Political Trend
Muyeedul Hasan writes:
On the surface, the progress towards ending authoritarian political order appears to be slow, sometimes halting. But, in my view, there has been some real progress, which may continue till the general election, and perhaps beyond. The substance of authority, both de jure and de facto, of the top political leadership, stopped functioning since January ‘07, their images now are in peril, the overt apparatus of their goons are severely damaged, their covert support base within the administration badly disarrayed, and their money machines seriously disrupted.
The first tranche of local election, as a trial balloon, should provide some clue about the changes to come. Most of the candidates are known party hands, a few even escaped recent anti-crime dragnets, hastily filing in nomination papers without waiting for the party’s approval. The approvals are following in, as the posts must not fall in the hands of the adversary’s!
And such an adversary could be within the alliance structure as well. Look at Rajshahi mayoral constituency, which also shows how important a mayoral post has already become in comparison to a seat for parliament. Why then upazilla polls will not be participated? It seems, despite rhetoric, the Upazilla poll would take place in due course, making the power structure changed for the first time in favour of the grassroots.
The new breed of political aspirants who were being reared up during the last one year or so, for filling up various tiers of elected governments, seem to have withered away. The numerous advocacy groups and endless road-shows could not inspire even a few dozen of the right thinking people to come forward and participate in the poll.
Most of the prospective new entrants at the local government level, no matter how opportunists they are, will probably keep party’s flag flying, and would be ready to make suitable adjustments with the power that would be responsible for allocating the national resources. A new mutation of old politics has begun.
