opposition and the government blames the opposition for this abstention. It is an abnormal situation in democracy. How the government continues to run the parliament, year after year, without having the presence of mainstream opposition?

How the people's representation is being ensured through such kind of parliamentary activities? The parliament happens to be the focal point for discussion of all issues -- political, social, economic -- and the main business of the parliament is to discuss them threadbare by all MPs for taking decisions needed in greater national interest.

The opposition's allegations that they are not allowed to speak in the parliament about some important issues like killings and attempts of assassination on important party personalities, price hike of essentials, rampant corruption and rise of militancy. Certainly these issues have not been discussed as wanted. Had all these issues been discussed in the parliament, then perhaps the opposition would not have the plea to abstain and the matter could have been settled in the parliament. The parliament would then have been truly functional and the country could have been relieved of politics of confrontation, deterioration of law and order.

There are, of course, some who blame the opposition for their abstention and opine that they should come to the parliament and speak what they are now speaking. Now the most pertinent question arises -- if the opposition would have come to the parliament instead of abstaining and tried to speak whatever they wanted to, would there have been any improvement of the present situation? If not, then obviously the opposition is right in their own way in order to put pressure on the government for accepting their legitimate demands. If yes, then the opposition is not in the right track and should immediately change its strategy to join the parliament.

Now the abstention from parliament of opposition AL and continuation of parliamentary business by government alone may be discussed from two dimensions. First, what the government has gained by going alone in the parliament without the participation of mainstream opposition and what the government would have lost, had the opposition been in the parliament? Secondly, what the AL have gained by being absent from the parliament and what it would have lost, had they been in the parliament? It is now the people to decide who is wrong and who is right. The general observation is that the political leaders particularly of the treasury bench could not tackle and manage the situation in a proper way. As a result the parliament has become inactive and non-functional and the nation has been deprived of having effective parliament required for strengthening democratic values and practices.

The expectation of the people was nipped in the bud because their long cherished desire and aspiration to live in an atmosphere of peace and harmony, of good governance, free from corruption, without nepotism and favouritism, could not be fulfilled. Instead, the country continued to witness the political confrontation, street agitation, chaos and confusion. The immediate adverse effect was on parliamentary system itself.

The government's effort has been limited only to urging and requesting the opposition to come back and join the parliament. But in the present situation this is not enough to convince the opposition to join the parliament. In the face of new demands of the opposition like reform of caretaker government and election commission, some more concrete, tangible and practicable conciliatory efforts are necessary. It should always be remembered that the prime responsibility of the treasury bench is to convince the opposition, even by giving some concessions, keeping in mind the greater interest of making the parliament effective.

It is not at all a credit on the part of the government to carry on the parliamentary activities leaving the mainstream opposition outside, even though the government has two third majority. It amounts to be the failure of the government, not being able to run the parliament with the participation of all representatives of the people.

So, for safeguarding the parliament and upholding the democratic values and practices, all out realistic, concerted and suitable measures should be taken to convince the opposition to participate in the parliament in order to solve all outstanding issues. It should always be kept in mind that conciliation rather than confrontation should be the policy to overcome any stalemate.

Prof. M. Anwar Hossain is a former Director of Education.