What if Article 54 becomes operative?

16 November 2006, Daily Star

President professor Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed’s putting on the cap of the Chief Adviser to the non-party, neutral CTG following Article 58C (6) in the wake of the dead lock arising out of opposing approaches and stand between AL led fourteen parties’ combine and BNP led four parties’ alliance, although for the time being paved the way for making a road to ensure congenial atmosphere for holding free and fair election conducted by the Election Commission to the ninth parliament in Bangladesh. In fact it has also created another big problem that may upset the whole political scenario overnight. What is that? It is the possible operation of Article 54 of the constitution of Bangladesh.

Article 54 reads: If a vacancy occurs in the office of President or if the President is unable to discharge the functions of his office on account of absence, illness or any other cause the Speaker shall discharge those functions until a President is elected or until the President resumes the functions of his office, as the case may be.

If such situation actually does crop up/develops any time then the incumbent Speaker of the 8th parliament barrister Jamiruddin Sircar will put into the shoes of President Iajuddin and become acting President-cum-Chief Adviser accordingly. It is known to that entire Professor Iajuddin is not involved directly in the politics of BNP; rather his attachment with Zia Porishod was dimly a reality. To the nation he is, more or less, well established and respected as a non-political academic personality without having any blind allegiance to Begum Khaleda Zia politically. His political obligation to BNP and in particular to Begum Khaleda Zia may not be so fluid as well. After all, he cannot be ungrateful at least morally and/or politically to the party and its Chairperson for backing him to the office of the Head of the State, President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

After the dissolution of the parliament on 27th October, constitutional obligations under article 48 (3) are no more alive and now articles 58B (2) and 58C (6) are on in full swing; whether, under the given circumstances, his political (if any) or moral obligation shall bring anything positively meaningful for BNP and its leader

Khaleda Zia is still a matter of gymnastics to be exercised by the President-cum-CA Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed.

Meanwhile he, in the exercise of such gymnastics, has made himself a little bit of acceptable Chief Adviser to fourteen parties’ combine, but his final acceptance depends on the meeting with the eleven points demand placed by the combine. Recently taken initiatives may be just a beginning, but nothing promising and/or alluring at all. Is it really possible for him to satisfy the combine at the cost of the so-called political benefits of BNP? Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, President during the rule of AL led government headed by Sheikh Hasina could not satisfy, or to say exactly, stand by Sheikh Hasina at the time of her self defined requirements during the general elections in 2001. it is on record in history that Sheikh Hasina made a Herculean attempt to convince Justice Shahabuddin to become the President in 1996. Yes, it was Hasina’s belief that Shahabuddin’s assumption to the Presidency would enlighten the image of her government at home and abroad. Ironically Shahabuddin’s honesty and obstinacy stood as leviathan to Sheikh Hasina’s government desire.

Shahabuddin as President under Hasina’s parliamentary system of government exhibited rigidly his constitutional limitations and at the same time he was at least not inclined towards political obligation to the party that backed him to the Presidency. During the last days of Hasina’s government and Caretaker Government headed by Justice Latifur Rahman Hasina’s relations with Shahabuddin started moving from confidence to non-confidence as a result of which he became an object of chronic criticism to AL and Hasina. Today Shahabuddin is not so respected and once trusted friend, guide, and philosopher is at present a memory only.

Is there any possibility of the same to be repeated in case of President Iajuddin and Khaleda Zia? Sequence of events since 29th October bears testimony that professor Iajuddin, in most cases, willingly or unwillingly, is complying with the outgoing government led by Khaleda Zia. He is neither a loyal President like Abdur Rahman Biswas, who continued from 1991-96, nor a obstinate President like Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, AL chosen President for the period from 1996-2001. There is a wave of belief that Dr. Iajuddin’s Presidency-cum-Chief Adviser ship has been strongly tied up with hidden design of the outgoing government; in particular he cannot be without “Hawabhaban”. The four walls of his administration are within the grip of those who are committed and loyal not to the President and CA but to the Hawabhaban; as such one may politely but consciously raise a question: is the country now under dual administration, as occurred in from 2001-2006, mainly prone to Hawabhaban? Is the President-cum-CA nothing but a helpless spectator to the rapidly growing and ongoing happenings in and around his two-edged administration?

Even an ordinary citizen in the country today does not take time to utter that President’s tortoise steps for overhauling and restructuring political setup of the government signal that he may not be going for anything substantial to ensure a befitting atmosphere where all the political parties including fourteen parties’ combine can sigh a sigh of relief to participate in the pools likely to be held in January 2007. Why President-cum-CA distributed the portfolios of the government in such a manner that ultimately made him sole master of all the major ministries and departments directly connected with elections. The Chief Election Commissioner’s views about his resignation is not understandable at all as he is not taking any lesson from his predecessors Justice Sultan Hossain Khan and Justice Sadeque who resigned at the request of the then CTGs. In the name of constitutional rights Justice Aziz, it appears, has shamelessly already closed his eyes to reality and public opinion. Will President-cum-CA be daring enough to go to the extreme to take decision by initiating a drive to refer the matter to the Supreme Judicial Council?

It is not beyond any suspicion that President-cum-CA has taken over burden on his shoulders either forgetting his overall physical fitness following the recent operation in Singapore or setting aside so, willingly or unwillingly. If there any sort of catastrophe in the health of the President-cum-CA in that case he has no better choice but to go for a bed-rest; or he may upon advice by a medical board be disqualified to continue discharging his functions any time. If such scenario develops automatically without any design by any quarter then option for the office shall go to the Speaker under article 54. If there is any hidden design to invite such reality otherwise, option is again for the Speaker under the same article.

Sayed Badrul Hasan, a leading columnist, wrote: The health of the president and the health of the country somehow do not allow us to think that Iajuddin Ahmed can handle all these jobs all by himself. And if he cannot, there arises the very grim spectre of what unknown and fearsome course the country might take should he falter. The speaker of the just-dissolved Jatio Shongshod, we have been told on good authority, has had to hold a planned tour abroad in abeyance.

May be it was his very own BNP that asked him to stay put. May be it was someone else, or some there body. Whatever be the truth, the assumption of near-absolute powers by the president and the postponement of Jamiruddin Sircar’s trip are a pointer to the uncertainties we in this country try to muddle through even as we look ahead, tentatively and with trepidation, to a good, healthy general election in January. Those uncertainties would not be so worrying where they not debilitating once as well (“Years ago, President Sattar had his chance”, November 7, 2006, The Daily Star.)

My attachment with professor Dr Iajuddin is not far away; I was a resident student of SM Hall when he was the provost; I saw him closely that he never ran the administration with a rod, but with love and affection. As a teacher he was excellent, as a man he deserves to be remembered. It was because of his non-stop encouragement that I reached at the peak of getting the honor of becoming national debater and speaker for a number of times in various forums including Bangladesh television, inter-- university and inter-halls debates and speeches competitions. But I also believe that to run the state and government is not so easy on any considerations. Now it is for him to prove that a professor of a university filled with an ocean of love and affection can also be a man of iron to stand against all sorts of irregularities, corruptions and misgovernance, as and when required. What successes and failures finally he will have to carry is yet to be seen.

Here a question may arise that will the Acting President Jamiruddin also be discharging as Acting Chief Adviser to the non-party, neutral ctg? The logical proposition, if otherwise not decided, is, YES.

After such arrival of the Speaker as the Acting President-cum-CA, the political landscape shall may have a possibility to be upset abruptly because of the direct partisan involvement and role of the Speaker, a BNP grown up politician. Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar has already exhibited his sense of climax as a non-neutral, partisan Speaker in the ninth parliament. It is very difficult to convince oneself that the political situation shall then not be rapidly deteriorating one as a result of which holding of elections to 9th parliament may not be possible also. Under such circumstances 90 days time limit of the CTG is possibly destined for meeting with the fall of the era of parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh.

But as a nation we are not at all pessimistic; we have a hope against a hope; we must be pragmatic getting rid of any kind of utopia and hence the remark of the chief architect of Bangladesh constitution, Dr Kamal Hossain, deserves to be drawn here logically and relevantly. In an article titled “The caretaker government needs intensive care” published in The Daily Star on 7th November, 2006, he wrote: The present Caretaker Government cannot continue to remain an important bystander while the administration, the law-enforcing agencies, and the state machinery are manipulated by an “invisible government”, which has at its care loyalist of the out-going government. To allow them to do so, without accountability and with impartiality for corruption and misgovernance, amounts to subversion of the constitution.

He further added: There is still time to save the country from a constitutional crisis by appointing, without delay, a non-party chief adviser, following the guidelines of clauses 3 to 5 of Article 58C. This would carry out the basic purpose of assuring the nation that it would be governed in the interim period till the election of the next Parliament by a non-party caretaker government so that it could, together with an independent Election Commission, hold a fair, free, and peaceful election.

Therefore before signing off, attention must be given to the universal truth that: to err is men; President-cum-CA professor Dr Iajuddin is a man; therefore he can err; but there is nothing wrong and shameful to correct such errors and follow the right course courageously.