Editorial
Pushing the country towards brink
Compromise is the key word
NOW the battle lines are drawn, even more clearly, between the ruling BNP and the opposition AL, with Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina taking diametrically opposite stands on the forthcoming general election. To begin with, the prime minister has apparently dismissed the prospect of any dialogue on electoral reform issues that the opposition had raised in February and her own party's secretary general has been keen on. Then she addressed another thorny issue with the same nonchalance when she made it clear who will head the next caretaker government. Furthermore, she gave a clean chit to the chief election commissioner who has come under a barrage of criticism from different quarters for his inept handling of the voter list. Finally, the prime minister has expressed her supreme confidence that the opposition has no chance of winning the next election and that is precisely the reason why they are out to foil it. Such a view, besides being presumptive, also borders on the impolitic, being clearly an affront to the opposition. More ominously, the prime minister has also stated that the election would be held even if the opposition party does not participate in it. This is apparently a revival of the February 1996 election debacle spectre which cannot be treated as anything auspicious for the country. As for the leader of the opposition, she is also confident that the election will be held, but with the proviso that the electoral reforms will have to be carried out before it. The opposition has been demanding reform of the caretaker government system and the Election Commission as a precondition for participating in the election. However, reforms cannot be brought about without a comprehensive dialogue between the two sides. But here again the opposition parties attach a precondition to the dialogue and want it to be held on their terms. So, where is the spirit of accommodation? The already tricky political situation is getting trickier as the two major parties are yet to find a way to reach any common ground for a negotiated settlement to the impasse. The country is being pushed towards a collision course which augurs ill for its democracy, polity, economy and institutions. Besides, it can only serve to reinforce the country's negative image to the outside world. The two major parties have to climb down from the positions that they have adopted vis-à-vis each other and work out a compromise formula to avert political turmoil of an even greater magnitude that is staring us in the face.
|
|
