Democracy: Yearning for a second coming

Not quite four years ago, then Presidential hopeful, Barak Obama told Americans, "Yes I Can" and with the rest of the world, they watched his ascendancy to the presidency, as accolades poured in from every corner. Things have not been smooth since then. The Global Financial Crisis, Iraq, Afghanistan, cyclones and myriads of domestic issues, especially the weak economy and relatively high unemployment overshadowed achievements, if there are some.

Campaigns are gathering steam again as elections are due in a number of countries: the United States, France, Egypt, Pakistan, Australia and may even be in Bangladesh in 2012 and in 2013. Accusations and counter accusations are already at full foray, promises and solutions equating to panaceas are pitched to the population, once more.

Yet, who other than the citizen could be a better judge of the performances of its government? And fortunately in democracies, at the end of every term they get an opportunity to pass on their verdict. But in that same verdict they also appoint or reappoint a party (leader) for the next cycle, and their predicament, today is, who to choose?

As dominance of two party politics has become common in democracies – many countries are forced to choose between two when it comes to the vote – right or left, conservative or liberal, nationalist or secular. Albeit there have been a number of third forces and distinguished independents, their influence has either been negligible or manageable by major parties, leaving the population effectively with a two-party rule. In any western democracy we would find this, where the realities of politics and getting to or staying in power are such that over the years both sides of politics make concessions and shift from their original left or right position – to be popular both sides are now almost identical on many issues – gay marriage, global warming, defence, terrorism, human rights, immigration and economic leadership.

Along with the relative comfort of the western world, prevailing accountability measures and fairer administration of the rule of law, this created a widespread apathy towards politics, especially among the younger population as they find better things to do with their time. There has not been an inspirational leader in the west for a long time, although President Clinton and President Obama rekindled the hope for a while. Their efforts have been compromised by immediate business priorities of the day – their rhetoric failed to live up to the expectations of the people.

Politics appears to be dominated by spin – politicians make a lot of effort to seem to be 'doing the right thing' but then go to enormous lengths to obfuscate their broken promises, core as well as non-core. Politicians today are often considered uncaring about issues affecting the lives of ordinary people. This feeling is especially conspicuous among minority groups where it is further exacerbated by the lack of representation – in parliament or among the decision makers.

Consumerism, a driving force of capitalism, exponential advancement of technology and use of social media are contributing to a rapidly changing modern political process, where political parties are struggling to cater for wider groups – young, old, natives, immigrants and countless lobbies. Traditional party politics still continues, though the younger generation feels distant from it, and ordinary people cannot or would not make time to engage with it, as their lives are occupied with other important issues – family, friends, education, jobs and business. The lack of interest in politics is so acute that Australia, Belgium, Singapore, Brazil, Luxembourg, Switzerland and a few Latin American countries have enforced forms of compulsory voting (source: idea.int/compulsory_voting).

The parallels can be found in the developing world, where paradoxically, only in the last century, people without power to voice their rights or to determine their own destiny, found remarkable inspirational leaders – Gandhi, Mao Zedong, Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein and Nelson Mandela, to name a few. Bangladesh also had a number of inspirational thinkers and leaders, most prominently among them, Sheik Mujibur Rahman, its founder. In extremely varying contexts they reclaimed pride for their regions.

But disappointingly democratic practices in post-colonial Africa and India have been inconsistent. Apart from a few standout nations like Botswana and rejuvenated South Africa, many African countries are struggling to implement a true democratic process. The situation in the subcontinent is not too impressive either – India, benefited by the Raj legacy, racial and religious diversity and geographical vastness has been immune to any army takeovers; Bangladesh and Pakistan were no exceptions either – an elected government is yet to complete a full term in Pakistan, and Bangladesh also experienced army rule.

Beside the interruptions, democracy is still at the fledging stages in these countries with their idiosyncratic problems, but with a common lack of sound economic environment to consolidate democratic practice. With a significant number of populations still under the poverty line and illiterate, power is concentrated within the elite and aristocracy, when accountability measures, due process and protection of law get grossly violated, at the will of the influential. Naturally, to a deprived population, democracy, kleptocracy or dictatorships all mean the same – rulers come and go without improving their fate. They continue to be caught in the daily struggle to get food, shelter, clothes and medicine.

And as in the developed countries, urban population, especially youth in the subcontinent is disenchanted with politicians, when major political parties continue to cling to scions for leadership. It seems that even one of democracy's most essential elements, a free and vibrant press that has become preponderant in the region, has limits – and true democracy remains to be a maya, illusion.

According to 2009 data published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), a global think tank on the state of democracy, only 58% of the registered voters bothered to vote in India; for Pakistan the figure is only 44%, in recent polls conducted in 2009 and 2008 respectively.

Bangladeshis, however, with an 85% voter turnout in the most recent election in 2008, appear to remain hopeful. This is not too surprising, as our history and existence is filled with political intrigue and upheavals. Since the partition in 1947 Bangladeshis had no other choice than to be politically active and to fight for their rights – 1952, 1971 and 1990 were culminations of long, painful struggle by the ordinary people for freedom. We are perhaps one of the most hopefuls, in spite of many heartaches (and hindrance to political process) Bangladeshis are keen to participate.

It looks as though the participation in politics and political movements need two essential elements: a genuine cause and an honest inspirational leader who would be able to capture the imagination of the masses. The Arab Spring and large crowds in political rallies of Imran Khan are recent testimonies to this.

On the other hand, democracy appears to be in need of further refinement, even when we consider the varying contexts of different countries, developed or developing. We live in an era of promises, core promises, broken promises or in some cases no promises at all. When it is true that in both environments ordinary citizens live at the mercy of the politicians, the onus is equally on the citizen to take actions.

The challenge particularly for the established democracies is to educate and engage the youth, to get them interested in politics or political issues and to find alternatives to traditional (major) parties and genuine leaders. But then, perhaps these countries, for the reasons discussed earlier, can afford to leave politics to the politicians, at least for now.

The cliché "People Get The Government They Deserve" may hold true for many wealthy nations, with an increasing number of the population becoming apathetic, is not quiet applicable to aspiring democracies like Bangladesh, where people notwithstanding previous disappointments voted term after term to see a democratic government and improved democratic processes – and deserve better.

Some obvious but urgent improvements recommended in the International IDEA's report on the state of democracy in Bangladesh include de-politicisation of the judiciary and the armed forces, institutionalised political competition with fewer disruptions, strengthening of the Electoral Commission and the establishment of an ombudsman.

In the current environment the implementation of these recommendations looks far from a reality. However, since any form of democracy, partial or fully realised, is better than other forms of governance, we need to persist as we have done so far. We need to believe that there is a light at the end of our painful journey – not convinced?

I would like to take you back to the mid-morning of November 10, 1987 in Dhaka, where Nur Hossain during the Dhaka Blockade agitation, wearing "Sairachar nipat jak: Down with autocracy", and "Ganatantra mukti pak: let democracy be established" on his bare chest and back respectively, was killed by the police.

Many ordinary people like Nur Hossain gave their lives for democracy in Bangladesh and since his killing we had four terms of democratically elected governments, although we found ourselves in awkward situations during the end of each tenure. From a distance, I gather, the end of this government's tenure will be interesting too, with oppositions already planning long schedules of commotion.

No country has been able to completely remove the impact of history, social background and ill-fated circumstances, but there has to be a way, as when it comes to waiting for democracy, Bangladeshis are not short of chutzpah. And that is my hope, that there will be a second coming of the democracy in Bangladesh and elsewhere.

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Irfan Chowdhury writes from Canberra, Australia.