THE normal concept of a caretaker regime envisages a short lifespan (of maybe 90 to 120 days) to carry out one single unambiguous mission, free and fair elections. Not being representative they should not normally annunciate major policy, that should remain the prerogative of elected governments. Essentially a national government, the caretaker arrangement is a transitional set-up consisting of non-political figures of unimpeachable character and integrity Anything that they do that goes beyond the stated parameters of the simple mandate has to be either cleared subsequently by Parliament or approved by a referendum

The fall of the Ershad regime in Bangladesh in late 1990 ushered in a neutral caretaker government, this was not the case in Pakistan in 1990 and led to charges by the PPP that the Jatoi Caretaker Government had rigged the elections in favour ot the Islamic Jamhoori Ittehad (IJD. composed of PML and allied parties, In 1993 the President PM confrontation led to the induction of what was generally accepted at that time as a neutral non-polltical caretaker government.

However, in both Bangladesh and Pakistan the Constitution remained silent about the mechanism and mandate of a caretaker arrangement, the exercise was conducted mainly as a logical extension of "the Doctrine of Necessity" applied in a make-shift arrangement to ensure a clean passage through a national crisis While the immediate objective was achieved in both the countries, this was at best a short-term solution without constitutional sanction as the extended recent ’ crisis in Bangladesh has shown, the problems do not really go away and finally lead to the formalizing of a constitutional mechanism for the transitional neutralIgovernmen t.

The caretaker administration in Bangladesh envisages an 11-member Advisory Cabinet led by a "Chief Advisor" who should be a retired Chief Justice and will have' the privileges and authority of a Prime Minister. In this case retired Chief Justice Habibur Rahman has taken over as the Chief Advisor to the President. The members of this cabinet are non-polltical persons of national stature who have taken an oath that they will not enter politics for an extended period of time. This cabinet will assist In the holding of a fair exercise of adult franchise but will not take any major decisions.

Elections are to be held tn 90 days. By an overwhelming unanimous vote of Parliament, the Bill had been passed a few days earlier and soon signed into law by the President.

Given tne distrust displayed by the major political parties in each other's carrying out free and fair elections, a non partisan arrangement seems to be the only course to save democracy from turning into anarchy in such situations. Given also the fact that even the so-called non-partisan governments can tilt the balance in favour of their party and/or individual preference if they resort to macro-managing the results in a scientific manner as one suspect* was engineered over the heads of the "Moeen Quereshi" Administra tlon in Pakistan in .1993. it is important that only those persons be chosen who are known to be fully committed to the country in supercession to their own preferences for individuals and/or parties. Choosing of a retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Is an Important step in this direction If such a person is unavailable then one can reach down the line to persons who may have been senior enough and acted as Chief Justices in the absence of that personage. In the case of Pakistan. Moeen Quereshi was seemingly plucked out of relative political obscurity from abroad and was prompted in his choice of colleagues by those Intelligence ■ functionaries to whom he owed his good fortune in the first place. The net result was a subtle shift in preference by members of his cabinet as well as in provincial appointments with bias against one side, even if not totally committed to the other.

~ It is important that the "Chief Advisor" is given a free hand to choose his own panel of Advisors to help him run the interim government. Because official secrets will come into the knowledge of these individuals. it may be necessary to ascertain necessary credentials from at least three secret agencies as to their character, integrity, patriotism, honesty, .etc. it being Imperative to take these reports from different sources because any one biased report emanating from some motivated individual may unnecessarily tarnish the reputation of the Intending cabinet member and thus disqualify

him or her

in Pakistan, the two lair elections are the ones held In 1970 under Gen Yahya Khan, which led to the break-up of the country In 1971, and in 1988 under General Aslam Beg which led to Ms Benazir coming to power . the first time The 1990 elections were con tested by PPP as being microrigged. but the 1993 elections

in which PPP was successful was adjudged by them to be fair. However, critics maintain that macro-management drastically altered the results past midnight in 15-18 key urban-rural constituencies when it became clear that PML (N) and allies were on a victory roll. At the same time, at the national level, the MQM boycott drastically tilted the balance in favour of PPP and its allies. While the caretaker-logic was very much alive, the caretaker principle to oversee a free and fair election was unfortunately violated. On the other hand, in Bangladesh. Haslna Wajed's AL had to initially accept the result of the extremely fair elections in 1991 under a caretaker regime but in an about-turn born out of political frustration has, for the last twelve months of BNPs term of office, violently militated against it. thus circumscribing the capacity of Khaleda Zia to govern. The net result has been virtual anarchy that has badly disrupted a newly burgeoning economy.

The lessons from all this must not be lost in Pakistan, a ' naturally fertile ground for constitutional crisis on any number of grave natural issues. This country cannot afford prolonged confrontation or anarchy of the kind witnessed in Bangladesh, our Federation is far more fragile. As such we must extend the caretaker logic Into a far deeper exercise if we are to preserve over national Integrity, to resolve potential areas of disagreement through non-politlcal debate. To achieve this a three months period may be too less, further the restriction on major policy decisions must be removed.

One feels that the caretaker logic mu at be translated into the need for a genuinely national government to be headed by a retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a cabinet composed of such persons who are non-polltical. non-controver*lal. individuals of known integrity and honour, committed to the country and permanently resident In it.

The cabinet should have 25 per cent of its members as retired judges (of the Supreme Court) retired bureaucrats (of federal secretary status), former Armed Forces officers (of rank equivalent to lieutenant generals) and elder business persons of known corporate repute. Such a government should have about 18-20 members. 9-10 who will run day-to-day government and 9-10 who will study those portions of the Constitution, election mechanism, etc. that have anomalies and need rectification for the common good of

the citizen* of the aountry as well as the supreme Interest of the nation In effect, they will carry out a system reform that must be put to referendum. While accountability will be a great temptation, they should leave this to a duly elected government

The crisis in Bangladesh was very much visible and as such could he handled, the major problem has been the overblown egos of the two Women leaders. In Pakistan there is continuing erosion of the rule ol law at the highest level, a penchant for irrational contempt that Is frightening. This has turned the fundamentals of government-running Into virtual tribalism that augers a not:so-visible disaster in the,, making. At the same time, we are mired in a debt trap that is ever increasing as every quarter we add to the burden to meet IMF obligations. The three pillars of the states, the Executive, the Judiciary and Parliament are at odds in various permutations and combinations. Whatever the merits and/or demerits of a recent Supreme Court verdict. the assault on the judiciary has seriously undermined the concept of civilized society being governed by certain laws that are interpreted with deep respect for the superior insti-

tutlona. the apex belrfg the Supreme Court. While there are merits In some of the electoral reform* proposed by the Ms Benazir regime, some of the proposals are seriously flawed enough to expect constructive engineering" of votes to obtain a suitable ver diet, at least down the line

A* it I*, the Opposition la questioning the accuracy of thi electoral roMs. The Presidency and the Armed Forces are now at a crossroads with what to make of what Is Increasingly seen as a motivated purpose transcending the sovereignty of the nation. Can they be counted upon to uphold the respect due to the institutions by safeguarding the Interests of the country before that of any individual?

In 1972. late Z A Bhutto gave an interim Constitution to the country till such time the 1973 Constitution was ap-provad by - Parliament. This constitutional fabric was necessary to preserve the rule of law in the grave crisis the nation was thrust in with the secession, of half the country in December 1971. Almost 25 years later, we are faced with a national crisis of unimaginable proportions. Unless we can resolve these Issues with the ut most dispatch, the country faces further disintegration. To uphold the rule of law and save society as we want to live in it. we must have a caretaker regime, ode that is legislated into existence by tiw current Parliament, as have Been done in Bangladesh.