Can we not place the country above party and self?

BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia's demand for scrapping of the RPO amendments, withdrawal of graft cases against BNP leaders and resignation of the present Election Commissioners at a public meeting in Chittagong on November 7 last as preconditions to participate in the election, at a time, when there is barely one month left for the Parliamentary election, has stunned the whole nation.
While agreeing with the BNP and AL about the withdrawal or relaxation of the EPR for smooth holding of the polls in a bid to allow the voters to exercise their franchise unfettered, other demands like declaring Shaheed Zia's death anniversary on 30th May as the National Mourning Day and November 7 as the National Revolution and Solidarity Day, placed at this moment on the plea of creating level playing field, seem ridiculous.
People, at this critical moment of national history plagued by high prices of food items, want an election participated by all the parties, and as much as a fair and credible, to avert a crisis situation in the country. Most people do not know what a level playing field actually means? The overriding fear is that with some hidden agenda BNP perhaps wants a fresh schedule of election that will enable them to consolidate their position.
As people understand from BNP chairperson's press statements since her release, she has tagged the release of her party leaders either convicted or arrested with no bar for them to contest in the upcoming election as a precondition to participate in the next election. Possibly this is a very hard condition for the present caretaker government to concede to but people feel that with their (leaders) appeals pending in the higher courts they may be allowed to contest in the election.
True, as our experience of February 1996 election victory suggests: without some major political party or parties joining the election, the polls victory will rob the winners of their legitimacy and power to push forward their agenda and the overriding fear is that political feud, till now a chronic culture of Bangladeshi politics, might surface again and take the country back to chaos.
Street violence could erupt once again and protracted opposition sponsored "hartals" may follow and the economy already in a fragile position could bleed further. Precisely true, the chance of restoring the country's fragile democracy could take fatal beating with the new government's inability to deliver political stability. The need of the hour is for both Skeikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia -- to display maturity and statesmanship and ward off confrontation. Bangladesh has already had an overdose of political strife. We can do without more.
Perhaps much to the comfort of the people in the country, AL-led grand alliance and even other small factions realise the pitfalls ahead and have begun to make right moves in a bid to participate in the election due in December 18. With the bitter memories of the immediate past as well as the experiences of 1/11, stalwarts of the political parties are working to undo the image of the parties as autocratic organisations by nominating candidates from the grassroots level.
All these parties have seen how dearly the BNP has paid for corruption and arrogance in office. Peasant disaffection following a scarcity of fertilisers and irrigation water in the country's rice belt areas in their last two years, has seemingly hurt the BNP-led alliances' electoral chances.
Agreeing with BNP chairperson that time has come to hand over power to the people through a free and fair poll, people in the country also feel that her 4 party-led alliance has to participate in the election to snatch victory on the basis of her alliances' popularity. With such huge crowd thronging her meeting at Chittagong, seemingly indicating their love for the BNP, this is not altogether impossible to steal the show again.
People also believe that the BNP has hardly to be afraid of victory with only 40 some leaders being disqualified to contest the upcoming election because of court verdict in graft cases. With many such convicted persons, it hardly enhances the image of the party and adds grace to the leadership quality to ask for release of such persons and run the party with guidance and direction from them! Some ten such leaders from the AL fold would be disqualified from contesting the election on similar charges.
Assailing the present CEC of playing a partisan role and to be engaged in selection process, meaning that the present EC is trying to bring a particular party to power in her speech at Laldighi Maidan on November 7, the BNP chairperson has again brought the memories of the bitter past to public focus. While people without any party affiliation and majority of the BNP circle believe that Ex-CEC Aziz is one of the persons who pushed BNP to its present crisis, she still remains unfazed and oblivious of the wrongs committed by some such people in the past. Ex-CEC Aziz-lore is too long to be repeated here. After assuming the office of CEC in 2005 during BNP-led alliance rule, he prepared a voter list that contained fake voters now corroborated by the fact that the voter list prepared under his guidance contained 9.24 crore voters, while the one prepared now with army assistance contains 8.11 crore voters confirming the allegation of fake voters raised at that time.
The nation spent about Tk. 60 crore for preparing the voter list during Ex CEC Aziz's tenure and another Tk. 15 crore for its printing. People say that public memory is short but it should not be that short that our immediate past prime minister could not sense any wrong doing in the past and she hastens to question -- why was Jan 22, 2007 election was stalled and the current situation was created?
Quoting BNP chairperson's speech at Laldighi Maidan that BNP does not want anarchy and chaos in the country ... and it will not be safe for the country if the present government remains in power any longer, people also feel that BNP or four party-led alliance has to participate in the election to steer the country of the doom and gloom, that according to her, seems to be enveloping it.
Accusing the government of not creating a level playing field for them, the alliance continues to shy away from election related formalities. It would be quite naive of the BNP to stay away from the long awaited national election on the pretext that some 40 of its top ranking leaders would be disqualified from contesting the election because of court verdict in corruption cases.
Hopefully, if a political government either BNP or AL comes to power through a free, fair and neutral election, they would get acquitted by filing appeals in the country's higher courts, if at any stage of investigation and trial in the speedy trial courts, they have been unfairly treated. Undeniably true, all sections of people have reposed their faith in the country's highest court.
The suspicion creeping in the minds of some politicians or in a section of the populace that either EC or some vested quarters can bring some political party to power by selection or manipulation or influence is now totally unfounded after introducing the National ID cards, voter list with photographs, and translucent voter box. It can be fairly expected that voter turnout, voting behaviour and voting pattern will not be subject to undue influence and intervention from outside.
Political parties including the candidates and voters can take heart from the fact that with deployment of army personnel at strategic points around the polling centres chances of any untoward incident during voting, or at the time of counting, or any preposterous incident of media coup hatched by any interested quarters can be totally eliminated.
What is most important is whether we can get people organised because in the end what we need is organisation to fight authoritarian rules that breed corruption and malfeasance. Election is the fastest way of organising people and root out such evil maneuvers.

Md. Asadullah Khan is a former teacher of physics and Controller of Examinations, BUET.