CURRENTLY one pollti cal Issue has been agita ting the minds of the educated and politically conscious segment of the people. It is the question of holding free and fair elections. to be more precise, parliamentary elections, in this country. The mainstream opposition political parties are demanding that all general elections for the next 15 to 20 years be held under an apolitical and neutral caretaker government modelled more or lAss on the one headed by Chief Justice Shahabuddln Ahmed in 1990-91. the only difference being that Chief Executive of this government would be Prime Minister and not President.

The raison d' etre of their demand Is simple : no free and fair election is possible under a political government. This implies, ironically though, that there had not been any free and fair election in the past nor can there be one in future under such a dispensation. True, there had not been any credible election since after the August 1975 change-over and particularly so during the infamous Ershad regime, when massive vote rigging and manipulation by the government reduced all elections to a farce. And. 1 am Inclined to believe that the present BNP government has not fared any better either.

The concept of caretaker government conducting general election first camp up when we were at the height of anti-autocracy movement during the Ershad regime. It started to gain ground again among the opposition political parties as irregularities and vote rigging in by-elections held under the present BNP government began to unfold. The Magura by-election allegedly epitomised all the electoral sins attributable to a political government.

But then does this mean that without going into Inherent weaknesses of the electoral system, as Indeed, of the* political system, we have Inherited from our colonial past an^^vithout trying to Improve upon the system, we should experiment with an undemocratic practice of a caretaker government for conducting national-level elections? Can a caretaker government offer solution to the problem we are faced with? Wasn't there any Irregularity, any vote rigging, any unfair polling at all In the February 1991 General Election held under the caretaker government of Justice Shahabuddln Ahmed? There is no denying the fact that there were Instances of vote rigging and other Irregularities tn that election also but on a much lesser scale as compared to what we had been used to wit neasing before.

The only good thing about a caretaker government of the Justice Shahabuddln type is that it may be strictly neutral in character and may not try to Influence the outcome of election either in favour of or against any political party, although this will largely de pend upon the Integrity char acter and personality of the Chief Executive and other members of the caretaker gov eminent. The demerits of thia

type of government are far too many. The very tact that it is a caretaker government which has been Installed for a limited period' and for a limited purpose lends itself to obvious limitations. It exists like-an emaciated sick old man waiting to die soon in fact the count-down begins from the day it Is in office. The administration. particularly the bureaucracy is prone to adopting a go-slow attitude towards the new Interim government and a sort of inertia pervades the whole administration. Since It lacks the authority of an elected government, the caretaker government hardly governs; it merely administers. The ambience is perfect for corruption and Indiscipline to breed in the administration.

. The government under the circumstances may not get the full measure of loyalty and cooperation from the police and other law enforcing agencies so vitally needed for efficiently conducting the polls. A lame duck government of this sort could In all probability lack the necessary means to get -to know of any electoral irregularities and would smugly boast of the election having been free and fair while it was not.

Those who advocate the caretaker government theory may argue that I am being too pessimistic to see the brighter side of the picture. No. I am not being pessimistic. I am simply being realistic when I say that the caretaker government concept is not going to work. If a political government democratically elected under the auspices of a caretaker government is removed on the ground of incompetence and . questionable credibility and in its place another caretaker government is installed to conduct parliamentary election for the formation of another political government, does ft or does it not prove that the first caretaker government had failed and failed miserably to produce the desired outcome? After all. the purpose of a gen era! election is to pave the way for a representative and credible government which will be responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people. And if that purpose has not been served by the last general election as Indeed seems to be the case, then why cry hoarse for another caretaker govern ment? •

There 1s another point we must not lose sight of. Let us not try to draw a parallel be tween the Jatiya Party gov ernment of the fallen dictator Ershad and the present BNP government of Begum Khaleda Zia. The Jatiya Party govern ment born out of two sham elections could never claim legitimacy The present BNP government, on the other hand. Is a democratically elected legitimate government

It may have been ruling the country In an autocratic man ner for the last three years But it Is still a legitimate govern ment It is a slur on the face of a legitimate political govern ment to bow out of office and allow a caretaker government to step In to conduct general election and no polltlral gov ernment can accept this de mand. Will Benazir Bhutto rel-

ish the idea of her PPP government being replaced by another caretaker government ■for holding next general election In Pakistan?

Actually the disease of rigged and unfair election that we suffer from has no cure in the caretaker government The cure lies in wholesale reform of the entire political system, the political culture we have inherited from Pakistan. Unfortunately our political field has become far too muddy and slippery and players used to playing fair game are heavily outnumbered by those who can easily gain control of the ball by rough tackle and foul-play. One can hardly play fair game and score goal. It is always the rough tacklers and foul players who get the better of their opponents. Today the political arena of our country has been totally vitiated. Politics no longer means service and welfare of the people. It has become the profession of earning a livelihood apd building personal fortunes through misuse of power and position. As a member of parliament and as a minister one can expect a fat salary and other allowances together with various perks and privileges — pension, duty-free import of luxury car. free use of telephone, free travelling by air or by train within the country. diplomatic passport etc etc. Hence the scramble for politics.

Education, talent, honesty, efficiency, patriotism are no longer of any value in politics. The political parties seem to be on the prowl for money and muscle. If you do not have enough money and also enough nuisance value, you may find it hard to win a party nomination in election. Look at our august Jatiya. Sangsad past and present. You had and still have heavy weights of all sorts there — the rump of the past corrupt and autocratic regime, collaborators of the Pakistan occupation force during our war of liberation, defaulter recipients of huge unpaid bank loan, men convicted on and facing cor fuptioh and murder charges, the garments and ball point millionaires, a fugitive suspect murderer, and to cap It all a convicted former head of state languishing In Jail. In an im poverished and otherwise investment shy society, people spend colossal amoqnt of money on election, oftener many times In excess of the limit fixed by the Election Commission, thinking that the money spent is an Investment with prospect of heavy return once election is won

We must call a halt to this political culture Politics must be freed from the evils of money and muscle power Cor ruptlon and violence must be stamped out. root and branch, for politics. That politics In meant for the-service and wel fare of the people has to be ensured Let us make politics less lucrative so that people who take to politics In order to earn their bread and butter and make personal fortunes shy away front politics and find some other avenues If all our political leaders are men and women of honour and Integrity for whom having the opportu nlty to serve the people as their chosen representatives and the honour attached to

this is all that counts In an election, there can hardly be any fouling of the air during election as we find In western democracies.

Let all our politicians, the lawyers, the Intelligentsia put their heads together and Introduce political reforms to this end. We have to more fast as time is running out. We have already wasted good 23 years of our national life. Meanwhile let the government and all opposition political parties sit together and work out a plan to make the Election Commission a really independent, powerful, effective and accountable ha-tlonal Institution capable of conducing all elections as free and fair as possible. In my view, the following steps will strengthen the democratic process and have a positive influence on the conduct of elections :

1. After the announcement of election schedule for varioqs constituencies by the Election Commission, the government will not transfer any official from and to any area without the express approval ^f the Chief Election Commissioner.

2. The Chief Election Commissioner will have the power to remove or dismiss any official on ground of misconduct or questionable neutrality. V

3. Prime minister and ministers campaigning for their party candidates or for themselves will do so not in official capacity but as private citizens at their own expense or at the expense of their party. They will NOT use any government transport or other government facilities otherwise admissible on official tour.

4. Distribution of relief goods and cash donation etc in the name of mosques, madrasas. orphanages, educational institutions etc by Way of influencing voters will be strictly prohibited. Punish-mer. *or violation of this order may lead to disqualification of the candidate betq| cam paigned for.

5. There shall be no election camps of political parties within the vicinity of polling centres. Instead, there shall be an information centre set up by the Election Commission close to each polling centre to help voters find their name and number in the voters’ list,

6. The Chief Election Commissioner will have the authority to call In BDR and Army for maintenance of law and order in and around polling centres and for security of ballot boxes

Should the government and opposition political parties refuse to have a dialogue to end the present Impasse In the light of views expressed above, the country may soon be plunged Into darkness again We are passing through s very critical time In the history of our nation The forces opposed {o our Independence and our democratic policy aft lying In wait to strike us Let all freedom loving and democratic minded people rise to the oc casion Let national interest prevail over party and Individual interests

The ii>rlfer is a former MU itary Secretary to President qj Bangladesh)