Bangladesh

Simon Danczuk Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Lab)]

I thank the Backbench Business Committee for providing the time to debate such an important issue—the debate is indeed timely. Let me thank, too, the hon. Member for St Albans (Mrs Main)—perhaps I should say hon. Friend—for helping to ensure that this debate took place and for her excellent chairmanship of the all-party parliamentary group on Bangladesh.

It is worth reminding ourselves that Bangladesh is the eighth largest country in the world and is an exceptionally important member of the Commonwealth. Closer to home, as I think has been said, there are around half a million British Bangladeshis living in the UK. We have very strong economic links with Bangladesh, and it is important to debate this today.

We are aware, not least from what previous speakers have said, that Bangladesh has a history dominated by political factionalism, which came to a head on 5 January this year, with much violence taking place on election day—the country’s 10th parliamentary election day. I believe that there should have been an interim caretaker Government—a point I made to Sheikh Hasina when we visited Bangladesh in September last year, but she was clearly not in favour of that. I believe that was a mistake. I understand why the Bangladesh Nationalist party boycotted the elections, failing to contest 147 seats. In a Parliament of 300 seats, the incumbent Awami League and its party allies now hold 232 of them. It is the first time in 23 years that there has been no political opposition in Bangladesh. We can only imagine what this place would be like if there were no political opposition—[Hon. Members: “Wonderful”.] Well, they would say that.

Reference has already been made to the fact that, as a result of the political turmoil, 180 people have died in Bangladesh since October. On election day, 21 deaths occurred and 47 constituencies were forced to shut down their voting stations because of the violence. It has been reported that voting booths were set on fire and that mob intimidation was commonplace. It is not surprising that the electoral turnout was exceptionally low; people were genuinely afraid of injury or death. As a result, Bangladesh’s economy and its general infrastructure have received a destructive blow and I am seriously concerned that if action is not taken soon, we could see a rapid deterioration.

[Gavin Shuker (Luton South) (Lab/Co-op)]

Is my hon. Friend as alarmed as I am that the International Monetary Fund has, as a result of many of the things he has mentioned, downgraded the Bangladeshi growth forecasts into 2014?

[Simon Danczuk]

I was not aware of that, but growth is a major concern to which I shall return, and I appreciate my hon. Friend’s point.

I have three main worries for Bangladesh at this time. The first is the impact on the country’s democracy. We are extremely fortunate in this country that we have a relatively peaceful political culture. That has grown over many years and generations, not by accident but through co-operation and the determination to have peaceful elections. We accept that the winner of our elections has the right to govern. Bangladesh is a young country—it was created in 1971—and it has been steadily making progress on building democracy. We should celebrate that, but I am concerned that this particular election may well derail democracy there. The irony is that the people of Bangladesh are crying out for their voices to be heard.

[Nick de Bois]

The hon. Gentleman may remember from our trip, as I do, the memorable scenes when we drove out from Dhaka when for miles and miles we saw people—in fact supporting one political party—queuing up in expectation of their leaders. Is not the great failure here that a nation of people who love democracy is in effect being betrayed by their political leaders?

[Simon Danczuk]

That is an excellent point. The impression one gets from visiting Bangladesh is, as the hon. Gentleman says, that people have a strong desire for democratic politics and view politics in a positive light. It seems almost ironic that we should end up with the country in the position it is in now.

My second major concern about Bangladesh is the violence. I am worried that violence could escalate even further in the coming weeks and months. We have seen from around the world that when opposition groups are excluded from the political process, there is a risk of the more moderate groups being squeezed out, with extremists on all sides gaining greater prominence. We can see that from experience in Northern Ireland and, more recently, in Syria.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

In the elections my hon. Friend encountered on his visit to Bangladesh, did the issue of the maintenance of a secular constitution come up? Does he agree that an important fact in the country’s history is that it is a secular constitutional democracy?

[Simon Danczuk]

That issue did not come up during my visit, so far as I can recall, but my hon. Friend is right to point out that this could be viewed as a healthy aspect of Bangladesh’s politics.

My third and final worry concerns economic development. In recent years, as has been pointed out, the country has made great strides forward in that respect. Gross domestic product growth has been at 6.1% and Bangladesh is on track to meet the goal of halving income poverty by 2015. Despite that, Bangladesh is not a rich country. As I have seen for myself, millions live in desperate poverty.

[Mrs Main]

The hon. Gentleman will recall that when we were in Bangladesh, we saw some excellent factories that were internationally run but, as the hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Rushanara Ali) said, we also saw sweatshops. If Bangladesh does not want to go back to being an immensely poor country full of sweatshops, it needs international buyers, but they are being scared off by all these problems.

[Simon Danczuk]

The hon. Lady is exactly right. I was coming on to make the point that if this political instability continues, there will be real concerns for Bangladesh’s economic development. The constant strikes, boycotts, violence and sabotage will cost the country literally millions of pounds in lost productivity.

So what next? The first thing that needs to happen is an end to the violence by both sides and the reopening of dialogue, at least between the two major parties, which need to agree on a way forward to end the current uncertainty. Hon. Members will be aware that other countries in the international community—the United States, Canada and the European Union—have already called for fresh elections. I would urge our Government to take a similar view and to press for that to happen. International observers should be present at elections and I believe that there should be an interim caretaker Government.

Whatever route is taken, it is clear that the welfare of the people of Bangladesh must be the top priority. Bangladesh can be a model for other countries to follow, but it must first leave behind the factionalism and the division that have haunted its politics. Most ordinary people in Bangladesh are tired of the bickering and the violence; what they want is a better life for themselves and their families. I believe that it is time for the voices of those people to be heard. Bangladesh must focus on the future, and not dwell on the past.