[This was published in Dhaka Courier on 19
April 2013]
Centering elections to the immediate next 10th
Parliament in Bangladesh, which are likely to be held within the dateline from
10 0ctober 2013 to 10 January 2014, a variety of speculations are on in a full
dramatic mode and manner in the politics of Bangladesh.
The first and foremost point is under what
type of government shall this very election be held? Is it under the format of
existing constitutional provisions or under a kind of national government
comprising of all the political parties who have representation in the 9th
parliament or Under a non-party, neutral care-taker government? Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina, also leader of the House and President of Awami League, is still
doctrinaire to go after the ongoing constitutional route, which denotes a care-taker/interim
government under her leadership. This may take place in two ways. One is
without dissolving the parliament i.e. keeping both parliament and government
under her leadership alive without a break while the other is with the
dissolution of parliament 42 days before the election in accordance with the
verdict of the Supreme Court meaning keeping her leadership as the head of the
immediate past constitutional government uninterrupted also in running such
interim government or Care-Taker Government, whatever the name may be.
This approach has not been endorsed by many
political parties including the major opposition BNP-led 18-party alliance,
whose Hobson’s choice is non-party, neutral CTG as it sticks to the belief
after the spirit of the great saying of Shakespeare, one of greatest icons in
English literature, who says ‘a rose by any other name, is just as sweet’ or ‘What
is in name if the rose does not smell’. That’s why, to BNP CTG signifies
non-party, neutral CTG, whatever the outer cover is. Therefore, a deadlock is
created that is currently hunting the very minds of all entailing political
leaders, NGOs, civil societies, think-tanks, professional bodies and
associations of various backgrounds, shades and opinions. Hence, the burning
question is how can a comprise formula be made available and workable since
elections without participation of the major opposition BNP shall, truly
speaking, not be meaningful, durable and acceptable far and wide?
To suit these very purposes, interestingly
enough, many think-tanks and political parties inside and outside the ambits of
these two leading political alliances are off and often making attempts to
present various proposals and models, almost complete, half-done or fragmented.
Of them the proposals put forward by Jatio Party Chairman and former President HM
Ershad and CPD and the model presented by Transparency International of
Bangladesh (TIB) have markedly drawn the attention of all quarters. Ershad’s
proposal has been presented uniquely in the letters sent to both Sheikh Hasina
and Begum Khaleda Zia and CPD disclosed its proposal at a roundtable meeting
while TIB set a model for a doable CTG at a press conference, which is assumed
to be non-party, neutral in character. Focuses on all these shall be made in phases
.Here in the first phase concern and attention have necessarily been confined
to Ershad’s letters to the leaders of two petticoat parties Awmi League (AL)
and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
HM Ershad’s letters to Sheikh Hasina and
Begum Khaleda Zia which were accordingly passed to them through proper channels
on 7 April 2013 carry the specialties as follows:
a.In the letters Ershad has pointedly
asserted that time is matured enough to forget the bitter past and devise a way
out of the deepening crisis. Expressing concern about the negative impacts of
the current volatility on economy, education and other sectors Ershad came to a
realization that Bangladesh was passing the darkest hours of politics ever seen
since the Liberation War in 1971. He noted very cautiously that ‘absolute
disappointment and anarchy descended on the nation, flourishing of democracy is
now a dream and therefore, the nation fervently wishes the two leaders sit
together’. He also observed that those who would refuse to sit in dialogue
would be detached from the people.
That’s why he believes that now the first and
foremost task for him is to make an open call to Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia
for their face-to- face dialogue and, accordingly, in the letters he
passionately urges the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the leader of the
opposition in the 9th parliament Begum Khaleda Zia to straightway initiate
dialogues between themselves without any pre-condition(s) and delay:
b.No set formula, acceptably
thought-provoking or not, has been inserted in the letters for the reasons readily
comprehensible or not;
c.The letter to the Prime Minister is backed
by the principle that such dialogue should be initiated by the Prime Minister
as she is the authority to do and implement what is to be arrived at mutually. Hence,
Sheikh Hasina--because of her being the Prime Minister, and also daughter of
the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujivur Rahman--should take initiative
right now to break the ice positively.
d.Similar call has been made in the letter to
Khaleda Zia to come forward magnanimously taking note of present deteriorating state of
socio-economic-political landscapes in the country from her standing of the
leader of the opposition:
e.Both the letters attach due importance and
necessity with all concerns and good spirits that it is a call of the nation that Sheikh Hasina
and Khaleda Zia should realistically be responsive, accommodative and open-minded,
vertically and horizontally, under all the state of affairs for the interests
of the people and the country:
f.A kind of honest belief coupled with
optimism has been expressed in the letters to the effect that if the two
leaders---going beyond respective party line of approaches and strategies--- ever
feel free and obligated to sit together to discuss the matters of national
issues and importance with a focus on the nature and mode of the type of
government for the period of elections to 10th parliament in
meticulous then there is every hope of a comprise formula out of the two
diametrically opposed stands of two parties that forms government alternately
in the electoral politics in Bangladesh.
Here Ershad, despite his being the major ally
of the ruling grand alliance, must be appreciated for his sincere efforts to
energize the two leaders to put an end to the impasse without interference of
any third party, home-grown or not. He realized in full that widening chasm
between these two ladies has made everything impossible. It is well understood
that such dialogue may be taken as a package too, starting from a series of meetings
at senior leaders’ level to the summit level. One may view the letters
otherwise as a kid of tactics and shrewdness in the context of continuing
political landscapes in the country. Ershad is nowadays apparently a singing critic
of Hasina administration and he promised many a time to quit the so-called
grand alliance government. But, unfortunately enough, he finally came to the satiric
conclusion that his disassociation with the grand alliance government might act
as a sort of fuels for BNP. This means
Ershad is with Hasina because he does not like to see that BNP is voted to
power.
Yes, by practicing such mysterious
monopoly(in the sense of a game) Ershad has taken a side openly in favor of
Hasina and his last determination to stick to it came to light when he
reaffirmed this to the members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the
Defense Ministry during its last meeting on 15 April 2013. So, the question
crops up ‘will Khaleda Zia feel free to respond at the call of Ershad being
fully aware of all these about Ershad? Let us recall the oft-quoted saying
about Ershad that ‘What Ershad says in the morning, to the utter surprise and despair
of all, he does not feel ashamed of negating it in the evening, which is in
politics called a ‘U-turn policy’ and the practice has been on since the very
day of his taking over power in 1982 as CMLA (Chief Martial Law Administrator).
Acceptability needs transparency while
honesty is the basis of transparency and these three ingredients are
fundamentally inseparable from one another. Ershad’s greatest crisis lies in
his not having been or being recognized as a committed personality in the
politics of Bangladesh. Neither Sheikh Hasina nor Begum Khaleda Zia is
convinced positively enough about Ershad’s transparent role, which is otherwise
very much sliding in nature. From these standpoints, Ershad’s letters to Hasina
and Khaleda. of course, in spite of their
having been well-worded, well-phrased and well-drafted are hardly in a position
to generate encouraging pragmatic responses and, therefore, it is better and
wiser for him not to wait impatiently for
a long for coveted replies from them.
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