Political Pluralism and Participation
According to Freedom House, political pluralism and (expansive) participation is available when people can freely and safely express/support their political preferences, political parties have fair chance to garner support, non-democratically accountable groups are not influencing individual political choices, and relevant groups have suffrage rights and opportunities. The ability to freely organize and support political groupings means that there should be no undue obstacles (i.e excessive requirements and regulations) to operate, discrimination that hinders the ability to gather, and subjection to harassment for (peaceful) party members. The opportunity to gain support and power is measured by considering the aspects of government and society that enable opposing views- there should be a presence of genuine opposition in positions of power in government, a lack of restrictions that prevents groups form gaining support, lack of harassment/violence that influences political support, and opposition parties’ can participation in elections. Non-democratically accountable groups such as the military or foreign powers should not have the power to influence political choices (of voters and candidates) such as through bribes, harassment, or asserting control over employees. The government should not inhibit political participation through conservative policy, excessive policies regarding citizenship to prevent the exercise of suffrage rights, and the interests of women and minorities should be represented in parties (Freedom House, 2018).
Political Pluralism and Participation in A Free Country
Political Pluralism and Participation serves as a safeguard for the people’s political interests. This security in a multiplicity of viewpoints and political ideologies prevents one party from gaining too much power. Inevitably, no country can be “free” without political pluralism and participation because these factors are essential in providing an accurate representation of beliefs in the constituency. Obviously a country cannot be ruled by the people if the people cannot freely and fairly exercise suffrage rights, thus making expansive political participation key in the establishment of a “free” country. And although in an ideal society everyone would all align with the same political party, expansive participation must also coincide with political pluralism to ensure that the country is not only limited to one political belief system/ party platform. It is through this effort to represent and support a nation’s ideological diversity that makes a country a “free” country.
Political Pluralism and Participation in Bangladesh
In BBC article “Bangladesh Ex-PM Khaleda Zia Jailed amid Clashes”, the jailing of former prime minister and opposition leader (Bangladesh Nationalist Party- BNP), Khaleda Zia, sparked protest. Zia claims that the charges against her, primarily on the basis of corruption and missing money/embezzlement, are politically motivated. Her, her son, and ten of her aides were also sentenced with jail time. Tear gas was used against protesters by police, and the BNP claims hundreds of supporters were arrested prior to the verdict (BBC, 2018).
Although I question whether or not the charges against Zia were completely “politically claimed” considering a trend of corruption in Bangladeshi government, I still believe that her power and the power of the BNP is deliberately attacked and suppressed by the current leaders of the Awami League. This power struggle and idea that one party must reign indicates a lack of political pluralism. The ability and history for the leading party in Bangladesh to silence other political parties also indicates a lack of true political participation. The Awami League uses their power to ensure that they do not lose that power.
A few months prior to Zia’s verdict, Pulack’s “Bangladesh: Thousands of Opposition Members Arrested, Activists Say” describes the arrest of thousands of BNP members and leaders to prevent their participation in upcoming elections. BNP lawyer Sanaullah Miah claims that over four thousand cases were filed against BNP leaders by the police. Such attempts to prevent the BNP’s participation in the elections this year would be a repetition of the 2014 elections, when the BNP was also not represented in the polls (Ghatack, 2018).
Both these articles bring up the issue of the oppression of political pluralism in Bangladeshi government. There is a very clear trend of the Awami League’s abuse of power to prevent political participation. Their abuse in itself is intimidating enough in itself to prevent people from supporting any other political party.
Considering the extreme violence and tension between parties, combined with deliberate oppression by the ruling political party, I will say that the political pluralism in Bangladesh is more expansive than I expected. Don’t get me wrong, there are serious issues in regards to representation, corruption, tolerance, purposeful sabotage, etc., but I think all that is a testament to the strength and resilience of opposition parties. For almost a decade, the Awami League has used intimidation and exploited their power to oppress opposition, and yet there is still a strong opposition. There is significant amount of support for opposition powers and a determination for political pluralism that continues to drive these party conflicts. So although political pluralism and participation in Bangladesh is stifled because of corrupt governance, there is much to be said about the determination of the opposition party that still enables a presence of political pluralism in Bangladesh.
Works Cited
“Methodology: Freedom in the World 2018.” Methodology: Freedom in the World 2018 | Freedom House. April 19, 2018. Accessed November 02, 2018. https://freedomhouse.org/report/methodology-freedom-world-2018.
Ghatack, Pulack. “Bangladesh: Thousands of Opposition Members Arrested, Activists Say.” BenarNews. October 9, 2018. Accessed November 02, 2018. https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/bengali/opposition-arrests-10092018173451.html.
“Bangladesh Ex-PM Khaleda Zia Jailed amid Clashes.” BBC News. February 08, 2018. Accessed November 02, 2018. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42987765.