How will AL implement the reform?

The statement by Awami League (AL) to draw a distinction between the party and the government could be quite significant if it is in fact implemented. It would mean that party leaders will not simultaneously be able to hold posts in the party and the cabinet.

But the crucial question is how this reform will be implemented given the rather complicated present scenario. By tradition, the distinction between the party in power and the government has been blurry due to the age-old practice of allowing the party's senior leaders to hold important posts both within the party as well as in the government. Both AL and BNP, which have been governing the country in turns since the restoration of the country's democracy in 1991, have failed to draw a distinction between the party and the government. Party men (and women) were found unduly interfering in the functions of administration at all levels. The party in power has been amalgamated in the government.

Unfortunately, the impact of such a culture has yielded no positive results. Rather, it has compromised the quality of governance and leadership in the organisation. The party in power cannot oversee the government's policies and functions and thus cannot hold the government accountable to it. It cannot work as a bridge between the people and the government. On the other hand, the party's senior leaders holding portfolios in the government cannot work much for strengthening the party.

There has been a long discussion in the political arena about making a distinction between the party and the government. But no progress has ever taken place in this regard. Thus the AL's present move is an important one. But whether these words are backed by action is something the public will have to wait and see. If it is, then nothing will make the public be more appreciative. If the AL sincerely wants to go ahead with the reform initiative, party leaders must be barred from unduly interfering in the administration. The use of government facilities and offices to run party activities such as holding meetings of the party forum should also be stopped. Intra-party democratic practice must also be encouraged for a meaningful reform. Obviously, therefore, it is an uphill task that requires sincerity and determination. Is the AL now ready for such reform?

Reforms in the parliamentary standing committee system testify the importance of drawing a distinction between the holders of two offices simultaneously. In the past, ministers were made chairmen of the parliamentary standing committees. A minister was made chief of the parliamentary body on the same ministry he had been leading as a minister. The minister did not allow the parliamentary body he had led to critically scrutinise the functions and policies of his ministry. Therefore, the parliamentary committee system, a vital parliamentary mechanism to hold the government accountable to the Jatiya Sangsad for its functions, remained dysfunctional even after restoration of the parliamentary democracy in 1991.

It was Sheikh Hasina who brought the reforms after assuming office in 1996. The rules of procedure of Jatiya Sangsad were amended, imposing a bar on ministers to become chiefs of the parliamentary bodies, and allowing MPs to become chiefs of the said bodies. Ministers were made members of the committees on the ministries. Some ministers were even barred from being members of certain non-ministerial committees including public accounts and undertaking committees. The reforms started working from the seventh Parliament that began its journey in 1996. Many committees performed well, exposing anomalies in some ministries in the past seventh, eighth and ninth Parliament. [In the current Parliament, the committee system could not be functional due to the unusual character of the present Jatiya Sangsad.] 

If AL chief Sheikh Hasina, also prime minister, can bring reform in her party, which draws a distinction between the party and government, it will benefit both her party and the government.

More than four decades ago, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had set an example of this. Under his leadership, the then AL central working committee in mid-February of 1972 imposed bars on ministers from holding any party position.

But in April 1972, the then party council reversed its earlier decision. It requested Bangabandhu to continue as party president as no successor to him was acceptable to the party rank and file. The council also gave him the authority to nominate other office bearers including the party's general secretary.

Bangabandhu again picked up the issue two years later. In the 1974 council, the party elected AHM Kamruzzaman as the party president.

But the reform was short-lived. In the wake of a volatile situation, the Constitution was amended in January 1975, introducing a single national party BAKSAL and the country switched to a presidential form of government from the parliamentary one. Bangabandhu again became the head of the party and the head of the government.

Since the birth of Awami League, Bangabandhu was always involved with the party. He was made joint general secretary of the first committee though he was in jail then. He was general secretary of the AL since 1953 until he was elected its president in 1966. Under his leadership, the AL waged a long movement for people's democratic rights against the oppression of West Pakistani rulers. He came up with the historic six-points and the AL waged a movement to realise the demands.

Under his leadership, the AL won a landslide victory in the 1970 elections. And the AL led the glorious War of Liberation in 1971.

After the country's independence, Bangabandhu switched over to the parliamentary form of government from the presidential one. And again under his leadership, a democratic Constitution was enacted for Bangladesh within a year of its independence. 

His move to draw a distinction between the party and the government in the just independent Bangladesh shows his political sagacity. He wanted to have a strong party by keeping it separate from the government. 

Now, his daughter Sheikh Hasina, who has been leading the AL for more than three decades, has done the same with this significant reform initiative. Around a dozen ministers who were members of the past committee of AL were not inducted into the new committee. Some of her party's senior leaders have been portraying this as the beginning of the reform initiative. They have been lauding the move too. In their view, this will help to strengthen the party that has already started preparing for the next parliamentary election.

The party's organisational weakness was exposed in 2013 and again in 2015 when the party largely relied on the administrative efforts to tackle the street agitation waged by the BNP-led alliance. AL chief Sheikh Hasina and many leaders were speaking for strengthening the party ahead of the general election.  

All prevailing signs now suggest that Sheikh Hasina wants to have a strong party organisation. In the recent party national council, she has spoken for party leaders' suggestions to carry out the government's development activities and urged AL leaders to make a list of homeless people and forward it to the government for building homes for them.  

Her reform initiative will bring a real change in politics - if it is implemented. But a congenial democratic atmosphere is needed for it and being the ruling party, her AL must shoulder the responsibility of creating such an atmosphere in the country. If she can, others will follow.

The writer is Senior Reporter, The Daily Star.