The democratic cultures in the country are not developing in the real form as the opposition parties are not playing their due role.
According to the leading political analysts, the participation of opposition parties is part of a democratic process that supports nourishing the functioning of government.
However, in Bangladesh, since its independence in 1971, the then opposition parties, even those who took part in the nine- month- long Liberation War against Pakistani occupation army, did not extend their support to the Awami League government.
Rather than working for flourishing the newborn democratic government, which was struggling to revive the economy of the war-torn country, they started hatching conspiracy to destabilize the government.
Even some left-leaning political parties were supporting the armed resistance against the Awami League government.
At one stage, anti-liberation forces in association with their foreign mentors assassinated Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Then military dictators Ziaur Rahman and Hossain Muhammad Ershad ruled the country and destroyed almost all constitutional institutions and democratic institutions including armed forces and Election Commission.
After 21 years of the killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his daughter Sheikh Hasina came to power in free, fair and globally recognized parliamentary polls. But the anti-Awami League politicians continued their dirty politics which badly hampered the democratic process.
Multi-national gas companies, even neighbour India, which contributed a lot to making Bangladesh an independent country, pressured the Sheikh Hasina government to export gas. As Sheikh Hasina boldly rejected the proposal, the influential multi-national gas company and Indian security apparatus worked for bringing the anti-liberation forces again in power in 2001.
Thus the democratic journey of the country again halted. BNP-Jammat regime carried out the deadly grenade attacks in an attempt to kill the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina and party top leaders at a party rally on August 21 in 2004.
It was the last nail in the coffin of the country’s flourishing democracy, political observers said.
However, countrymen had a golden opportunity after the restoration of democracy through the parliamentary election on December 30 in 2008.
But most of the political parties failed to utilise the chance. They remained busy in power politics instead of enriching democratic values.
According to political scientists, communist parties across the globe never believe in parliamentary democracy, which is popular as the West Minster form of the government.
They believe in the supreme power of the party which is ultimately authoritarian. They are empowered by party members, instead of people mandate.
In the current communist regimes, like China and North Korea, such authoritarian governments are ruling the countries for over the years.
Like their parent parties, local chapters of communist parties in Bangladesh, do not also believe in democracy, which is a great obstacle to establishing sustainable democracy in the country.
The right-leaning major political parties like Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its ally Bangladesh Jammat-e-Islam, never worked for democracy even for a single day.
They are more interested in destructive politics to capture power by fair or foul means than working as democratic oppositions.
They always launched deadly politics to force the democratic government to step down through their politics of murder, arson and patronizing militancy and extremism.
As a result, the ruling party also has to take some tactics to resist the conspiracy against it by the opposition parties.
Thus the democratic process has yet to reach the expected stage even after the fifty years of the country’s independence.