DHAKA: Leftist parties in the Awami League-led opposition alliance have done a good job by making their bigger partner commit itself to a liberal democratic polity while formulating a ‘common minimum programme’. The opposition has realized that the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, with the help of religious parties, is taking steps to suppress freedom of thought and expression.

The Awami League, which pledged in its manifesto before the 2001 general election that, if voted to power, it would not enact any laws contrary to the holy Quran and Sunnah, now seems to have reconciled itself to the secular aspirations of the left.

The 23-point common minimum programme, unveiled on Nov 22 at a joint public meeting with AL chief Sheikh Hasina in the chair, said the alliance, if voted to power, would ‘form a secular democratic government, ban propagation and practice of communal politics and do away with impediments to freedom of thought and conscience.

There are apprehensions that the public commitment made by Sheikh Hasina is merely a tactical move to placate smaller partners in the alliance.

The smaller components have persuaded the League to make some other important pledges relating to democratic governance, such as separation of judiciary from the executive, making public the assets of public figures, transparency in managing natural resources like gas and coal and empowerment of women.

But the League’s track record is not encouraging. The government of Sheikh Hasina (1996-2001) failed to separate the judiciary from the executive, never forced its legislators and ministers to declare their assets, indiscriminately distributed gas fields to foreign companies in violation of rules, thus contributing to the notoriety that Bangladesh has earned as being the world’s most corrupt country.

But the Khaleda Zia-led BNP government has outdone its predecessor in corruption and in condoning religious extremism. Many BNP insiders frequently lament that expediency has driven their party, once a centrist organization, gradually towards the religious camp.

It remains to be seen whether the democratic influence of its smaller allies can prevent Awami League from invoking religion for winning elections.

But there is an interesting thing to notice: despite the League’s democratic allies’ repeated public utterances that the opposition combine is there to wage a decisive movement against the BNP-led camp, Sheikh Hasina in her Nov 22 speech refrained from making any commitment to the effect that she was considering turning the AL-led combine into an electoral alliance.

The League’s partners have their work cut out – they must sort out the issue before the next elections due in early 2007.