The June 5 hartal, or shut down, brought back fears of the return of hartal politics which had been a bane of Bangladesh politics in the recent. Such shut downs often followed or preceded bouts of violence across the country, bringing the economy, and every thing else, to a grinding halt. This cycle of violence and protests left democracy limping and helped the right wing political parties and religious groups to consolidate. The end reseutl was an overwhelming sense of instability in the country.
On June 5, the streets of capital Dhaka and many of the major cities across the country witness violence following outbreak of clashes between the workers of the opposition parties and security forces. and members of law enforcement agencies, many vehicles were damaged disturbing normalcy that impacted lives of the masses. The Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami called a hartal or shut down to protest against the Supreme Court's order of May 10 that dissolved the caretaker government system. However, the Court suggested that the next two parliamentary elections could be held under this system and left it to the Parliament to decide.
BNP firmed up its opposition against the dissolution of the caretaker government system after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared that she was not in favour of continuation of this system. To the Opposition, dissolution of the caretaker government is only a trick of the ruling Awami League to remain in power. Opposition claimed that no elections under Awami League government could be free and fair.
The street protest has a special place in Bangladesh's politics. Almost all the political parties, when in opposition, have staged hartals. During the BNP government (1991-96), Awami League organssed 173 days of hartal and BNP retaliated with 85 days of total stoppage of public activities when Sheikh Hasina was in power (1996-2001).
Again, many significant developments in Bangladesh's politics were products of these hartals. For example, the caretaker system in 1996 was itself a result of the street protest. The Awami League, which was in opposition then, demanded formation of the caretaker government for ensuring credible elections. The 13th amendment of the Constitution mandated the establishment of the caretaker government. According to the Constitution, an impartial caretaker government will be formed after the elected government completes its tenure. The caretaker government will remain in office for three months within which election should take place. Thee parliamentary elections since 1996 were held under this system.
Ironically, it was once again the street protests that led to the questioning of the credibility of caretaker system. In 2007 the military-backed caretaker government, which overstayed for two years, came into existence as an indirect result of street protests. Such a government had become necessary as the country was almost at the verge of collapse following violent clashes between supporters of the rival political parties. The widespread street protests forced the caretaker government, which took charge after the elected government's term ended in 2006, As a result, the parliamentary elections, scheduled for January 22, 2007, were cancelled.
For any functioning democracy, it is common for the Opposition to differ with the government. But such differences are resolved through debate and discussion in Parliament. In Bangladesh, unfortunately, street protests have taken the place of parliamentary debate, undermining the democratic process. In the last two and an half years, the Opposition mostly remained absent from the Parliament. Instead of discussing issues in Prliament, the parties chose to stage hartals. The June 5 hartal was the ninth one after the Awami League government took over in January 2009.
Is the Opposition solely responsible for this? The Opposition accuses the Sheikh Haisna government as autocratic. BNP accuses the ruling party of carrying out atrocities on its workers. The Opposition further argues that since their number in Parliament was short , around 10 percent of the total number of members, it is nearly impossible to get their voice heard. They charge the government of politicising various organs of the government by appointing Awami league sympathisers in key positions.
The ruling party, on the other hand, claimed that the Opposition had been non-cooperative from the beginning. The party argued that it was the opposition parties who made a consensus on the issue of care taker government difficult. Despite their repeated request, the Opposition refused to nominate any of its representatives on the committee or volunteered to present their views.
This political tug-of-war has left the people disappointed, and angry. After the 2008 elections, they had expected the government to get down to the business of governance and not squander time and energy in settling political scores with rival parties.
Joyeeta Bhattacharjee is Associate Fellow, ORF
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