***Now that the CEC is appointed by the Government after a few days of waiting for a suggestion from the opposition, there seems little scope to undo the whole process. The main task that lies forward is to ensure fair-play by the incumbent. The electoral processes under which the anomalies grow should be reviewed. ***

THERE Is. perhaps. very little disagreement over the notion that the present configuration of political scene in Bangladesh Is chaotic, con-fusing. and confrontational. The growing boiling politics warrants immediate solutions which seems hardly In the oiling. Suggestions are In abundance hut they are hardly welcome in the realm of the insensible" political moves < n display. Attempts to resolve the crisis moved futile and also hopes, more often than not. turn out to be mere forlorn hopes While delving into the current crisis, and the attitudes of the political actors, one could suggest that we go through the example of the famous game theory called "The Battle of the Sexes."

The "battle of the sexes" as espoused by a number of authors reads as follows: Suppose a husband and a wife, weary of hard work throughout the year, decide to go on vacation outside the home country. Where? Well, the husband proposes to go to Sri Lanka where they could eat local food. The wife, on the other hand. Insists on going Nepal to have Chinese food there. If the husband assumes the dictatorial status then, needless to mention, the obvious solution is to force the "beloved" wife to ride on the first boat. Conversely, if the wile appears as a dictator (not unlikely in many families even In male dominated society), then the husband could be forced to ride on the second boat.

Besides this dictatorial solution. a compromise solution, comprising two parts, could be chalked out. First both agree to go to Srl Lanka but. at the same time, agree to eat Chinese. Second, both agree to go to Nepal but agree to have local food Remember, In each oi these cases, the husband and the wife agree to forsake one of their respective preferences in terms of either the location to visit or the food to cat. A "quasi" dictatorial solution would be either to go to Sri Lanka or to Nepal and choose food of one's own liking. This can be called a oneway-traffic solution and also be construed as noil-dictatorial (democratic!) but non-compromising (undemocratic!) too : the wife goes to Nepal and cats Chinese while the husband leaves for Sri Lanka to eat local food.

The present political stalemate surrounding the choice of a CEC seems to lit both democratic and undemocratic routes I. e. a separating solution and thus tends to demise the relationship between contending parties. There is also a problem with respect to the compromising solution, who will compromise: Khaleda or Hashm? The former Is said to be a well-publicised uncompromising' leader by her party itself while the latter claims to be uncompro-

mising on national interest as she deems It to be. The Crux, however, could be clipped through a volley of steps viz. Hipping a coin, voting, bargaining etc. The decision as to the process of resolving the crisis emerges as more important than the outcome itself. In any of Hie process as mentioned above, there is a clear need of "some" trust and faith on the opponent. Lack of faith might turn an unbiased flip into a blas6 one, a neutral election into a rigged one etc.

To both the ruling and the non-ruling parties In Bangladesh, it is alleged, democracy is what democracy Is interpreted by them This universal concept is now very much localised and pocketed to use it to pursue narrow party interest If democracy would be

preached and pia< Used with all of Its original novelty. Bangladesh could, perhaps, be a few yards forward by this time. The ruling party continues to allege that the opposition parties are poised to pasture on unconstitutional means and are up to stall the socio-economic progress of the country. The opposition, on the other hand, tend to reconfirm their solution through a caretaker government Each of the sides, seem-Inglv, feels betrayed by the other side and therefore, mart lies towards a separating solution.

As citizens of the country, we would like to record our indignation of seeing one side going to Sri Lanka for having local food there while the other heading towards Nepal to eat Chinese. It may sound non-interfering. democratic but might cost the nation. Politics in a country Is like a family life where despite the differences, family members need to cat. sit and chat around the dining table. Otherwise, the family ties are broken and children inevitably suffer the most. Do our l>olitlcal leaders want that people should suffer? Under the present situation each side is going home. "Like a couple who got divorced because they couldn't agree either on what meal to cook or how to cook it. although they very much liked the house in which they live".

Both the ruling and the nonruling parties of Bangladesh should invariably have a glimpse of the famous gametheory and more importantly. of the example "the battle of (be sexes".

Bangladesh is now passing through a severe political crisis which owes mainly to the "uncompromising" attitudes of our political leaders. As consequence of the stalemate. Die economy is In a shambles, civic life is growingly In jeopardy. What is required most at the moment is embracing a compromise game where each of the party has to sacrifice a part of Its preference package. It would be very unfortunate if politicians find that democracy In Bangladesh, for which they sacrificed so much in their lives. Is In stake to make things tough for citizens' human rights.

Now that the CEC Is appointed by the Government after a few days of waiting for a suggestion from the opposition, there seems little scope to undo the whole process. The main task that lies forward is to ensure fair-play by the incumbent. The electoral processes under which the anomalies Kow should be reviewed. By and rge, there should be a space to accommodate the resolution of conflicts. It happens in every country and should also happen in Bangladesh. For Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia the suggestion is to choose one's menu and other's location or vice versa.