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The opposition say that Mr Rahman’s appointment also was illegal, because the two vacancies on the commission should have been filled before the vote was taken. They applied to the high court for a writ calling on the chief electoral commissioner to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling on the preparation of the register, and for good measure challenging the validity of the chief adviser’s appointment and seeking to prevent him from exercising his authority without consulting his 10 statutory advisers, who are acknowledged as balanced and impartial. The ruling is due today, but in the mean while, provocatively, the chief electoral commissioner announced the election schedule on Monday without consulting the advisers, and the opposition have responded by calling a country-wide blockade, to start next Sunday.
According to the Washington DC-based National Democratic Institute, the electoral list contains 14 million more names than the voting population. Since there is massive anecdotal evidence that large numbers were prevented from registering by intimidation, the scale of the problem is even greater. The true number of phantom voters, if the missing names are added to the excess 14 million, could be 20 million on the most conservative assumptions. The previous list, estimated to contain a mere 2 million phantom voters, totalled 76 million, so one can see from the proportion of phantom voters that the errors would be large enough to affect the result even
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The 64 returning officers and 480 assistant returning officers, who will pick the staff at the 35,000 polling stations, were also political appointees of the outgoing Government. If an elector manages to see the list, which the National Democratic Institute said was not available to individuals or political parties in September, and which I understand still has not been published, and he manages to see one of these officials to complain that his name has been omitted, the service is likely to depend on his party affiliation. As for the false names, how can individuals or even the political parties look for as many as 20 million names that are incorrectly recorded in a list of 76 million? The grossly flawed register, the systematic politicisation of the police and election machinery, and the appointment of staunch party supporters to the top two posts, constitute election engineering on a grand scale, to make sure that the outgoing Government retain power.
Now a judgment has to be made not only by the political parties in Bangladesh but by the international community on whether free and fair elections are possible at all in these circumstances. The European Union alone is planning to send 40 “long-term observers”, starting two weeks from today, plus 100 short-term observers, from 9 January to 20 January, on the assumption that polling day will be 15 January. We have 14 places in these delegations, and I wonder if any of the persons we have nominated are from the Bangladeshi communities in the UK, particularly those serving as officers or councillors in local authorities. Could the Minister tell me about that?
The US, Australia, Canada and the Commonwealth Secretariat are also planning to send missions, and it would be useful to know the numbers of these, if the Minister has the figures, and any other missions that she knows of. A preliminary assessment has to be made of whether it is sensible to carry on with these arrangements, in view of the heavily loaded dice. What arrangements are there for consultation between the various agencies sending observers and diplomatic missions on the spot to assess whether the playing field is level enough to go ahead and that the umpires are not all fixed?
If it is go, they need to look first at the way the pitch was tilted before the campaign began, and I hope the Minister can give us an assurance on that. They will have to examine the mechanisms that are in place, if any, for preventing the exercise of the vote by the 14 million persons who are wrongly listed, and for allowing the millions who are wrongly excluded from the list to vote. They should see how officials at ward level are dealing with errors that are brought to their attention, and particularly how minority ethnic
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One way of guarding against misconduct, or at least to expose it where it already occurs, would be to reinforce the capacity of local NGOs to monitor the campaign. DfID has undertaken to mainstream women’s equality in their country assistance plan for Bangladesh, and it would be useful if the noble Baroness could tell us what help we are giving organisations that aim at increasing women’s participation in the monitoring process. How are we checking the credentials of the NGOs that are being funded to improve their capacity? The election working group, a coalition of 35 NGOs formed under the aegis of the Asia Foundation, is being funded by the EU and Australia, but is alleged to comprise 20 groups that are associated with the BNP and none that is connected with the opposition. I would like the noble Baroness to look into that.
I have left to the end the wave of attacks on the media, in a state that is noted as the second most dangerous for journalists in the world, after Iraq. According to the European Parliament, three journalists have been murdered so far this year, 95 journalists have been physically attacked, 55 have been intimidated because of articles considered to be non-Islamic, and 70 have fled into exile. In the past fortnight alone, one journalist narrowly escaped a knife murder attempt, and six others were victims of attacks or intimidation. Eighteen journalists and editors face possible jail sentences because of criminal libel suits. I hope that our High Commission in Dhaka will pay special attention to these facts in the briefings that it writes for the observer teams, because as the president of the International Federation of Journalists says, they compromise the very heart of democracy.
International observers have no power to rescue democracy, but their presence may deter the worst excesses of violence and malpractice. For the UK, with our close links to Bangladesh of family, culture, trade and history, the next six weeks are critical and, in this debate, I hope at least that we send a message of support for the efforts of millions of brave democrats to preserve their freedoms. I beg to move for Papers.
11.52 am
Baroness Uddin: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, for initiating this debate. As noble Lords know, I am a great admirer of the noble Lord for his tenacity and his commitment to the people of Bangladesh. I thank him very much for the interest that he has taken in Bangladesh over the past year. Indeed, this is the second time that I have followed him in such a debate.
Bangladesh has experienced not just an extreme amount of violence, but tremendous Olympian moments, watching Professor Yunus receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. This House sends him our warmest congratulations; it is a great prize for
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I concur, of course, with much of what the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, said. His analysis is extremely appropriate. I urge the noble Lord to continue to co-operate, openly whenever possible, with me as the chair of the Bangladesh All-Party Group, and our members. If they are kept informed openly and generously, I hope that their participation will be enhanced and be greater than it is today. I beg the House’s indulgence and forgiveness if I have to leave slightly before the Minister finishes speaking. I am expected to speak at South Africa House, which has been a long-standing commitment.
In January 2007, it is expected that Bangladesh will hold a parliamentary election. This will pit two main sets of forces against each other, unfortunately. On one side there is the ruling four-party alliance, a right-wing grouping whose main component is the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, and Jamaat-e-Islami, the main radical Islamist force. On the other side there is the opposition force, a 14-party secular progressive alliance headed by the Awami League. However, as has already been said, serious questions have arisen regarding the impartiality of the election, and consequently Bangladesh is now facing a grave political crisis.
In keeping with its irresistible democratic aspirations, on which we congratulate the people of Bangladesh, the second largest Muslim-majority country is seeking to hold a parliamentary election for the fourth time. Unlike many other Muslim countries, it is not an Islamic republic. State affairs are governed by a secular constitution that guarantees equal rights to all. Again, however, in light of the recent political violence in Bangladesh, we need to examine how we can ensure that democracy survives and is secured. Proving all political and economic pundits wrong, Bangladesh has witnessed consistent growth—a rate of 5 per cent to 6 per cent plus over the past decade—and is expected to grow at 6 per cent to 8 per cent in the coming years. That is remarkable. Apart from attaining food self-sufficiency, the country has already witnessed a telecommunications revolution at the grass-roots level, cell phones having reached 65,000 villages in Bangladesh, operated by Grameen and BRAC, the largest NGOs in the world.
In our last debate in the House on Bangladesh, we could not have envisaged the current deep political divisions that have helped to deepen the crisis in Bangladesh. Although the Bangladeshi Parliament was not fully functioning, there was every hope that, in the interests of its people and because of the fragility of the country, the political parties would have resolved some of their disagreements, especially by co-operating over the preparations for the forthcoming election.
I am ashamed to say that so much of Bangladesh’s success has been forgotten, as over the past few months we have watched political divisions and disagreements turning into ugly and brutal violence on the streets. Such developments have greatly impacted on ordinary men and women. Civilians have
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The BNP/Jamaat-e-Islami coalition came to power in 2001. Since then, increasing concerns have been raised by international observers and opposition groups about the trends in reported attacks on minority rights, as well as the dramatic rise in the number of violent incidents. Widespread human rights abuses have been documented, as reported by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. I shall not go into the details because the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, has already done so, but I support the points that he made about the safety of journalists, the increase in reported threats to minority communities and the continuous extrajudicial killing by RAB forces.
Of particular concern to someone who is totally devoted to Bangladesh is the encroaching radicalisation in the NGO sector. We should resist that at all costs, given that we have such a stake in Bangladesh. I am also concerned about madrassahs, Islamic religious schools, which have now achieved graduate-level status—not that this would worry me on its own, but this combination of issues gives us a great deal to think about.
In the past three elections, Bangladesh has successfully gone to the polls under a non-party caretaker Government. However, this time the process seems to have been under more public scrutiny, and therefore has been more openly questioned. Those questions need to be answered.
Bangladesh is now in danger of having its freedom subverted. Alongside substantial international observation, Professor Yunus, Bangladesh’s new Nobel laureate in economics—and, like me, a staunch opponent of any radicalisation of Bangladesh—has stated that this election is critical for the country to move forward, become a dynamic economy and eradicate poverty. That is a great ambition. However, that process will grind to a halt if the world’s longest-standing Muslim democracy is subverted and destroyed. As has been suggested, a level playing field must now be created so that free and fair elections can take place, as they must.
There are serious allegations that votes will be rigged to hand victory to the BNP/Jamaat alliance. I am deeply concerned that those allegations are likely to remain unresolved, especially in the light of the disappointing lack of communication between the main two parties. There are also accusations that the amendments of the voter list will favour the BNP in particular at the polls, as has been said. It is of greater concern that the European Commission believes that the 2001 voter list included 13 million ghost voters, while the Department of State in America believed that 8 per cent of the voter list was fake. The Awami League reported that it believes that the Election Commission, the civil administration and the police force are thoroughly politicised. Recent indications perhaps give great credibility to that, and there is serious concern whether a free and fair election is possible.
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Furthermore, events taking place in Bangladesh obviously impact heavily on British Muslims. I propose that Britain and the international community work positively—perhaps in the way suggested by the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, and as suggested by people such as me in the past few debates—to ensure a united and cohesive British Bangladeshi community working together, which might contribute to the development of the rule of law and order in Bangladesh. I hesitate to say that, because it would be deeply worrying that a load of people from Britain thought that they were the knights in shining armour to ride into Bangladesh and get rid of all its ills. That is not the suggestion. It is very important that, whatever contribution we make, we make it with love, affection and deep commitment to the rule of law.
The international community—and Britain in particular, the largest development partner and a leading trade and investment partner in Bangladesh—has an important role to play in encouraging democratic and moderate political forces in the country through positive engagement with the people and Government of Bangladesh. I hope that there is not just criticism and reprimand. We must resist that at all costs. The British Bangladeshi community has a huge expectation, given the financial commitment that it has continued to make over decades, that the British Government will play a positive role in supporting a peaceful and smooth transfer of power through the fourth democratic and free and fair election, and in making every attempt to ensure that it takes place.
International pressure works—take the rise in militant radicalism in recent years. While bombing began during the tenure of the Awami League-led Government from 1996 to 2001, the current Government seem to many to have been too passive for too long in launching proper investigations into the numerous incidents and murders that have already been catalogued by us here in previous debates and by the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, today. Only after serious international pressure did the Government make any effort to apprehend the latest heads of extremist organisations, although we welcome that.
The principal task of the Bangladeshi caretaker Government is to hold a free and fair election within 90 days, in consultation with the major political parties, and with relevant constitutional provision. The greatest obstacle is creating a national environment for free and fair election; we have detailed that. Unless that environment is tackled immediately and urgently, good monitoring of voting on the election day will be absolutely meaningless. The outstanding allegations of partisan direction or nods from the top, the threat of arms and terrorism, and the possibility of extrajudicial killing must be addressed before Bangladesh goes to the election.
At this critical juncture, it is therefore essential that the international community remain positively engaged with the caretaker Government and ensure the holding of free elections in January 2007 within the constitutional framework of the country. Any extra-constitutional or external interference may mean enforced change and some consequences for
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We should encourage the caretaker Government to uphold Bangladesh’s democratic credentials through the holding of free and fair elections, and we should acknowledge the country’s outstanding performance in economic growth, human development and, in particular, women’s empowerment, as well as the country’s contribution to global peace through empowerment of the poor and the participation of large numbers of troops in UN peacekeeping forces. They should all be part of and, I hope, frame our response in the way that we support Bangladesh.
I hope that today we will take the opportunity to demand unequivocally a level playing field on which Bangladesh can have a free and fair election. We should also demand the scrapping of the current voter list and a reversion to the old one. It is vital that we echo the European Parliament’s resolution on Bangladesh. I do not have time to go into that, but it is on the record and, no doubt, my noble friend the Minister will pick up on some of those issues.
Human rights issues in Bangladesh are obviously still of utmost national and international importance and the recent prevalence of political violence on the streets of Bangladesh needs to be given the international community’s full attention and commitment to resolve. The Bangladeshi Government must take responsibility, too, for their part in the recent violence that has erupted there. That the leaders of the respective Bangladeshi parties and authorities cannot come to any agreement is a fundamental and crucial obstacle to securing democracy and law and order in Bangladesh. Therefore, while Britain must resist every desire to intervene, the international community has a deep responsibility to act in a constructive and critical way to ensure that Bangladesh’s commitment to democracy and the rule of law prevails.
Finally, in addition to answering the questions posed by the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, will my noble friend tell the House what steps our Government intend to take to press for reconciliation and dialogue between the two parties post-election? Past attempts have not worked. How do the UK Government envisage utilising the vast talents and resources of the Bangladeshi diaspora to allow them to play a role? I would welcome hearing something about the kind of support that we can provide to ensure that women in Bangladesh can play a full political role.
12.08 pm
Lord Ahmed: My Lords, I am delighted to follow my noble sister, the noble Baroness, Lady Uddin, and the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, both of whom are experts in their fields, the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, with his expertise on human rights and Bangladesh, and my noble friend with her expertise on Bangladesh and the rights of women.
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I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, for bringing this important issue to our attention and giving us the opportunity to discuss the situation in Bangladesh and what our Government and we can do for it. I speak as a friend of Bangladesh. Although I am a British parliamentarian with roots in Pakistan, I should say right at the outset, on behalf of Pakistanis, that they have no ambition or wish for Pakistan to impose “Pakistanisation” on Bangladesh. Whoever told the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, otherwise is probably not doing the situation justice, because President Musharraf, in his most recent visit to Bangladesh, apologised to the nation for what happened in 1971. I would do the same, because I have love and affection for the people of Bangladesh.
Despite the many challenges in Bangladesh, as in other developing countries, there have been many positive changes, as already mentioned by my noble friend Lady Uddin. Bangladesh has been successful in reducing population growth and improving health and education. Since 1990, the country has achieved an average annual growth rate of 5 per cent, according to the World Bank. It has seen a sharp increase in foreign direct investment, and a number of multinational corporations have made major investments in the natural gas sector.
Today, Bangladesh relies little on foreign aid, although it is still dependent on loans. In December 2005, the Central Bank of Bangladesh projected GDP growth of around 6.5 per cent. One significant contributor to the development of the economy has been the widespread propagation of micro-credit by Muhammad Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He has already been praised by my noble friend Lady Uddin, and I join her in congratulating not only Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank but the entire nation. It is a source of pride for the Bangladeshi communities in this country as well as in Bangladesh that this wonderful project has been so successful.
There are more than 300,000 Bangladeshis in the United Kingdom. Many of them make a huge contribution to our way of life in the UK in political, social and economic terms. The noble Lord, Lord Avebury, and my noble friend Lady Uddin suggested that we consider asking some of our British Bangladeshi communities who have expertise through working in local government and the Civil Service whether they can offer help and support to Bangladesh at this difficult time. It is our responsibility to strengthen democracy there and to prevent the country sliding into political chaos.
Bangladesh is a worry to the region and beyond. Its progress as a new democracy looks threatened and the country is currently in turmoil, but we must try to help all stakeholders to move through this period, despite the horrendous headlines about violence and chaos. Bangladesh is being challenged by extremists both from within the country and abroad. They are a powerful minority who want to cause turmoil in the second-largest Muslim democracy. The majority of the population are moderate Muslims, who want a safe and stable democracy. Bangladesh must remain a democracy at all costs because that is the only way that the country can progress.
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