The New Nation - Internet Edition

Mostafa Kamal Majumder

The start of indoor politics from September 11 seems to have been taken by most political leaders and workers as yet another window of opportunity to engage in mudslinging instead of utilising the same for soul searching to bring about qualitative changes in politics.

The people definitely do not want the heralding of yet another era of intolerance and chaos that had led to systemic failure not in a very distant past They want their leaders to talk and behave in ways that others can emulate, not reject in uter disrespect

What the major political parties have done during the two weeks of indoor politics cannot be categorised as more than pursuing the culture of personality cult rather than concentrating on substantive issues that are of great interest and concern to people. Those who are enthusiastic about substantive issues, on the other hand, do not have much following.

The immediate objective of the introduction of indoor politics by the government was to facilitate the process of dialogue with political parties that the Election Commission had prepared itself for with a view to bringing about electoral reforms. The Election Commission has also started, with support from the Army, the preparation of voter list with photos.

Persons are without any doubt important in politics if they emerge or are promoted as champions of certain causes that touch the life and living of the people. People love or hate politicians depending on the causes they do or do not stand for, not on clans that they belong to although antecedents are also important in judging the merit of people.

Leaders and workers of both the major political parties are more for retaining their party chiefs in their respective positions rather than evaluating the performance of the party machines and examination of the roles of their leaders in nurturing the democratic polity that the people did elect to stand for.

The BNP and the Jatiya Party (Ershad) have started functioning openly as two factions, each faction vying to outweigh the other in terms of legality of succession to different party positions of power and influence, and defiance of expulsions from similar positions. The intra-party conflicts that have thus developed are draining most of the energy of their leaders and workers who otherwise could have concentrated on stock taking of past activities with a view to charting a more planned schedule of activities in future.

Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, expelled from the position of secretary general by the BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia immediately before her recent arrest, claims to have been representing the party mainstream. In the first scheduled meeting of his faction of the party Bhuiyan has hinted aiming for unity of all nationalist forces to contest the next elections. He has also categorically spelt out his intention of not going back to the pre-1/11 situation which, he said, bred contempt, disruptive politics and violence.

His rival Khandakar Delwar Hossain, appointed to the position of secretary general by Begum Khaleda Zia, challenged the competence of Bhuiyan to call any meeting of any organ of the party as per the provision of the BNP constitution. He has said that the party chairperson has taken the recent action the same way she had acted eleven years ago when Mannan Bhuiyan was made the secretary general replacing Abdus Salam Talukdar.

Brig (retd) Hannan Shah has dug at Bhuiyan holding him responsible for the ouster of BNP stalwarts like Prof Badruddoza Chowdhury and Col (retd) Oli Ahmed from the party, allegedly to pave the way for his emergence as the undisputed leader after Begum Khaleda Zia.

In the JP (Ershad), former Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud has challenged his expulsion from the Party by Begum Roushan Ershad and has taken charge of the JP office. None of the BNP factions, however, got charge of their central office.

There have been parleys at different levels for brokering realignment of some nationalist and Islami forces which would stand for reforms. The Islami Oikya Jote, divided into two factions long ago, looks like standing in danger of geting further subdivided. Mufti Fazlul Huq Aminee, head of one of the two factions, did not join his colleagues who had the first dialogue with the Election Commission on September 12.

The other faction led by Shaikhul Hadit Moulana Azizul Huq that had signed an agreement with the Awami League before the start of electioneering in late 2006, enlisting AL's support for Fatwa by qualified ulema is learnt to have been working with some political parties to form a nationalist-Islami alliance not with the Khaleda Zia-backed BNP. The Awami League presidium at a meeting yesterday opted for contacting the components of the 14-party alliance to reactivate it

Litle over a week of the holy month of fasting seems to have put a brake on mudslinging by the politicians. Let this sanity continue also after the holy month.