Democracy in Bangladesh
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Democracy in Bangladesh is historically connected to the
History
Bangladesh achieved sovereignty from Pakistan on 16 December 1971, a country established with a democratic framework.
Bangladesh's first leaders came from the Awami League, a party which played a pivotal role in the campaign for a separate Bengali state. The Awami League party oversaw the implementation of a parliamentary system of democracy as stated in the Provisional Constitution of Order of 1972. Soon after, the 1972 constitution was passed by the Constituent Assembly on 4 November 1972.[3]
Post-independent Bangladesh saw three political parties in power till now:
After the
Student led
Current status
But under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina since 2008, Bangladesh started to experience democratic backslide. In 2011, the ruling Awami League amended the constitution and abolished the caretaker government system. Government started a crackdown and purged political leaders. In 2013, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh was banned. Tenth parliamentary election held on 5 January 2014, wasn’t free and fair.[4] Almost all major opposition parties boycotted the elections and resulting in the incumbent Awami League-led Grand Alliance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina winning a landslide majority. The election was also criticized by foreign observers.[5]
Military and democracy
The
During the post 2009 era, laws similar to the ones established in the democratic era of 1991 to 2006 had been instated which ensured more civilian control over the armed forces. A civilian elected prime minister became the head of state once again. Although former military officers remained in some political parties, the military did not possess any authority in the leadership of the parties as the parties became increasingly dynastic-ally operated. Civilian governments also tended to reduce the influence of the military in politics and took steps to allow more civilian institutional control of the military. However, in the political era after the 2009 era, it was seen that the military consistently favoured the ruling party in the government.[9]
Democratic values
Although Bangladesh has been under authoritarian regimes, it has been a democratic entity for a majority of the time since the country's foundation. The state of democracy can be judged by looking at the violations of the core principles of democracy as laid out by the United Nations.
Freedom of expression and association
Bangladesh has suffered from assaults on university students - who are regarded as the pioneers of grassroots movements in the past - in order to change their political opinions. After the
In September 2018, the Bangladeshi government introduced the
Free and independent media
Free and fair elections
Bangladesh elections in 2014 were marred with allegations of irregularities, such as voter suppression, fake votes and capturing of polling booths. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies boycotted the 2014 elections as their demands of a caretaker government in place to oversee the elections were not met. This resulted in the Awami League to win the general election even as 153 out of the 300 parliamentary seats went uncontested. According to electoral agencies, only 10% of the eligible population cast their ballot in the 2014 general elections.[13]
Furthermore, leading up to the 2018 general elections, the opposition parties questioned the Election Commission (EC) on their neutrality as they believed them to be increasingly one-sided towards the ruling party. Media coverage and reports from human rights organisations revealed the Awami League's elaborate plan for voter suppression and arrests of opposition activists in the lead up to the 2018 general election. The ruling party and its allies won 288 out of the 300 parliamentary seats, which raised serious concerns over the legitimacy of the election held as previous election held by the caretaker governments from 1991 to 2008 usually resulted in less than 48% of the seats going to the election winner.[14]
Independence of judiciary
The constitution of Bangladesh allows the President to appoint the Chief Justice of Bangladesh after receiving advice from the Prime Minister. Concerns of politically motivated court cases have continually emerged, and concerns regarding the politically appointed judiciary favouring the concurrent government is a contested debate in Bangladesh. In 2010, 6788 out of the 10,489 cases reviewed by a committee relating to the ruling party were dropped as the law ministry suggested that the cases were 'politically motivated'.[15]
The lower and higher courts have faced multiple allegations of corruption and bribery. Several ruling party members who had allegedly been involved in land-grabbing scandals and corruption were not held 'accountable' in 2010.[15]
Transparency and accountability in public administration
Using positions of power to grant favours to relatives, supporters and friends is considered a norm in Bangladeshi politics. Most leaders of Bangladesh have been alleged into being involved in large corruption scandals either directly or indirectly.[16]
Respect for human rights and freedom
Violations of
Although local laws prohibit physical violence or mental torture of detainees and prisoners by state agencies, these laws were routinely broken, and in certain cases, the victims would effectively '
Cases such as those of police brutality in early 2019 were evident, as police used force to disperse 50,000 protestors, resulting in one death and over 50 injuries.[citation needed]
Quality of democracy
Bangladesh had a large voter turnout in 2009 and 2018 of 80%.[18] Bangladesh scored 0.274 on the electoral democracy index in V-Dem Democracy Indices in 2023.[7] The political competition in Bangladesh is limited due to high barriers of entry requiring large amounts of resources, which left only a small segment of the population having the ability to run political campaigns. A small segment of the political class divided among the existing political parties left few new policy alternatives being presented to the public. After the elections, only a few procedures for accountability were available to the public for the elected officials. After the election,
Article 70 of the constitution also prevented members of a party from voting against a policy brought forth by other party members of the same party. This also reduced the ability of parliament members on their ability to vote in the interest of their constituents, having been forced to vote in the interests of the party.[19]
References
- ^ "Bangladesh and its confusion on democracy". bdnews24.com (Opinion). 2015-05-23. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
- ^ "A short history of Bangladesh Independence Day". The Independent. 2019-03-26. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
- ^ JSTOR j.ctt2jbj1g.12
- S2CID 224958514.
- ^ Chowdhury, Syed Tashfin (7 January 2014). "Violent Bangladesh poll 'not credible'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset". Retrieved 14 October 2023.
- ^ a b Democracy Report 2023, Table 3, V-Dem Institute, 2023
- JSTOR 2645662.
- ^ S2CID 157015140.
- ^ "World Report 2020: Rights Trends in Bangladesh". Human Rights Watch. 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
- ^ "Caught Between Fear and Repression" (PDF). Amnesty International. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-01-15.
- ^ "Signing into eresources, The University of Sydney Library". login.ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
- ^ Rabbee, Shafquat. "A deeper look at the Bangladesh election". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
- ^ a b Islam, Syful. "Bangladesh: Where The Judiciary Can Be An Obstacle To Justice" (PDF). Global Integrity. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-02-15.
- ^ Mahmood, Shakeel. "Public procurement and corruption in Bangladesh confronting the challenges and opportunities".
- ^ a b "State of Human Rights in Bangladesh – South Asia Journal". 22 September 2011. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
- ^ "Nearly 80% voter turnout". Dhaka Tribune. 2018-12-31. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
- ^ a b c Meisburger, Tim. "Strengthening Democracy in Bangladesh" (PDF). The Asia Foundation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-01-27.