President can’t ensure participatory election alone, he needs the support of govt and people: Shafique Ahmed

Bangladesh must follow the democratic norms in order to properly establish the rule of the people, says the former law minister

The president is not able to ensure a participatory general election on his own and needs the support of the government and the people to do so, says Barrister Shafique Ahmed.

"If you want to have a proper democracy, the election has to be proper, fair, and it must be participatory," the veteran lawyer told Inside Out, the bdnews24.com talk show.

Elections based on an individual’s actions will not be proper because they cannot ensure democracy, he said.

“I think it is not the president who can ensure a participatory election. It is the people, in fact. Thereafter, it is the government itself that wants to establish people’s rule and democracy in the country. That is the proper way, in fact, to show that democracy is functioning in this country.”

The video of the full interview with Ahmed, who served as law minister from 2009 to 2014, is available on bdnews24.com and its Facebook and YouTube pages.

Commenting on the remarks of outgoing President Abdul Hamid, who said that he believed Bangladesh was on a trajectory towards more open and fair politics, Ahmed said: “His beliefs and his thoughts may not be like mine. He has one way of thinking, one way of looking at things. But he is, in fact, a person supported by others to run the government. That’s all. Other than that, I don’t think he has many things to do.”

Bangladesh has to stick to accepted democratic norms if its system of government and governance is to function, Ahmed said.

“The democratic way is one of fair elections, where the elected people will form the government and run the country. That should be allowed to be followed. Otherwise, the country cannot follow the path of democracy either.”

For these norms, Bangladesh must look to established democracies and investigate their best practices, Ahmed noted.

“If you really want to see that democracy progresses, we must follow the norms. If you want democracy to be established, we must have what is being followed in many other countries. If it is not consistent, then it creates problems. Because of this lacking, we have issues.”

However, he also stated that there were differences between how Bangladesh would handle these issues and how they would be tackled by India or the US.

One prominent problem he did point out was the lack of the Election Commission’s powers. “Definitely there is some lack,” he said.

“But, in order to establish democracy properly, the way it should develop is that it should be ensured by people who are, in fact, trying to establish democracy in the country.”

The lawyer, who has been part of the High Court for 56 years and is a senior advocate, said that another problem is the time it takes to resolve election disputes through the courts.

“I must say it is unfortunate. It takes a longer period to decide and it, in fact, destroys democracy. That cannot be in any way accepted by the people.”

The former law minister said the judiciary could also play a role in improving elections and building trust in the process.

“You know in our country the judiciary plays a full role at the time of elections and they are being given the responsibility of doing different things. They are doing nicely, otherwise, it would not work,” he said.

Asked how the issue of mistrust between the main political factions could be resolved, Ahmed said, “If you can identify the problems, they can probably be addressed properly. At first, the identification of problems is important. If they can be found, then they can be solved. And I believe in many cases it has been identified and also solved. And it will be solved I believe. Otherwise, you see, the country cannot progress and proceed.”

‘DSA IS BOTH FOLLOWED AND MISUSED’

The Digital Security Act is one of the most controversial pieces of legislation introduced during the Awami League’s current stint in government, drawing criticism at home and from abroad.

Asked about why the government had kept the stricter provisions from the Information and Communication Technology Act from 2016 and strengthened it in the DSA, the former law minister said: “You see, each country has their own way of operating. I think our country, our government is being run by the system and by people taking the view that this way the country will run better. That is the proper way to look at it.”

He did, however, acknowledge that the DSA is misused on a regular basis.

“In many cases, the DSA is being misused and in many, it is not. You can’t say entirely it is being misused, you can’t say entirely it is followed. It is being followed and misused at the same time.”

Ahmed, however, took issue with the way in which some parts of the law were used to detain people prior to the filing of a case.

“This is not at all acceptable. If somebody has been taken into custody, he is supposed to have been taken because he has committed some crime. And he should be allowed to speak in his defence, whether he has done anything wrong or not.”

The government has the responsibility to prove that the suspect is guilty of a crime in such cases, he said.

“There are ways and means of finding out the guilt of the people or finding out whether they are, in fact, innocent. Otherwise, the people and the society cannot run properly.”

In cases where detainees under the law are denied bail, a clear path has to be laid out for them to challenge the ruling in higher courts, he said.

“There are higher courts that look into the legalities of keeping [suspects] in wrongful confinement. That’s how things should be done and democracy should run.”

“We should see if the people are being treated in a democratic way, otherwise there is no point in running the country in a democratic way.”