Torn between emergency and election
ALL eyes across the country are now fixed on the developments for holding the long-stalled ninth parliamentary election scheduled for December 18. But one has a very little reason for heaving a sigh of relief over holding of a credible and meaningful election in time, as the country currently finds itself torn between emergency and election.
The caretaker government (CTG) and the Election Commission (EC) want to hold the ninth parliamentary election under the state of emergency despite the opposition of major political parties.
The CTG is also facing legal obstructions to its move for holding the election under the emergency rules. The High Court (HC) on July 20 ordered the CTG to explain why the proclamation of the state of emergency, two emergency powers orders suspending people's fundamental rights, and the Emergency Powers Rules would not be declared ultra vires of the constitution.
The HC passed the orders after hearing of a public interest litigation writ petition filed by some Supreme Court lawyers. The CTG is likely to intensify its legal battles against the HC rulings in the Supreme Court, which resumed on October 12 after 44 days of annual vacation.
The people felt encouraged by the EC's electoral reform laws, particularly the move to register political parties with necessary reforms during the current interregnum so that democracy could be sustainable. The EC also revised some clauses of the Representation of the People Order (RPO) 1972 with a view to solving our problems with democracy.
There is not an iota of doubt in our mind 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.
Awami League was the first major party, which agreed to accept most of the electoral reforms laws. The BNP has asked the EC to extend the October 15 deadline for applying for registration, as it would make a decision on the issue after holding dialogue with the CTG.
The BNP-led four-party alliance has placed before the CTG and the EC a five-point demand, including withdrawal of state of emergency and scrapping of the RPO (Amendment) 2008, as conditions for participating in the forthcoming national election.
The other demands are holding of upazila elections a reasonable time after the national election, withdrawal of the Gatco, Niko and Barapukuria corruption cases and other false cases against alliance leaders, and release of all political leaders and activists detained without specific charges.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court has issued arrest warrants against nine accused in the Barapukuria coalmine graft case. The accused include former ministers M. Saifur Rahman, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid and Aminul Haque, and state minister A.K.M. Mosharraf Hossain.
The court has also directed BNP chairperson and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, Jamaat-e- Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, former BNP ministers Abdul Mannan Bhuiya, M. Shamsul Islam and M.K. Anwar, now on bail in the case, to appear before it.
The BNP-led alliance is quite unhappy with this development. BNP Secretary General Khondker Delwar Hossain firmly said on October 11 that no election would be acceptable to the people as well as to the international community without the participation of the party chairperson Khaleda Zia.
On the other hand, the AL central working committee in a resolution on October 11 said the party would not take part in election without the participation of its president and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. AL is also demanding permanent release of Sheikh Hasina who is now in US for treatment on parole.
The central working committee of AL also reiterated the party's demand for withdrawal of the state of emergency for creating a congenial environment of free, fair and credible election.
AL president Sheikh Hasina has demanded withdrawal of state of emergency ahead of the parliamentary election, saying that emergency rule is meaningless if enforced for a prolonged period. She told this in a seminar on "Bangladesh: Future of Democracy and Human Rights" held recently in the auditorium of the House of Lords.
The London-based Economist Intelligence Unit has concluded in its October report that maintaining emergency rule may jeopardise the credibility of the elections in Bangladesh.
The European Commission usually does not send its election observers to a country under emergency rule. It may not send its Election Observer Mission to Dhaka if it is not convinced of the CTG's measures to ensure holding of a free and fair election.
The demand for lifting state of emergency is becoming increasingly shrill, particularly from the political parties, as according to them, no free and fair election is possible under the state of emergency. On the other hand, Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed told a British parliamentary delegation that the state of emergency was part of Bangladesh's constitution, not any extra-constitutional measure, and it was not affecting the common people.
The chief adviser's argument that the state of emergency would help restrict infiltration of black money and muscle power in the electoral process bears some merit. It is also true that, while many of the fundamental rights remain suspended under emergency rules, it is against the sprit of free, fair and credible elections.
Time is running out. Therefore, the first and foremost duty of the CTG should be to sit with the major political parties and discuss ways to relax the state of emergency, creating an environment conducive to holding a meaningful election. Politics always stresses on discussion and compromise, keeping the national interest above all other matters.
The people of this country are now torn between emergency and election, which is worrying them. They are not likely to wait beyond December 18, the date set 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 its woes.
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