| 25 November 2004 | Thursday | 12 Shawwal 1425 |
Young-old divide surfaces in major political parties
The slow pace of work on the dualization of the busy Sadiq Avenue has created problems for the residents, motorists and pedestrians of over 20 localities around Satellite Town.
There are heaps of stones lying all over the road hindering the traffic flow. The under-construction road when dried up, poses a threat to the lives of people as clouds of dust make it difficult for them to even breathe.
Many motorists and motorcyclists have to wear masks. The road is costing them heavily in terms of wear and tear. In addition, cough and throat irritation is on the rise in the affected areas.
The construction of Sadiq Avenue was started about a year ago, and it was to be completed at a cost of Rs43 million within a year. But, until now only the stone in most parts of the road could be laid, in addition to the surface layer. However, some portion near the Technical and S.D. High Schools was given a triple surface treatment which was abruptly stopped by the FWO due to unknown reasons.
The district government had given the contract to FWO with a view to maintaining the quality of the work and ensuring its completion within the stipulated period. But, during the past months, the work remained under suspension on all parts of the road causing hardships to the people. Later, in August, work was geared up from five per cent to 30 per cent progress. But there is an urgent need to accelerate the work to complete the task within the shortest period so that the residents can be relieved of the problems they are suffering from.
According to insiders, as the contract was not allotted to the works department, its officials were allegedly creating hurdles in the FWO working. The other day district Nazim Tariq Cheema and DCO Imran Ahmad, taking a serious note of delay in work at a meeting, ordered the transfer of a site overseer of the highways department with the instructions that all hurdles in the way of early completion should be removed.
There is a general opinion that due to a conflict between the two government departments, i.e. Works and FWO, the people are suffering. It is not clear why the district Nazim appears unconcerned and failed to promote coordination between these departments, which are supposed to work closely for the welfare of the people and complete the work within the prescribed period.
It is learnt that the tehsil council has yet to hand over some portion of the road to FWO. The TMA has yet to complete some sewerage and other works on the route, and after clearance of the site, FWO will be able to continue work. Public circles have urged the district Nazim, the tehsil Nazim and the works department to take steps to complete the project as early as possible.
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The general bus stand looks like a mess mainly due to the negligence of the Tehsil Municipal Administration, says Motor Transport Federation President Chaudhry Sohail Ashraf.
According to him, the TMA is currently earning from the stand an estimated annual income of over Rs10 million, but it is not spending a single penny on its improvement with the result that passengers are deprived of basic amenities.
The bus stand is without drinking water, lights and a passenger lounge. Some of the bays are without proper sheds. With the blessings of TMA officials, encroachments and unauthorized constructions can also be seen around it. The boundary wall has been broken at various points, creating a law and order problem for bus owners and commuters.
The traffic police and the Regional Transport Authority are also responsible for the maintenance of the bus stand and law and order there. Some transporters have demanded that the police should be deployed at the bus stand at night for the safety of the vehicles parked there. The TMA should allocate funds for its improvement and provide basic facilities to the passengers.
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The erosion of river Indus between spurs 3 and 4 in the suburbs of Chachran Sharif in Rahim Yar Khan district during the past three months has affected the residents of riverine areas and damaged crops. Some families have been forced to shift to safer places.
The affected people complain that neither the district Nazim nor any minister visited them and provided any relief to them. They have appealed to the Punjab government to compensate them and provide them with relief goods.
Young-old divide surfaces in major political parties
When a sound combination of the young and the old in the leadership of any political party boosts its organizational activities significantly, a mismatch could result in generating unhealthy internecine conflicts, making the organization pay a price, sometimes dearly.
In Bangladesh, the two major political parties _ the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League (AL) _ inducted a good number of young people in their central level leadership over the last few years, but failed to ensure harmony between the two generations.
The conflict between the old and the young in both the parties often comes out into the open these days, while there is hardly any move to bridge the generation divide.
The divide in the ruling BNP became obvious in 2001 during the process of nominating party candidates for the general election held that year, reaching its peak during the formation of the cabinet. "It is still there, and a section of the young leaders are now trying to grab power at all levels," a senior BNP leader was quoted by a Dhaka daily to have said last week.
Tarique Rahman, the elder son of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, was allowed to play a major role in managing the last national polls for the party, especially in terms of selecting 'right' candidates to contest the elections. In the process, he selected a good number of young candidates to face the senior candidates fielded by the party's arch rival Awami League.
Most of the younger candidates, chosen by Tarique Rahman, eventually won the polls, which understandably provided him a 'genuine' ground to assert himself further when it came to form cabinet after the massive electoral victory.
The younger group, led by Tarique, reportedly demanded that the young MPs be inducted into the cabinet as state ministers, which, according the group, would help groom the younger ones.
The elder leadership, particularly BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, gave in. The result was a 60-member jumbo-size cabinet in October 2001, which attracted a lot of instant adverse criticism from home and abroad.
Tarique, 39 at the moment, then joined the BNP in 2000, only to become in a few months the "senior" joint secretary general, superseding dozens of senior leaders working for the party since its inception in 1978.
Contrary to repeated public claims by Tarique, there are allegations that he and his men in the government exercise a lot of executive power in running the affairs of the state, which have reportedly caused dissatisfaction among many a senior minister.
The clash between the experienced senior politicians and the powerful junior leaders appeared clearly when the public works minister as well as one of secretary generals of the party, Mirza Abbas, publicly questioned the role of the aggressive younger leaders at a political function on November 7.
"Many of us have been fighting against the Awami League for the last 27 years. But it now seems that we need to be careful...We welcome new faces, but we won't allow them to force us out."
The minister's grievances came after Tarique Rahman held a series of meetings with the party leaders from different districts and municipal areas between Oct 28 and Nov 4, while the grassroots leaders put forward allegations of corruption and nepotism against some ministers, party MPs and a section of central leaders.
Some of the district level leaders also 'urged' Tarique to take over as the party's secretary general. The young-old divide in the opposition Awami League, ruling BNP's main power contender, has also reached a serious proportion.
Many leaders of the party, both senior and junior, believe that the party has become organizationally weaker, mainly because of 'mistrust' between senior leaders and the younger ones holding influential positions.
Some of them attribute the party's 'failure' to mobilize public support against the misdeeds of the government to the mistrust among the senior and junior sections of the party leadership.
"The young Turks holding various important party portfolios hardly give any importance to the wisdom of the politically experienced senior leaders these days," a local daily quoted a senior member of the AL presidium as saying a few days ago. "We hardly put forward any plans, lest we are snubbed by the younger confidants of the party president."
The young-old divide in the Awami League surfaced particularly when it reorganised its central committee after its electoral debacle in October 2001 national polls, which brought its parliamentary strength down to 58 in the 300-strong parliament.
Subsequently, after the party's council session held in December 2002, AL president Sheikh Hasina brought in a large number of young people to party's central working committee.
In the process, some of the senior leaders went on retirement from active politics, some managed to retain their previous positions but without much importance. "Most of the decisions that the party has made over the last three years, be it political or organizational or about movements, were made without consultation with senior leaders," another presidium member reportedly said.
"Decisions like announcing the list of [governing party] 'godfathers' in 2003 and the April 30 deadline for toppling the government this year were made without any consultation with the senior leaders."
The younger leaders, however, have their points as well. "Many a senior leader failed to win the last parliamentary polls. Hence most of them advocate continuous boycott of parliament proceedings, some of them argue for resignation of the MPs," an organizing secretary of the AL reportedly said.
"I believe they would not have recommended resignation of the MPs if they were voted to parliament. Then, why should I believe that this kind of leaders work for the greater interest of the party?"
It is not for no reason that all the front organizations, except for the youth wing of the party, remain inactive for quite sometime now. However, it is quite clear that the vigour of the youth has not been mingled properly with the experience of the old in neither of the country's the major political parties. There is no positive move in sight yet to bridge the divide.
It therefore remains to be seen, in the days to come, as to which group, the young or the old, eventually wins, and what price the parties in question pay for the conflicts arising out of the leadership mismatch.