Bangladesh's Upcoming 2014 National Election: Which party will win?

Download the full report from here: Asia Foundation's Survey Report

Source: The Upcoming 2014 National Election

A majority of respondents (55%) believe that the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) will win the next election. Less than 28 percent consider that the ruling Awami League will win the election, while 12 percent did not respond.

In your opinion, which party is likely to win in the next election?

Which direction the country is going

Peoples’ perception about which direction the country is going remains almost static from January this year. 47 percent of respondents think the country is going in the right direction while 44 percent think it is going in the wrong direction. However, as before the urban voters are more skeptic with 52 percent thinking the country is going in the wrong direction while only 37 percent believing it is going in the right direction.

Generally speaking, do you think that things in Bangladesh are now going in the right direction, or do you feel things are going in the wrong direction?

Demand for a caretaker government

Respondents were asked if they thought the next election should be held under a caretaker government as in previous elections. A large majority of respondents (77%) think that it should. Clearly this shows that people believe that a peaceful election will not be possible without a neutral caretaker government in place.

Do you think the next election should be held under a neutral caretaker government as in previous elections?

Confidence in the Government

Citizens’ confidence in the Government is based on how its activities have improved their lives, and is based on their assessment of a combination of factors, many of which has been outlined in this report. When asked if they have confidence in the Government, 55 percent of respondents said they have reasonable or high confidence while 45 percent said they have low confidence. Rural respondents and female respondents have higher confidence in the Government than urban respondents, male respondents or youth respondents.

Do you have confidence in the present Government?

Rating of Government’s Performance

How well has the Government performed during its tenure so far? Seventeen areas of Government action were mentioned to respondents and they were asked to rate the Government’s performance as successful or not successful. This rating provides a summary outline of voters’ perception of the Government’s successes and failures during its tenure.

According to more than 30 percent of respondents, the Government appears to have been successful or highly successful in improving education and health facilities and services, increasing availability of pure drinking water, improving the quality of services provided by government offices at upazila/district levels, ensuring adequate fertilizer availability, building new infrastructure (e.g., roads / bridges / culverts) or improving quality of existing infrastructure. However, more than 50 percent of respondents believe the Government was not at all successful in reducing unemployment, keeping food prices under control, reducing corruption in government and in the judicial system, stabilizing fuel prices and controlling terrorism.

Areas in which more than 30% of respondents considered the Government’s performance as successful or highly successful

Areas in which a majority of respondents considered the Government’s performance as not at all successful

'Govt creating civil-war-like situation', Rafiqul Islam Miah says!

The party’s Standing Committee Member Rafiqul Islam Miah made the allegation at a discussion organised by Deshpremik Nagarik Party at Dhaka Reporters Unity on Friday morning.

Rafiq said people are doubtful about the possibilities of the next election being held against the backdrop of senior government advisers calling for continuing the ongoing parliament session beyond its scheduled end on Oct 24.

“Our apprehension after examining this situation is that the government is trying to create a civil-war-like situation as part of a conspiracy to not hold the elections. It is clear from the speeches of the government’s advisers and senior leaders.”

Rafiq also referred to the speeches of AL lawmakers Tofail Ahmed and Suranjit Sengupta in the Parliament wherein they suggested that Parliament should not be dissolved until Jan 24, the day the five-year-term of the current Parliament expires.

“Such statements of the senior MPs of the ruling party prove the government is afraid of holding the election seeing BNP’s popularity. They are applying many tricks and conspiracy,” said Rafiq.

He has called the current Election Commission a subordinate institution of the government.

“Following the order of a government’s intelligence agency it (EC) is going to register a new party called BNF.”

The opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque also spoke at the discussion.

“This is a mystery why politicians like Tofail have suddenly come up with the demand of continuing parliament session even after Oct 24. We believe it is government’s new conspiracy to stick to the power,” said Farroque.

He once again reiterated his party’s resolve to prevent any unilateral election.

Full News: ‘Govt creating civil-war-like situation’

Bangladesh in grip of radical ideology

On 13th July, 2013, an article got published regarding the present rising situation of radicalism in Bangladesh in Gulf News. You may read out the news at the link below or can read out here as it has been put here for readers convenience,

Full News: Gulfnews Main Link

While most media attention lately has focused on the divisive conflict of ideology between the Muslim Brotherhood and secular parties in Egypt, there is another such conflict going on in another part of the world, albeit with far little global press coverage.

This is happening in Bangladesh, a country with a population of more than 150 million, of which 90 per cent is Muslim. The conflict has become increasingly violent, with lines drawn in blood. It centres around which ideology the country should adopt: Secular or Islamist?

While Shaikha Hasina’s government has been credited with pushing ahead reforms, there are roadblocks set by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) — the main opposition. This political party has been accused of encouraging radical and fundamental groups to exploit the religion card to oppose some of the government’s decrees.

One such group is the Hefazat-E-Islam, which came into focus in 2010 to counter the government’s promotion of a secular education policy. More recently, its demands have become even more direct. In March this year, the group released a 13-point list of demands to the government. Included in the list were:

1. Abolishment of all laws in conflict with the values of the Quran and Sunnah, enactment of a blasphemy law to prevent defamation of Allah, the Prophet (PBUH) and Islam with the death penalty as the highest form of punishment, and prevent the spreading of hate against Muslims.

2. An end to all alien cultural practices like immodesty, lewdness, misconduct, culture of free mixing of the sexes, candle lighting in the name of personal freedom and free speech.

3. Abolishment of the current ungodly education policy, and making Islamic education compulsory at all levels — from primary to higher secondary education.

4. Halting the installation of more statues at road intersections and educational institutions to prevent Dhaka, the city of mosques, from becoming the city of statues.

5. The government must immediately refrain from preventing the faithful from carrying out their spiritual duties. Specifically, all the hassles and obstructions at Baitul Mokarram and all mosques in Bangladesh must be removed which prevent the faithful from offering prayer. Also stop creating obstruction for people to attend religious sermons and other religious gatherings.

6. The government must stop the spread of Islamophobia among the youth through depiction of negative characters on TV plays and movies in religious attire and painting negative stereotypes of the beard, cap and Islamic practices on various media.

The group has been emboldened by the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a political party whose platform has always been to run the country on Islamic principles and the Sharia. Together they have allied with the BNP.

Faith is personal

Power and religion do not and should not mix. Faith is individualistic, and we have seen in other countries how religion is often distorted for personal gains or triumphs. Today’s events in Egypt are a prime example of how a democratically-elected government began to adopt fundamentalism in its governing doctrine and eventually lost the capacity to govern. Historically, there is no success story of governments that adopted rigid religious values to rule.

It is not the religion that is not palatable. It is not lack of faith. It is often the interpretation and application of extreme ideology that is rejected by most people. That ideology is also used to promote the party line and deviates from the simplicity and peace promoted by religious doctrine.

The current state of Islamophobia around the globe must also be attributed to the rise of religious fundamentalists who seek to promote their hardline creed from the corridors of power and will not hesitate to use violence to spread their message.

Swadesh Roy, a respected and renowned journalist in Bangladesh recently expressed alarm at the rising movement of religious parties. He writes, “The two Islamic fundamentalist groups have remained afloat mainly due to the support of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) — the main opposition in the country’s current government.

All they want is to win the elections, and hold the seat of power, making it so that no development takes place, and change present-day democratic politics into something that works in their favour.

“If Islamic fundamentalist groups come to power through the election, it will be disastrous for the country. Bangladesh will stop continuously developing; its society will be in a state of chaos. Politicians, business leaders, and development partners of the country have to think seriously about the use of the ‘religion card’.

“Now is probably the best time to try and keep religion and the state separate. Many countries have strong laws against using religion in elections. Bangladesh too, should introduce a similar law with the help of development partners.”

I couldn’t agree more, Roy. Religious freedom should be left to the individual to exercise and should not be governed through rules developed by a party whose fundamentalism is in question.

Faith is personal and not a mandate.

Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.