How to dismantle ‘I am the state!’

The disgraceful downfall of the despotic regime of Sheikh Hasina in an extraordinary uprising is not the end of the road for Bangladesh, it is just the beginning of a new journey on a tortuous road to ultimate freedom.

At the end of her 15 years regimented rule she left behind an ailing economy in a void of an institutional wreckage tragically marked by the unprecedented brutalities of her regime.

But the ouster of the iron-fisted lady freed people from the shackles and gave them freedom. Most importantly, her ouster invigorated people and allowed them to dare to dream: Rebuilding a Bangladesh based on the aspirations of the young generation who toppled the despotic regime.

The victory was costly as the Hasina regime unleashed unimaginable brutalities to crush the movement by turning the country into killing fields.

Her regime came to an end allowing for better things to begin. But better things never happen by themselves.

Preserving freedom and realising the dream are required to construct afresh every institution from political to economic, from judicial to social, from education to sports and cultural by dismantling the kleptocratic regime presided over by Hasina.

Building a state in the real sense of the term from the institutional wreckage already appears to be an uphill task. And the need of the time for a new beginning is reforms, reforms and reforms.

Magical thinking about reforms  

The first and foremost reforms that need to be done are to cut the absolute powers of the office of the prime minister and liberate the parliament and the judiciary—two key organs—from the grip of the chief executive of the state.

Currently, the office of the prime minister is armed with so much power that a mediaeval king would feel ashamed at his own feeble ability. Abusing all powers– executive, legislative and judicial– Hasina had emerged as supreme leader making her larger than the state by bringing everything under the sun in her control. Nothing worked, nothing moved without her nod. We can recall the French king Louis XIV 'The Sun King' who famously declared "I am the state" signifying that he was the absolute ruler. 

The executive power of the state must not be vested only in the prime minister. Likewise, in many other parliamentary democracies, the executive powers need to be vested in the cabinet in which the prime minister would be the first among equals. As per the rules of procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad, a senior minister may be made the leader of the House, instead of the prime minister.

Changes in the article 70 of the Constitution have been long due. The restrictions imposed by this article on MPs made them "prisoners of the party" that nominated them in the elections.

The office of the president must be freed from the grip of the prime minister too. The president will act on advice of the council of the ministers not only on advice of the prime minister.

An opposition MP may be elected to the office of the deputy speaker. Opposition MPs may be made heads of half of the parliamentary standing committees to make the system effective to oversee the functions of the ministries and departments.

To bring an end to the winner takes all culture, a proportional representation system may be considered in the general election.

The current provision of the constitution empowers the prime minister with authorities to control the judiciary through appointment of judges and their promotion and posting.

By curtailing the prime minister's powers, a judicial commission as exists in some countries, may be formed for the appointment of judges of the apex court. The ill practice of suppression in appointment of the chief justice and judges to the appellate division from the high court division must come to an end.

The High Court must be allowed, according to the article 109 of the Constitution, to have superintendence and control over all courts and tribunals subordinate to it for an effective separation of the judiciary.

Many more reform measures are needed to dismantle the vicious cycle developed by the Hasina regime to control the lower judiciary.

A strong parliament and a genuinely independent judiciary are the first antidotes to prevent the rise of another authoritarian ruler.

The executive power is always a potential source of the rise of an authoritarian ruler. It is none other than the parliament in a parliamentary democracy that keeps the prime minister under control. The prime minister's office must come under scrutiny. If the powerhouse remains above accountability, other reforms may get dismantled.

Constitutionally, the cabinet is collectively accountable to the parliament. Enforcement of this provision must be made visible through effective use of all parliamentary mechanisms.

An independent judiciary can ensure that none of the state organs oversteps its jurisdiction. It can review the legibility of the laws passed by the parliament and policies and decisions by the government.

Judicial review is another antidote to prevent abuse of powers.

The executive powers remain excessively centralised that allows the prime minister with absolute powers to interfere in everything.

The power needs to be devolved to empower the local government which is a must for the country's better economic growth and infrastructure development.

In the current structure, the office of the prime minister is armed with almost all power of the state in different ways. Anyone holding the office is a potential threat to democracy. Abusing the mountain-like powers anyone can emerge as a despot denying free and fair election, and making tyrannical laws to bring an end to everything.

If the parliament and judiciary can be transformed into real pillars of the state, only then other political and economic institutions of the state will keep growing gradually.

The referendum system which was abolished by the 15^th amendment in 2011 by the Hasina government can be reinstated with the provision for referendum on major political issues thus preventing the government and parliament from making arbitrary decisions.  

There are many more things that need to be taken care of for building a healthy system of governance.

But for all those reforms, the constitution needs to be reformed extensively. A constitution reform commission may be formed that will draft the proposals in consultations with experts and political parties. This will be the reform manifesto of the people and the next parliament, whenever it is formed through a free and fair election, must deliver on the manifesto at the inaugural session of the new parliament.

Monstrous politics

Confrontational culture in politics and blatant abuse of laws and the law enforcement agencies has sent the rule of law into exile. Zero sum game has become the main mantra of the political parties which needs to be fixed.

Political parties are largely blamed for housing another source of a potential despot due to lack of intra- party democratic practice over the decades. Most of their constitutions empower the party chief with unchecked powers which do not go with democratic norms and values. They need to be built as democratic institutions as they are among the key pillars of the temple of democracy— the Jatiya Sangsad.

A healthy leadership competition needs to be practised at every level of the party structure. Little men who own the ballots must be empowered to exercise their right to franchise everywhere from national elections to local government elections, from political party's leadership elections to various professional bodies.

Before the December 2008 parliamentary election, sweeping electoral reforms were brought to break the vicious cycle and introduce democratic practices in nominating parliamentary candidates and electing party leaders. But all those positive changes were derailed along with elections during the Hasina regime.

Regaining people's confidence in the election system that was repeatedly and brutally trampled by the Hasina regime since the 2014 election, now appears to be another uphill task.

Ailing economy needs urgent care   

Reforming the financial and banking sector has become an urgently needed task to be done to help the ailing economy to bounce back. Announcement to set up a banking commission and publication of the white paper of the state of the economy are just the beginning of the massive work that needs to be done in the coming days. 

Grand scale corruption overwhelmed all sectors– from banks to non-banking financial institutions, from implementation of mega projects to purchasing lifesaving drugs, from education to sports and culture.   

Excessive politicisation of the civil administration and the law enforcement agencies by the Hasina regime has emerged as a hurdle for the interim government preventing it from moving fast with the measures to put the economy on track.

Reform has become an urgent need to build a professional bureaucracy and the law enforcement agency to run a democratic governance.

Freedom must be unfettered  

A number of tyrannical laws were made by the past regimes which were used as tools to crush protest, gag free speech and freedom of the press. All those laws need to be scrapped urgently to uphold the spirit of the freedom the people regained after the fall of Hasina.

A constitutional provision itself gives the executive the power to make tyrannical laws to curb freedom. The article 39 therefore needs to be changed repealing the proviso "subject to reasonable restrictions" which has been blatantly abused. No fettered freedom is a freedom. So freedom must be unfettered by declaring that the parliament shall never make laws infringing freedom of speech and press. The collective will of the nation has been dwarfed by the absence of freedom.

The invictus

When the Hasina regime deployed its all-out efforts to crush the protest, the youths in millions across the country proclaimed their united strength in the face of brutalities unleashed by the law enforcement agencies to save Hasina.

But the youths were spirited and emerged as Invictus—unconquered resembling the famous lines of a poem by late nineteenth century English author William Ernest Henley:

"My head is bloody, but unbowed

I am the master of my fate;

I am the captain of my soul."

The despot failed, ultimately. And the rest is history.

The dream for a new democratic Bangladesh was born from the killing fields, from the blood and from the unconquerable souls of the millions of youths who became the master of their fate and the captain of their souls.

Dismantling the legacy of a despotic and Kleptocratic regime is now a gigantic task. 

There is no quick fix. But that indomitable spirit the youths and the people demonstrated in toppling Hasina can make a difference through chalking out prudent reforms and their efficient implementation.