Awami League led Mahajot’s stunning victory in the general election held on 29th December 2008 reflects several changes from the past elections held in Bangladesh. For the first time female voters outnumbered male voters and number of female candidates who contested the polls and won was higher then ever before. This is a profound change in a society that is believed to be patrimonial and a woman’s position is predetermined as a daughter under the father before marriage, a wife controlled by husband after marriage and a mother dependant on son in old age. This notion has been changing in South Asia during the last several decades as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka has had female heads of State /government and empowerment of women is a war continuously waged by the women in the sub-continent and broadly supported in several regional countries. Unfortunately Afghanistan and Pakistan are yet to move out of traditional conservative view on women’s position and participation in different sectors of the society. Twisted interpretation of Islam- the predominant religion in these countries is held as an explanation for the arrest of women’s emancipation from societal bondage. 

 Perhaps for the first time the freest. fairest and the most transparent election was held and, despite BNP’s allegations of irregularities in 72 constituencies, no law and order incident was reported. The two hundred thousand election observers, including foreign observers, described the election as having been free, fair and transparent. European Union Election Observer Mission opined that apart from minor technical difficulties, professionalism, transparency and credibility were “the hall marks” of the ninth parliamentary election. Commonwealth Observers Team found no evidence of “election engineering” and that the election met many of the bench mark for democratic election. NDI felt the electoral process met international standard and advised all political parties to abandon the dysfunctional practices of the past. All foreign observers advised the defeated BNP-Jamaat alliance to accept the peoples’ verdict and to behave constructively as opposition parties. Political culture of Bangladesh of crying foul by the party defeated in the election has not only produced the caretaker government concept but unfortunately has given disproportionate weightage to foreign views in our domestic politics.

Awami League’s massive mandate was also a result of maladministration by the BNP-Jamaat government. The question of morality is being raised in judging both the national and international behavior of states and the evaluation of the code of conduct, more or less uniform in character, prescribed to be followed by the civilized states have placed morality as the center piece in global theater. Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of decolonization has been the imperceptible regression of presumptions relating to “racial superiority and civilized mode of behavior” of the metropolitan people vis-à-vis those living in the periphery. There is, however, no denying the fact that the world divided as it is into First, Second and the Third (or even Fourth) worlds does testify to the great existential divide among the people living in these well defined worlds where division is more vertical than horizontal and promotion from one to another is well nigh impossible.  As it is  social stratification or societal division based on wealth, power and status has been a defining characteristic of civilizations. Social stratification took global shape with the advent of colonization and poverty began to be distributed among the people living in the periphery and the wealth of the periphery was shipped to the metropolis.   However the entire colonial discourse should not be seen through the prism of manicheanism expressed in binary structure between good and evil because the colonizers were not totally exploitive in nature but were also donors of liberal values and compassion shown by the West through aid to tsunami victims and the expected financial pledge following publication of the report by the Africa Commission. But lot remains to be done for the developing countries to move forward at sprinter’s speed. ODA is yet to be given at 0.7% of the GDP pledged by the developed world decades ago.  

Prime minister-designate Sheikh Hasina has already announced her government’s priorities. The first task of the government would be to rein in the price of essentials and to bring it  within the reach of the people and alleviate poverty. World Bank estimated that 40 million Bangladeshis were added to the rank of the poor due to abnormal price rise by syndicates under government patronage. International cooperation would be necessary for the realization of 2021 vision. But increasingly  the donors’ developmental aid and assistance policy these days include good governance in the recipient countries where the donors  would like to see multi-party democracy, respect for human rights and rule of law, government with the consent of the governed, accountability, equity and poverty concerns are being addressed. Many of the demands made by the donors of the recipients may not be readily available in those countries yet to make ‘developmental transition’ and excessive donor influence also raises the question of incursion into sovereignty of the recipient countries. In the tussle between the donors and the recipients particularly after the global meltdown the developing world is still struggling with the question as to whether capitalism is the right way to development. Sir William Ryrie suggests “market economy” for the Third World where market economy is defined as “properly regulated capitalism”, a system which seeks to maximize economic efficiency and growth while minimizing the social ills and injustices which unfettered capitalism can throw up. Though theoretically the market system to operate perfectly would demand withdrawal of the state intervention experience has shown, particularly in the Third World, the role state must play to ensure proper development of the market economy. In gist, the state must ensure that the system and services needed for a market economy to function efficiently exist. Importantly the legal system embodying the commercial and corporate law must exist. The state must also ensure an environment of competition which both Adam Smith and Karl Marx agreed that capitalists naturally do not want competition and try to avoid it. The basic infrastructure and social services must also be provided by the state. In the final analysis there is no unique constellation of conditions that would require the state to play its role which would vary according to the stage of development an economy is already in.

  On foreign affairs Sheikh Hasina put emphasis on regional cooperation for development and for creation of a task force for combined action against terrorism. As a departure from past passive stance Sheikh has come out publicly in favor of the release of Burma’s interned leader Aung San Su Kyi but at the same time seeking Burmese cooperation for economic development of both countries. On easing Indo-Pak tension the new government could play a role if asked to do so. As trade, aid, remittance of expatriate Bangladeshis would continue to remain main sources of foreign exchange earning next government’s interaction with the international community is expected to increase. All said and done globalization would not permit any nation on the planet to remain an island.

(The views expressed by the author are his own. The author is a former Ambassador and Secretary of Bangladesh)