Continued from page 18 tive session on October 23.

Shahjahan Siraj. JSD leader who Joined BNP. was made State Minister for Shipping. Minister for Religion Keramat All was made minister without any portfolio.

The opposition parties observed a blockade of roads, rail and riverways on November 6. Police attacked the AL office on November 8 while a press conference of Hasina was being held. Several persons were hurt. On November 13, AL leader Matta Chowdhury was Injured by police while picketing oh the last day of the Opposition’s three-day hartal. She was admitted to hospital.

On November 21. Khaleda Zia tailed upon the Opposition to form an interim national government for the election period.

The Election Commission, on November 22. announced the by- election schedule for 145 seats on December 15. The Opposition announced its decisiqn to obstruct the by-elections.

The PM addressed the nation ovpr radio and television on November 24. At her request. President Abdur Rahman Biswas dissolved the parliament on the same day.

And on,November 24. at separate rallies, the opposition parties announced their week-long programme including rallies and processions on November 28 at the ■ thanas and on the 29th at the districte. The other programmes included a rail, road and riverway blockade on December 7 and a mass procession towards the PM's Office on December/ 9.

Jatiya Party held a half-day hartal in Dhaka on November 25, demanding' that former President Ershad be removed from Jail for proper medical treatment. On November 26 a telephone conversation took place between Khajeda and Hasina. Hasina requested Khaleda to hold elections under a caretaker government. The conversation proved futile. On November 30 PM Khaleda began a train march to Chittagong.

On November 30. addressing a rally at Fatikchhari. Chittagong. AL chief Hasina called for elections under a non-party neutral caretaker' government. She announced a continuous blockade pro.-gramme from December 7. The five-party Left Democratic Front also took up anti-government programmes. But. due to AL’s affiliation with JP and Jamaat, the Left Front did not Join ■ with AL in its movement. Oono Forum criticised the government and the Opposi-

tion but did not take up any. organisational..programme.

In 1995,'-the business community also became politically active, reacting from the beginning of the year against the politicians' failure to resolve the political crisis. The business community were frustrated at the harmful effect of the continuous, hartals and blockades upon the economy. On November 8, the business community observed a 15-minute token strike. After this. FBCCI called a grand gathering of business persons in Dhaka. Many quarters viewed these activities as personal ambition of Salman F Rahman. FBCCI chief. This became all ' the more apparent when, on December . 19. he floated an organisation under the name of Samri-ddha Bangladesh Andolon.

Going back to the political perplexities, the Opposition had resigned from parliament on December 28. 1994. In accordance to the Constitution. the resignations ought to have come into immediate \ effect. but the Speaker took a great deal of time to announce his decision in this regard. On February 23, 1995, that is 56 days after the resignation letters were submitted, the Speaker declared that it was not legal to resign en masse from the House. His ruling created a furore in the Opposition. They accused the Speaker of acting on behalf of the ruling party and. in protest, observed a sit-in strike outside the Sangsad Bhaban on April 24. 1995. The parliament's nineteenth session commenced from that day. BNP was relieved that the opposition members' resignation had not been accepted as this would create complications of having to hold by-elections in the vacant seats. And it was obvious that the Opposition would obstruct by- elections. That would call for a

general election. Analysts felt that if the Opposition challenged the Speaker s ruling in court, it might be overruled. but the Opposition did do so. They had hoped that perhaps now a chance had emerged to resolve the impasse. But that was not to be. The situation became all the more complex. The government was adamant in its stand and the Opposition equally so. Hartals highlighted their movement.

The budget session, twentieth of this parliament, commenced at the beginning of June. This was an irnpor

tant session, as the Opposition's boycott reached an absence of 93 working days on June 19. Thus, in accordance to the Constitution, their seats were to be considered vacant. Article 67 (1A) of the Constitution states that if any member of parliament is absent without permission for 90 consecutive days, the member's seat will be declared vacant. Thus the 141 seats of the resigning opposition members became vacant but the government decided to play for time. It did not feel safe in declaring the seats vacant at that particular juncture. On July 4. President Abdur Rahman Biswas sent a reference to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court as to whether the boycott of the .House opposition members would be considered as their absence from parliament. After a seven-day hearing, the Supreme Court gave its opinion that if any member of the parliament remain absent from the House without permission for 90 working days, the seat would fall vacant. This threw the government into a quandary. Certain quarters within the Opposition were also somewhat taken aback. Leaders of the Opposition took up speedy measures to invigorate their movement.

Once the seats of the opposition were officially declared vacant, constitutionally it became imperative to hold by-elections. In this case, the ruling party had maintained a stand in their own interests all along. This served to tarnish the Election Commission's image and gave an opportunity to the Opposition to identify the EC as an agent serving the Interests of the government.

The seats of the opposition members were considered vacant from June 23. According to the Constitution. by-elections to these seats were to be held within 90 days from that date. But. since almost half of the seats of the parliament were empty, it was hardly practical or feasible to perform these by-elections. The floods were an excellent excuse to post pone the by-elections which were then delayed till mid - Dece mbe r . The by-election schedule was announced but never came to materialise as the parliament itself was dissolved. The Election Commission, in a manner of speaking, had more or less been forced to take all these steps, serving a blow to the Image of this

constitutional institution. This was not In keeprag the government's repeated assertions that a strong Election Commission, not a caretaker government, would serve the purpose for free and fair elections. This only projected the Opposition’s allegations that government intervention in the EC’s role necessitated a caretaker government to conduct the polls.

Five sessions of parliament were held in 1995. The twenty second and last session was of only three days.

Meanwhile, foreign intervention in Bangladesh's internal affairs became an accepted, even welcome, feature of 1995. Diplomats in Dhaka were active throughout in their endeavours to resolve the prevailing political crisis. Such foreign interference never took place before, but there were no protests against it. In fact, most quarters involved in the fracas encouraged the diplomatic dabbles. This began from quite some time baek. when Sheikh Hasina herself asked the Commonwealth Secretary General to intervene and resolve the crisis. The arrival of his envoy. Sir Ninian ■ Stephen, was hailed, though^ eventually his efforts at me-' diation proved futile. Then, on September 4. 1995, US Assistant Foreign Secretary Robin Raphael came to Bangladesh on her routine visit, which set tongues wagging once again. It was felt that she would establish some sort of rapport between the two sides, but here too speculations proved wrong. Thirteen leaders of the opposing sides did discuss their differences unofficially at a dinner hosted by the US Embassy for Raphael, but the differences remained differences. Incidentally. AL President Sheikh Hasina also met Raphael during the former's visit to the US.

The US Ambassador David Merrill again took initiative to resolve the crisis at the end of the year. In fact, it was the US Embassy which was the most active of the foreign missions In Dhaka in this regard. Merrill met with leaders of the government including Khaleda and Hasina. from time to time. The Bn tish, Indian and Japanese missions were also Involved fh the attempts to patch up the political problems These endeavours. If nothing else, highlighted the futility of the politicians themselves.

Throughout the year, political Issues arrived on the doorstep of the courts Though these could perhaps have been resolved politically. the sensitive nature of

the Issues pushed them to Ihe'emfrts. In October, five eminent citizen*. Barrister Ishtiaque Ahmed, former Chief Justice Kamaluddin Hossain, economist Rehman Sobhan. former Foreign Secretary Fakhruddin Ahmed and Journalist Fayez Ahmed, took it upon themselves to set matters straight. They met with Khaleda and Hasina several times. But Jatiya Party and Jamaat were not keen on the intervention of these five from the very outset of the exercise. Later. AL leader Tofael Ahmed also criticised the group of five's move. Eventually this effort also fell through and the five were viewed with suspicion. Fayez Ahmed told the press that the PM had been sincere about a resolution but Jatiya Party and a section of AL had upset the cart.

Khaleda Zia's train march to Chittagong on November 30 was a fresh political gimmick up the ruling party's sleeve.

The political arena heated up a bit after the by-election schedule was announced on November 22. On November 24. the PM addressed the nation over radio and television. The parliament was dissolved on that day. The government's was forced to dissolve the parliament, when it was apparent that no quarter would contest in the by-election. The by-election issue has been used in a play for time. It was a laughable more than a laudable move, and also hurt the constitutional sentiment. The government had similarly dilly-dallied over accepting the resignation of the opposition members.

With the dissolution of the parliament, the general election has now loomed up large. Constitutionally, parliamentary elections are mandatory within~90 days of the parliament s dissolution. But there is still an uncertainty over the issue. The political stalemate remains unresolved. The Election Commission. postponing its Initially announced date, now has set the election for February 7.

December has seen a culmination of efforts, both from local as well as diplomatic quarters, and perhaps the process of an understanding in underway Us Ambassador Merrill met with the Commerce and Information Min ister Shamsul Islam and with Awami League leader Amir Hossain Amu several times. The government has kept up informal communication with the Opposition to resplve the crisis If the elec Hori

cannot be held ui time, a Constitutional crtsls will fol