As the JS goes into session . . .

AS the Jatiyo Sangsad meets for its budget session today, the nation clearly looks forward to positive guidance and leadership from both the ruling party and the opposition. Had democracy been on a normal course, there would be little reason for worry on the part of citizens. The truth, though, is that over these past four years and a half, the chasm between the governing alliance and the opposition has only widened over such issues as the best way for the next general election to be conducted. Neither side, apart from some fitful gestures, has thought it necessary to make efforts toward a bridging of the gap. While the ruling Awami League insists there will be no return to a caretaker system of government, the opposition is adamant that it will have such a form or nothing.

Democracy, lest we forget, is a matter of give and take, of compromise where matters of grave national import are concerned. And since both the AL and the BNP once waged a long battle against the forces of autocracy in defence of popular rights, it is the considered feeling of the nation that they should begin to minimize their differences, arrive at a consensus on national issues, do everything necessary to promote an effective pluralistic order through debating the issues on the floor of the House and, in the end, convince the nation that the country is on the right course.

We expect the ruling alliance to adopt a conciliatory attitude to its opponents when the JS meets today. Likewise, we hope the opposition will today persuade us into believing that its lawmakers will go back to the JS not to save their membership but to engage the government in purposeful debate. Our democracy is yet a tender plant. Let its growth not be stunted for good.