Session IN33: Bangladesh
February 20, 11:00 - 11:45
Elections in Bangladesh: A Test for the Viability of Democracy
Abstract:
Bangladesh is soon to face a critical challenge, one that could destroy its fragile hold on democracy and about which only a few, including regional superpower India, are deeply concerned. The 2007 elections will be a crucial juncture in the country?s history, the region, and beyond.
Corruption, experienced and alleged, affects both everyday governance and the preparation for the elections. Accusations of plans for electoral fraud have further depleted the public confidence in the political system. In parallel, a heightened religious-political discourse posits itself as an alternative, and ushers the slide of Bangladesh into a radical Islamist failed state.
It remains incumbent on mainstream political forces to maintain and confirm the separation of politics and religion, which has enabled Bangladesh to proceed with a relatively successful experimentation with democracy
The reception of Islamist _expression among the Bangladeshi public may be surprising to many observers. Islam, which was at the core of the emergence of Bangladeshi identity, is not an impediment but an asset in Bangladesh's development and evolution (physical as well as moral) into the universal, global, humanistic civilization. The attractiveness of radical ideologies to some segments of our own population is reflective of the failure to offer the people of Bangladesh a genuine partnership. It is important to note that these attitudes are not a reflection of ignorance but a result of disenchantment with the hollow discourse of democracy promoted by the political class against a background of corruption and economic disparity. In 2007 all strata and all communities in Bangladesh must be offered a stake, a genuine and substantive one, in the fate of the country.
|
Maneeza Hossain is the Manager of Democracy Programs at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. As part of her
South Asia focus, Ms Hossain periodically visits the region and meticulously follows its political developments. Her article,
"