President Zillur Rahman's appeal to senior officials to discharge their duties according to the constitution and rise above partisan politics is significant. But for this to happen, the appointment of senior officials should undergo a change.
The people hardly get a glimpse of the "mission of righteousness" the president is attributing to the office. It is for the political parties to respond to his call and help to restore the dignity of the office.
President's wise counsel deserves praise. But to act non-partisan, civil servants need job security.
When a party comes to power, it replaces civil servants for obvious reasons. As long as this practice exists, it will be difficult for civil servants to rise above party politics. Instead of reminding the civil servants of the sanctity of their office, the President could have emphasised the need to advice the ministries concerned to select civil servants from among those who have no party affiliation. Though he has come from a political background, he is the right person to moot such a proposal. Unless the practice of partisan appointment is dispensed with, such conferences will serve only as rituals.
However, experience shows that the constitutional provisions are insufficient to deliver the desired results. With civil servants reluctant to change their style of functioning, the alternative is to amend the constitution to withdraw the unlimited discretion and absolute immunity granted to them, and to enforce accountability for their actions and inaction. But today's legislators are tomorrow's presidents or prime ministers. Who will amend the constitution?