Constitution needs to be amended again!

The current Jatiya Sangsad (JS) will complete its five-year term on January 24, 2014. The election for the next JS will be held within 90 days prior to expiry of tenure of the current parliament. This means the next parliamentary polls will be held any time between October 27, 2013 and January 24, 2014. And the current parliament will exist during the polls. (In case of sudden dissolution of the House, the election will be held within 90 days after the dissolution.) Existence of the current parliament means all of its MPs will remain in office when they contest the parliamentary polls. This has been made possible because of the latest constitutional amendments.
Not only that, the amendments also ensured that the current Awami League-led government will be in office during the polls. In other words, one can say that the next polls will be held under the AL-led government. The government ensured it by hurriedly abolishing the non-partisan caretaker government system through amending the constitution in June, 2011.
After the changes, the present constitutional provisions also allow the AL-led government to perform in full swing in the 90-days timeframe when the parliamentary polls will be held. This means it will be able to take any decisions that may influence the polls, and there will be no constitutional bar on the government from taking such decisions. So, the present constitutional provisions provide the ruling party with some benefits and put it in a better position than others even before the party starts the electoral battle!
The sudden cancellation of the caretaker government has generated much controversy. It also triggered uncertainty over participation of BNP-led opposition parties in the next parliamentary polls. The opposition parties have been demanding restoration of the non-partisan caretaker government for holding free and fair parliamentary polls. They have also been threatening to boycott the polls if it is held under the AL-led government. So, there is a possibility of political unrest in the days ahead of the parliamentary polls.
Sensing a possible political stalemate, the parliamentary special committee for constitutional amendments, however, proposed retention of the provision for the caretaker government. But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina did not agree with the proposal and expressed her determination to implement the apex court's verdict declaring the non-partisan and non-elected caretaker government unconstitutional and void. The AL-led government did not even wait for the Appellate Division (AD) to release the copy of the full verdict. The AD delivered the verdict on May 10 and the Parliament passed the 15th Amendment to the Constitution on June 30, scrapping the provisions for the caretaker government.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and policymakers and leaders of the government and the AL have been defending the decision to abolish the caretaker government saying the current government itself will be turned into "an interim government" during the polls period and that the government will cooperate with the Election Commission (EC) in holding the parliamentary polls. To consolidate their defence, they have also been referring to instances of other countries that follow Westminster-style parliamentary democracy, which is modeled after the system of the United Kingdom.
Their claims, however, do not match with the practices and realities in those countries. Even in the UK, the birthplace of the Westminster system, the parliament is dissolved before holding of the polls to elect MPs for the House of Commons.
India, the largest parliamentary democracy in the world, follows the same system. The parliamentary election is held after the Lok Sabha is dissolved. And during the period of polls, the cabinet led, by the prime minister, acts like a caretaker government that only continues routine works and refrains from taking policy decisions. The Election Commission conducts the polls.
In New Zealand, Canada and Australia also, elections are held after the parliament is dissolved. This means that MPs are not allowed to remain in office during the parliamentary polls as the parliaments are dissolved before the announcement of election schedules.
None of the countries mentioned above have non-partisan and unelected caretaker government that existed in Bangladesh until it was abolished in June 2011. So, Bangladesh, which follows the Westminster-style parliamentary democracy, was different from other countries.
By canceling the caretaker government system, the incumbent AL-led regime is trying to demonstrate its "strong stance against unelected people's rule." The government policymakers are also assuring people that the next polls will be held following the way other countries hold polls.
But the latest constitutional changes that allow MPs to continue holding office and empower the government to function in full swing during the parliamentary polls mock at the AL-led government's much professed political stance on the mode of holding general elections. Because, the current constitutional provisions will in no way ensure level playing field during the parliamentary polls as MPs will get some benefits over other candidates by virtue of being office. Moreover, the government's unfettered power to take any decision during the polls period will be a major threat to holding a free and fair election.
Therefore, to demonstrate its sincerity to allow the EC to hold free and fair parliamentary elections, the incumbent government should take steps to amend the constitution again to minimise the serious anomalies. The next parliamentary polls should be held only after the current JS is dissolved and the power of the partisan government, if it remains in office during the polls, must be restricted. Not only that, the government should also enact a law to ensure appointment of eligible and acceptable people as chief election commissioner and other election commissioners for formation of the new EC. The EC's proposals for electoral reforms should also be honoured.
If the current regime takes such steps immediately it may give the people confidence in the government's stance on the mode of holding the next parliamentary polls. After that the government will have to do more to create a political atmosphere in which the people can believe that holding free and fair parliamentary polls is possible under a partisan government. Failure to ensure such an atmosphere will make the demand for restoration of the caretaker government by amending the constitution stronger.

The writer is Senior Reporter, The Daily Star.