PRESSURE on the caretaker government (CTG) is reportedly mounting from both home and abroad for lifting of the state of emergency and announcement of election date. Political parties, civil society and also the development partners are getting concerned about the election and eager to know when it will be held.
Foreign dignitaries, including British Foreign Secretarty David Miliband and Donald Camp, the principal deputy assistant secretary of the US State Department, who recently visited the country, made cautious observations on these entangled issues and are eager to see Bangladesh return to democracy and elected government through credible elections as soon as possible.
Though neither Miliband nor Camp received any clear deadline for the lifting of the state of emergency, both of them made it clear that their respective governments' were banking on the CTG's assurance of holding election by this year.
The people felt encouraged by the Election Commission's (EC) proposed electoral reforms, particularly the move to register political parties with necessary reforms during the current interregnum so that democracy could be sustainable. The EC has now decided to relax its electoral reforms laws.
In the revised draft of its proposed electoral law reforms the EC has relaxed some conditions for registration of the political parties. According to the relaxed conditions, an existing political party will be eligible for registration if it had polled at least one percent of the total votes cast in any general election since independence. This had been fixed at two percent earlier.
A new political party will be eligible for registration if it has organisational committees in at least one third of the districts, and at least 200 members in each upazila.
The EC has reiterated in the revised draft that political parties willing to be registered would have to include in their constitutions that they would not have student wings in the educational institutions, or labour wings in the industries and overseas units. It is a welcome development, and the EC must stick to this imperative electoral reform.
There is not an iota of doubt in our minds that the political parties in the country need substantive reforms for transition from totalitarian rule to democracy. They have collectively failed to uphold the secular democratic aspirations that drove the nation to fight the liberation war. Political leaders now need to reach an understanding across party lines to rid politics of the influence of black money and muscle power.
The EC has failed to complete a number of tasks relating to the electoral roadmap, which it announced on July 15, 2007. The voter registration affair is going beyond schedule. The EC has so far completed registration of only 46 percent (till February 16) of nearly eight crore voters, which is quite disappointing.
The issue of eligibility of Jamaat-e-Islami for getting registered with the EC as a parliamentary party has become contentious as most of the political parties have demanded barring of war criminals and anti-liberation forces from contesting in elections.
As many as 14 out of the 16 political parties that participated in the first round of talks with the EC strongly demanded disqualification of anti-liberation forces, including Jamaat-e-Islami, from getting registered as a parliamentary party.
The EC is also searching for ways to deal with the issue, echoing a similar sentiment in this regard. Responding to demands from most political parties, the EC has incorporated provisions in the proposed electoral laws to permanently prevent the war criminals from participating in the parliamentary elections.
Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed had also said it would be unwarranted if war criminals contest the elections. But all such moves would go in vain if the CTG does not take appropriate steps to bring them to book.
The EC should not proceed with its proposal to re-demarcate some of the constituencies, as it has the potential of breeding chaos, unless it is done to the satisfaction of all the political parties. This may hamper the entire election process.
The EC kicks off its second round electoral reforms talks with political parties on February 24 to complete it in five days. The second round talks will pave the way for the CTG to start its crucial dialogue with political parties next month to find a formula for holding a participatory, fair and credible parliamentary election by the end of 2008.
The agenda for the dialogue should be carefully determined, attaching highest priority to burning political issues like boycotting parliament, imposing hartal and blockade, igniting conflicts and the blame game. The political parties must agree to nominate clean candidates, and to continue anti-corruption measures if they are elected to power.
The people of this country have witnessed three fair and free elections under the CTGs since 1991. Unfortunately, these elections could not bring any qualitative change in the leadership. What leaves us all with a very disturbing feeling is that no public interest was served by those who were placed in public positions in these elections.
The demands for lifting state of emergency and announcement of election date are becoming increasingly shrill, particularly from the political parties, civil society members and the media, as according to them, there is no other alternative for overcoming the crises that are plaguing the country.
Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed has been saying repeatedly that the CTG was determined to hold election as early as possible and also to reform the electoral process. Army chief Gen Moeen U Ahmed has also reiterated that he would like to see a competent, honest and committed leadership running the country in future.
Still, whisperings are going the rounds about whether the stalled parliamentary election will be held with full participation in due time, as some newspapers are carrying confusing news like formation of national government and, thus, creating suspicion in the public mind.
The people would not like to wait beyond December 2008, the self-imposed deadline of the CTG, for holding a credible and meaningful election, as they strongly believe that return of power to a democratic government is the only way for Bangladesh to tackle the economic woes.
Time is running out. Therefore, the first and foremost duty of the CTG should be to announce the date of 9th parliamentary election and lift the state of emergency, creating an environment conducive to holding the election.

A.N.M. Nurul Haque is a columnist of The Daily Star.