No democracy, no accountability

The Bangladesh National Party (BNP) won a landslide victory in the 12 February elections, securing a two-thirds majority. The Muhammed Yunus-led caretaker government held the polls following a student-led uprising that ousted then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Some 1,400 people were killed. The Hasina-led Awami League was banned from contesting the elections.

Tarique Rahman's 17-year self-imposed exile in London has now ended with his swearing-in as the new prime minister of Bangladesh, even as the system of a dynastic premier role continues. A referendum to amend the Constitution was also held with the election.

As Nepal heads towards its own election on 5 March, there are lessons from Bangladesh, including electoral reforms to make vote counting more efficient and faster. Journalist Namrata Sharma spoke with Khushi Kabir, a human rights activist from Bangladesh.

Right after the Liberation of Bangladesh in 1972, Kabir joined BRAC and in 1980 she joined Nijera Kori, a national level NGO working with the landless. 

Nepali Times: How do you feel now that the election is over and BNP has been sworn in to Parliament?

Khushi Kabir: I am heaving a sigh of relief, as retaining democracy in the country is most important. If there is no democracy, you cannot function. A system of accountability to the people must be in place. Now that the government has been elected, it will be responsible towards the people. When there is no democracy and no elected government, there is no accountability.

The key youth leaders who ousted the Hasina-led government seem to have been sidelined. Could this lead to unrest?

Out of the total 297 contested seats, BNP got 212, which is a secure two-thirds majority. The Islamist-led Jamaat-e-Islami alliance won 77 seats; this includes the six student leaders who were part of the protest in 2024. We are observing what’s happening. When these six students joined, many did not support them, as many students do not support the Jamaat-e-Islami party, especially women students. There are different factions of students, and not all joined or supported the Jamaat.

The Jamaat-e-Islami coalition is in the opposition. What could this mean for the country?

The Awami League was forming the government for a long time without opposition, which was not good for Bangladesh. The public will keep asking questions from outside, but for democracy to prosper in a healthy manner, there needs to be an opposition in Parliament to ask questions too.

Although not allowed to contest, Awami League constituencies also seem to have voted for BNP. What does this indicate?

The choice was just between the two: the BNP and the Jamaat. The caretaker government appeared to be supporting the Islamic-minded groups. Therefore, there are speculations that many like-minded Awami League supporters voted for BNP candidates to try to resist Jamaat. The Awami League has its past controversies within the party too, and some who may not have supported them may be assumed to have cast their votes for BNP.

As a human rights activist, what made you happy and sad regarding the election results?

Definitely, the happy moment is that the Islamic party did not win. It was actually a negative vote against religion in politics. People feel that religion-based political parties may not serve the purpose of freedom in a democratic setup. But not many women were given seats to contest in the election. About 85 women contested, but seven have won—six from BNP and one independent candidate who was not given a ticket to contest by BNP, so she ran as an independent candidate and won with a majority.

Another sad thing is that they wanted a referendum without fully explaining to the people what it really meant. Many people did not understand what they were voting yes for. The interim government formed a Constitution Reform Commission to look into making changes in the current Constitution. They sat with the political parties they chose. There was a note of dissent on some of the items by some, but the interim government went ahead with a questionnaire with only “Yes” and “No” to as many as 84 recommendations. I now want the people of this country to start asking questions on transparency and accountability, not just wait for the opposition to do so.

How do you relate the political developments in Nepal to the situation in Bangladesh?

The only thing common between Nepal and Bangladesh is the fact that the youth forced the governments to resign. Your caretaker government has been pragmatic from day one. They set a date to conduct elections within six months from the day they came to power; your caretaker government has not tried to push an agenda. Also, the most important thing is that the caretaker government has not given preference to any political party, nor has it banned any. In the speech of your Prime Minister addressing the National Assembly, she was very clear in her stance.

One thing Nepal can learn from us is to trust and believe in the people; they know what they want. To me, the election results in Bangladesh is a rejection of the structural changes Yunus and his interim government were attempting to make. BNP must now know that they don’t have blanket power, although they got a two-thirds majority. People did not want Jamaat, so they voted for BNP, as there was no other major political party in this election and this must be respected. Nepal should observe this fact.

What do you think will be the relationship between India and Bangladesh now?

Now that we have a political power, they will wait and see. I hope BNP will be pragmatic. After BNP’s victory, Tarique Rahman said that he will try to revive SAARC. He stressed on the fact that the interests of the people and the country will be kept foremost in BNP policies. It is a fact that Bangladesh does not want to be controlled by any external force. We hope the relationship between India and other countries will be based on that fact. If Bangladesh and Nepal get closer with Sri Lanka, these three countries on the periphery of India could jointly work together to bring peace in the region. As Tarique Rahman has said he wants to revive SAARC, this is the right time to do so. The India-Pakistan rivalry can be sidelined, and a pathway to move forward with a realistic strategy in the South Asian context could be developed.