Selecting the right lawmaker

We have one more election on its way. No matter how people were benefited, neglected or repressed by the existing lawmakers, chiefs of the two major parties seem paying the least attention when nomination is concerned. In our kind of democracy, accumulated individual effort by parliamentarians should be the key to every success, every move –– we really need to etch it in our minds.

The recent incidents that claimed many lives when people took to the streets demanding electricity and water demonstrate how some of our public representatives caused sufferings to the people. I don’t know if the Rajshahi mayor (also a lawmaker), Kansat’s local lawmaker and the lawmaker who was in charge of Shanir Akhra were the right selection by their party high-command. The apparent surprise would be if we do not see these three ‘public representatives’ once again contesting the elections.

Here comes our role, the common man’s awareness. We should send a strong message to all parties that we would not appreciate somebody whom we do not know well, or who has a history of neglecting the public interest and patronising criminals, and is known as corrupt. We need to realise that honest, sincere and hard-working lawmakers will better governance would look after our interests better. We are blessed that we have established parliamentary democracy while the people in Nepal have been struggling hard to get it. So in order to turn this hard-earned democracy into an efficient system we need to elect the right representatives. This is a challenge for all of us at this time.

I believe all our constituencies have their own heroes who are dedicated, honest, sincere and hard-working. I would rather refer to this combination of qualities as a test of eligibility to become a public representative. An eligible future representative may not have enough money to spend in the election campaign but if we recognise him or her then it is our responsibility to give every cooperation and encouragement that he or she would need. We need to strongly refuse a representative who is simply imposed by the party high-command for whatever reasons and who, we know, has no affiliation with the locals. We have to say ‘no’ to former bureaucrats who could be a secretary or a military general as long as the person has no proven track record of efficiency, sincerity, honesty and, above all, at least a decade-long direct affiliation with the common man.

In this regard, I still do not understand the essence of nominating general (retd) Mustafizur Rahman or air vice marshal (retd) Altaf Chowdhruy by their respective party chiefs because on the scale of eligibility that has been mentioned earlier, they are well below even the average. Altaf is a proven case of every kind of failure, not to mention his current ‘minister without portfolio’ status but he must thank the public for their kind role of not creating any pressure on his party chief to throw him out of the cabinet. But the reality was, this failed air vice marshal was nominated, elected by his constituency, became a minister and then performed miserably. It is more than over due for his local constituency to understand they need somebody else. Same could have happened for another former army chief, Mustafizur Rahman. The only quality that this retired general has is that he is a relative of Sheikh Hasina, president of the Awami League. This gentleman was appointed chief of army staff violating standard norms. If we measure this army chief on the scale of eligibility to be a public representative, do we see anything positive? Well, Sheikh Hasina would not bother and once again bless this useless general with an AL ticket unless his constituency is loudly against such a selection. Nearer the election more such attempts by retired government officials would be seen. The same applies for dishonest businessmen, corrupt bureaucrats and others dreaming to become our representatives but would fail the eligibility test by all means.

All we need is an increased level of public awareness and foresight to build our future. I do not expect any qualitative change in popularly known ‘nomination business’ conveniently run by the party chiefs as they will exhibit the same attitude. But I have every hope that the level of public awareness will rise which should eventually force the party chiefs to respect the public will. Now we have another opportunity ahead of us to work hard to influence the selection process of the lawmakers instead of leaving the business of selecting them entirely to the whims of the party leaders.

Syed Rahat Zaman