AL, BNP to be led in same old way

Noted jurist Shahdeen Malik does not think BNP and Awami League leadership will change the way they lead their parties and break with the culture of confrontational politics anytime soon.
“However, the party men will someday want a different kind of leadership, and only then things will start to change,” he said in an interview with The Daily Star.
Dismissive of the 'minus-two formula', he said, “Historically, following of a leader could not have been taken away by external means.”
After around 30 years, people would naturally look for changed leadership.
He however holds out hope that politics would be much cleaner in five to 15 years. “Definitely, the process has started very vigorously, and I hope two more elections under a strong Election Commission will automatically drive out bad elements from politics.”
Deferring the December 18 election to meet any major party's demand would in fact make the polls indefinite, he continued. “If the Election Commission puts back the election date, who'll guarantee other parties won't demand the same later.”
He observed that a better RPO and code of conduct could have been there had the authorities moved earlier than they did. Especially, the government had delayed translating the EC proposals into laws.
He said though achievements since 1/11 have been 'negligible', the road to that end has been paved through some institutional reforms. “I don't think it would be possible for the next government to dismantle the systems that are in place now.”
Terming public expectations of the anti-corruption drive unrealistically high, he said it is because legal course against high profile individuals was not pursued seriously in the last 60 years.
On whether individuals convicted under the Emergency Power Rules will be able to contest the parliamentary polls, he said, “Those who have been convicted for two years or more won't qualify for the election. It has nothing to do with the emergency rules.”
He said withdrawal of the state of emergency is long overdue. It must be done with effect from at least the last date for filing nominations.