Since assuming office on 17 February, the government led by BNP Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has, over the past five months, created expectations of political goodwill and transformative development through its policies and plans. Political analysts and observers believe the government is now entering the real test of translating those expectations into tangible results.

Some media outlets have reported that the president of Bangladesh resigned under what they described as an undisclosed plan.

According to the reports, former president Mohammed Shahabuddin stepped down amid growing speculation that he had spoken by telephone with former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India following the fall of what the article describes as the Awami League’s authoritarian rule.

The president’s resignation is expected to reduce the influence that the Awami League was allegedly seeking to maintain within the government and state institutions. The Awami League’s political activities are currently banned, and the party’s registration with the Election Commission remains suspended.

In the absence of Awami League political activities, the BNP now faces its greatest responsibility: as Bangladesh’s governing political force, it must confront the Awami League through political ideology and establish a new political culture. The sooner this effort begins, the brighter the prospects for the people of Bangladesh.

BNP’s long-term success will depend on how it deals with political rivals and opposition forces. Whether the party will resort to repression and persecution, as the Awami League did in the past, or resolve political differences through dialogue and discussion, only the BNP can answer this question.Will the party tolerate a strong and constructive opposition, an independent and patriotic media, and autonomous institutions in order to institutionalise democracy?

If the vision of institutionalising democracy envisioned by martyred president Ziaur Rahman, and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, described as the “Mother of Democracy,” can be put into practice, the lives of the people of Bangladesh could improve within a relatively short period.

The “honeymoon period” is over and Tarique Rahman must now confront the realities of governing by implementing the party’s declared 31-point reform agenda.

The writer is a member of the BNP Media Cell