Readymade Candidates and Shortcut to Parliament

December, 1990. Ershad government has just fallen. A new caretaker government has been formed under the leadership of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Sahabuddin Ahmed. Election winds blowing across the country. With the urge to implement the outline of the three alliances. The combined student union has called to resist the “Agents of Dictatorship”. Meanwhile, one afternoon, two secretaries appeared at 'Bangabandhu Bhavan' at number 32. They want to meet Awami League President Sheikh Hasina. Awami League President is very busy with elections, activities of three alliances etc. assigned an important leader of Awami League to listen to those two bureaucrats. That popular and influential leader in the bureaucratic circles spoke to Keramat Ali and MK Anwar. Two bureaucrats said they want to contest in the National Assembly elections. They have huge popularity in their area. All they need now is the nomination of Awami League. The responsible leader of Awami League told their desire to the party chief. But Sheikh Hasina rejected their proposal. Sheikh Hasina returned MK Anwar and Keramat Ali for two reasons. Firstly, both of them are blacklisted as Ershad's friends. It was clearly stated in the outline of the three alliances that no party of the three alliances would give shelter to any of Ershad's associates. Awami League President showed respect to the outline of the three alliances. Secondly, Awami League is a political organization. Obtaining party nominations in political organizations is a lengthy political process. There is no shortcut to getting nominated in politics. No one gets nominated suddenly. Awami League's door was closed for two bureaucrats. But incidentally at that time an influential leader of BNP came to 'Bangabandhu Bhavan' at Dhanmondi 32. To attend the Tri-Alliance Committee meeting. At the end of the meeting, he met those two bureaucrats. After listening to their interest, he took them to the BNP office. Arranged them a meeting with Begum Zia. The next day, they resigned from government service and officially joined the BNP. MK Anwar and Keramat Ali had no difficulty in getting BNP's nomination for the election. They contested as ready-made candidates of BNP and won. BNP surprised everyone by winning a single majority in the National Parliament in the February 1991 elections. BNP formed the government with the support of Jamaat. Both MK Anwar and Keramat Ali became ministers in the BNP government. Among them, MK Anwar was an influential leader of BNP until his death. This is a classic example of shortcut to become MP and minister in the political history of Bangladesh. No standard practice. No political practices. no loyalty to the party. No loyalty to the party. No knowledge of the party's goals and ideals. In a flash like Aladdin's lamp, they became MP and minister. During the reign of Ershad, two powerful bureaucrats developed their area by spending state money and later became ready-made candidates. MK Anwar and Keramat Ali's shenanigans in the 1991 elections opened up the 'shortcut' way of politics. However, the trend of becoming an MP in shortcut way started from 1975 onwards. Zia formed the BNP with mercenaries from various parties. Now this trend is ubiquitous. As the tendency to become MPs in shortcut is increasing among individuals, it is now normal for political parties to look for 'ready-made' candidates, excluding long-time party stalwarts. 'Ready-made' candidates are much like ready-made clothes. You go to a store and get a dress. You joined the party and become an MP with money. After the 1991 debacle, the Awami League moved away from its conservative stance in nominating candidates. The election of 1996 was a challenge to the existence of Awami League. Awami League also started looking for ready-made MP candidates to face this challenge. BNP is already a party based on ready-made candidates. When the two major parties tend to turn to ready-made candidates, becoming MPs in shortcut got recognized as normal political practice. Businessmen, ex-bureaucrats, retired army officers all joined the race to become MPs in the shortcut. In the 1996 election, the Awami League denied the nomination of many field politicians, including the late advocate Sahara Khatun, Mozaffar Hossain Paltu, to make way for short-cut nominations. What is the formula to become an MP in the shortcut? You own huge wealth (legally or illegally). Go to your election area and build some mosques and madrasas. Give charity. Surprised everyone by sacrificing 100 cows in your area on Eid-ul-adha. Boom. You are popular. Now some people of Awami League, BNP will contact you openly and secretly. You give them shiny new money. This is not the only shortcut to becoming an MP. You are a government official. People of your area come to you for various reasons. There is no road or bridge in the area, the school has to be included in the MPO, the roof of the mosque has to be welded, and if you provide jobs to the unemployed in the area, you will be blessed. When a bureaucrat becomes a secretary, he has a lot of power. The power of secretaries is now limitless. When the outbreak of Corona started in 2020, secretaries were given the responsibility of the district. The secretaries owned the all-power of the district through the district commissioner. Bureaucrats were taking all the decisions of the district. Their value increased in the area. Opportunistic sycophants were flocking. Suggesting that they are wiser than a member of parliament. If you were the MP of the area, this area would have changed. People want you. The bureaucrats surrounded by flattery are also giddy with happiness. They also thought, what is the MP doing in the area? I made the road. I am making a list of ‘kabikha’. It is up to me to decide who gets home from Ashrayan Project. So, they became a bigger Awami League than Awami League. The greed of shortcut to MP got them. Earlier, the businessmen went ahead in the race to become an MP in a shortcut. The number of businessmen in the National Parliament is now more than 50 percent. Most of them have no previous experience in politics. They are doing business, taking a huge amount of loan from the bank and not paying it with various loopholes and not even becoming debtor. They created their own mercenary forces in the area. Made another Awami League within Awami League with 'My Men'. Among the businessmen who have become or are in the process of becoming a shortcut MP, have a kind of business 'motivation'. If he becomes an MP or a minister, he will be able to grow his business. Debt will be easy in the secretariat. No need to pay bribes. It will be convenient to get the tender. So, election is good investment for them. Since 1975, businessmen have therefore been very enthusiastic about investing in the political sector. Politicians in the national parliament are cornered by the tide of their money. Many up-and-coming politicians have also been lured by the magic of becoming shortcut MP of established businessmen. They have imbibed honesty, idealism, sacrifice etc. in the self. But to get nomination, money will be required. Elections will cost money. What is the way to make money? Tender trade, recruitment trade etc. Under the guise of a politician, they are embarking on a robbery mission. You can't become an MP without money. So, they run to become bigwigs in short cuts to become MPs. Their number is not less in the national parliament. Compared to that, the presence of bureaucrats in the National Parliament is negligible and some people in the bureaucratic circles are endlessly sad about this. They only have power as long as they have their job. But when the tenure of the job is over, the struggle begins. Some try to get contractual employment after their tenure. Some wants a commission or a post-retirement job in an organization and some expects to become the chairman of a bank. Thus, bureaucrats have captured almost all institutions and positions. The national parliament has not yet come under their control. However, the main reason for this, is not the failure of bureaucrats. Now the way bureaucrats squirm around power like a fish in monsoon bill, it is not a difficult task for them to enter the parliament. They will make a good competition with the businessmen. But the obstacle is actually a law. Representation of the People Ordinance 1972. Section 12(1) (f) of this Act states, ‘Provided that no person shall be eligible to be elected or to remain as a member (Member of Parliament) if- (cha) if he has resigned or retired from any service in the Republic or Statutory Government Authority or from the Department of Defense and three years have not elapsed after his resignation and retirement.’ Just as stale flowers are not valued, bureaucrats' 'artificial power' is exhausted after three years of retirement. After the lapse of three years, those who survive in the field of politics, continue to exist on their own strength. At this time they have to go through the political process. This time, bureaucrats (military and civil) want to challenge this clause before the National Assembly elections. A writ petition was filed in the High Court Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court challenging this clause on Thursday, January 19. In pursuance of a writ petition, the High Court issued a ruling seeking to know why the provision of participation in parliamentary elections after three years of retirement from government service is not unconstitutional. The High Court bench comprising Justice Zafar Ahmed and Justice Md. Bashir Ullah issued this rule. Brigadier General (retd) Shamim Kamal filed a writ petition challenging 12 (1) (f) of the Representation of the People Ordinance. For some days there was pressure from the bureaucrats to cancel this section. At first some bureaucrats tried to persuade the government to abolish this clause. But the government has so far not taken any initiative to change this law. Earlier some bureaucrats had approached the court to cancel the law. But in order to file a writ petition in the court, the petitioner must be aggrieved - the High Court did not consider the petition on this argument. Now the writ petition is pending before the court. Judges will make a final decision about it by analyzing their intelligence and legal aspects. However, there are two types of arguments for and against this law. A bureaucrat spends the first year on post-retirement leave after retirement. During this time, he does not work but enjoys salary and allowances. For the next two years, he feels that heat of power. A restriction of three years of non-participation in elections has been imposed on government officials, considering that he may gain extra advantage in the electoral field. Those who are in favor of it think that if this provision is not there, bureaucratic candidates will get extra advantage in the election field. Considering the political party candidates who can show more power in the elections, a newly retired bureaucrat can influence the field administration in the conduct of the elections, the law-and-order forces will show favoritism towards him. As a result, political parties will be motivated to nominate bureaucrats. They will be the most sought-after ready-made candidates who can become MPs in a shortcut.

Again, the argument against it is not to be dismissed easily. According to the constitution, the law is equal for every citizen. Article 27 of the Constitution states, "All citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law." After retirement, a government officer and employee are equal to 10 ordinary citizens. Therefore, barring them from participating in the election is a violation of Article 27 of the Constitution.

There are more such arguments for and against. But I think the decision of bureaucrats, businessmen, looters, black money owners not to participate in elections is an important political commitment. The decision of the political parties is important in this regard. After 75, Zia seized power and said that he would make politics 'difficult'. Indeed, politics in the country has become difficult for politicians. Real politicians are gradually falling behind in the process of becoming members of Parliament. Major political parties want to win any kind of election. And they look for ready-made candidates to win. Again, to further inflate the huge illegal wealth and keep him safe, the march to become an MP is also growing. Do you remember the former MP of Laxmipur-2 Constituency Mohammad Shahid Islam Papul? He became MP only with the power of money. He also made his wife a member of parliament under the women's quota with money. Many papuls now want to gain impunity through elections. In this situation, if retired government officials also contest to become MPs, then politics will become more difficult for real politicians. There are many ways to contribute to the country. One can contribute to the development of the country from where they are. A businessman will play a major role in advancing the economy of the country. That is his sacred work. Why should he be an MP? A government official can advance the country by working with honesty and devotion. He does not need to be an MP for this. Citizens of every profession have different positions, roles and responsibilities in society. Just as it is not a good sign for businessmen or bureaucrats to occupy the field of politics, similarly politicians should not be businessmen. If everyone in the country wants to be an MP-minister, then the balance will be lost. That imbalance is now being noticed in various fields. Recently, the Prime Minister has taken some initiatives to bring politics back to the politicians. In several by-elections she gave a message by nominating tried and tested politicians of the party. In the meeting of the parliamentary party, she declared her determination to bring forward the tried and tested candidates of the party in the next election. But she can do so in a risk-free, unimportant by-election. When the opponents are looking for ready-made candidates in the national parliament elections, will Awami League be able to ignore those who want to be MPs in a shortcut? In the 2018 election, we saw a wave of ready-made candidates in the BNP. BNP revealed its real politics by nominating a moneyed ready-made candidate instead of a nationally known leader like Ehsanul Haque Milon. It is easy to predict the ready-made candidate who will be in BNP in the next election. Awami League also has the urge to change many constituencies. Will field politicians get priority or Awami League will also look for ready-made candidates to make MPs in a shortcut?

There are many doubts about the next national parliament election. Will BNP come to the election or not? Will there be free and fair elections or not? But I think the next election is a litmus test for politics. It is now a big challenge that the National Parliament should not be held hostage in the hands of ready-made MPs by shortcuts. Whether the politics will be in the hands of the politicians is going to be a serious test of the upcoming elections.