Manifesto revelations: focus on the differences

Mridul Chowdhury
Published by the New Age on 24 Dec 2008.

We have to live with the fact that in Bangladeshi politics, we do not yet have a culture of holding the winning party’s feet to the fire based on their election promises.

Youth Vote

Election 2008: Minorities, Competition, Mobiles

Are we asking the right questions?

Asif Saleh

Published by the New Age on 22 Dec 2008.

Thailand’s Thaksin won a permanent vote base by courting the most underprivileged voters for the first time in Thai history. Without the middlemen, he directly reached out to them and made policies that favoured them. In today’s Bangladesh, this group is still not courted by any of the parties.

None of the above

Mridul Chowdhury

Published by the Daily Star on 21 Dec 2008.

LIKE many, I am divided on the No-Vote option. On the one hand, this is possibly our only way to send a strong message to the party bigwigs to nominate better candidates; on the other, there is a risk of critical votes getting wasted, since it is next to impossible that the number of no-votes will reach the threshold needed for a re-election in the constituency.

And if we assume that there is a fair possibility that perhaps a majority of the people who will cast a no-vote may be more progressive-minded who think beyond party lines, then it is fair to say that the votes that would have gone to the relatively more progressive end will go uncounted.

Running the numbers

Syeed Ahamed and Jyoti Rahman

Published in the Daily Star on 21 December 2008

SINCE the publication of our pieces analysing the polling centre level data from the last three elections in these pages on December 4, 7, 8, and 14, the irregularities discussed here have been reported in highly circulated Bangla dailies (see N. Morshed’s piece in Prothom Alo on December 15 for example). In this piece, we reiterate our reasons for publishing our results now, and make some specific recommendations for some key stakeholders.

Eyes wide shut?

Tazreena Sajjad

Published by the Daily Star on 17 Dec 2008.

IN the expanding business of democracy promotion, election monitoring has become a prominent part of the global project to promote democratic norms and practices. The presence of neutral observers, it is believed, promotes conformity with emerging international standards for the conduct of elections.

The presence of a “neutral” third party illustrates the interest of the international community in the politics of the country and underscores an explicit support for the democratic process.

Ideas in Bangladeshi politics

Jyoti Rahman

Published by the New Age on 16 Dec 2008.

A Bangladeshi identity has gathered ground since the 1970’s. Does identity politics have a role in today’s Bangladesh?

Election 2008: Defenders of the minority vote

Naeem Mohaiemen

Published by the Daily Star on 16 Dec 2008.

Election analysis: The manifestos

Jyoti Rahman

Published by the Daily Star on 15 Dec 2008.

TALK is cheap, especially during an election season. Over the past days, both major parties have announced their election manifestos. Whether titled A Charter for Change or Save People, Save Country, both documents make lofty promises on every sector from sports to telecommunication. This piece will discuss some of the promises by the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on the economy, governance, corruption, and energy.

Overall, AL provides specific timetables against which its performance can be judged in most sectors. While BNP gives little detail, its promise to strengthen the Jatiya Sangsad, if implemented, will have far reaching consequences for our democracy. Finally, neither side is forthcoming about how to fund their promises.