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Between hope and despair

Brig Gen Jahangir Kabir, nh psc (Rttd)
Bangladesh has no option but democracy and democracy has no other option but the general election. Why then the election, which was about to be held on January 22. 2007, was denied to the people for two long years? Why did the people let out a sigh of relief when the designed election was stopped only ten days before the due date? It was a disaster aborted.
Bangladesh has proved that election is not democracy; good governance is. If good governance is missing election is a futile exercise. and in case of Bangladesh a frightening experience. An election which reflects the wish and aspiration of the people is the means to democracy, the end of democracy is the welfare of the people. The election has been used in Bangladesh to molest democracy and abuse people s right Under the current political culture, how can the people be assured that the next election will not catapult the criminals in politics back to power?
One sustained worry of the people is the price hike of essen rials. With most pockets not meeting the prices, the worry of the overwhelming majority is susceptible to be misled by the swindlers of our abused democracy in the next election. They don't want democratic right of the people, they want only election to assume power to exploit the people; their language speaks the menace of Jihad for restoration of election only. The same old faces, same old parties, almost intact in their earlier posture in the wilderness for over a year, are now trying to push election mania with renewed vengeance. Election must be held immediately. With Bangla bhai gone, we are facing jihad of another kind, this time in a more attractive attire of election. But the people have the right to ask why it was delayed for so long.
This government made mistakes in setting the priorities, undertook more missions than it could possibly accomplish within the self-imposed period of two years. A non-political government for two years is not constitutional; it is overstretching the provision of ninety days. The promise of the caretaker government must come under scrutiny to justify their long existence without people's mandate.
Meanwhile, the beneficiaries of the corrupt practices of the abused democracy had enough time to regroup and counterattack the honest intention of the government. Latest revelation of
corruption in Titas Gas amply speaks: linemen and meter readers are the richest people and similarly the political leaders under the facade of democracy. And why blame Titas alone when many criminals in many segments of the society made money and bought elections and ministries to be the political leaders in Bangladesh and make more money.
When we have already seen some alleged smugglers eventually becoming powerful ministers, how is this government going to assure the people that that would not happen again after the next election? If they are not willing to give assurance then the people have the right to ask their authority of assuming political power and deserting the people at this juncture without accomplishing the promised goals. How many times can the nation afford to use the armed forces for a free ride, and then accuse mute forces for the failures? The issue is not how much honest the intention of the CTG was. the real issue is how much of the promise they have kept.
Law and order had improved but that is deteriorating again by the very faint clamoring of political activities. Political reforms that could have cleansed parties and personalities have not moved much; anticorruption drive is more thrust and thunder with little delivery due to legal tangles. You can't move the mountain of corruption by scratching; the bulldozer is not on site for demolition. The nation is yet to be assured with any worthwhile
preventive measure against corruption in politics and bureaucracy that could hugely discourage business corruption. If two dimension of corruption is demolished the third dimension, mushroomed in business, will automatically collapse.
Very little has been achieved by way of political reforms. The people sacrificed many of the fundamental rights for such a prolonged period under national emergency; a paltry 10 to 20% success is not good enough to justify an unelected government for two long years. If the present initiative remains pledge-bound to hold election even without accomplishing missions, I fear greater controversies are awaiting the nation that will push Bangladesh further into the uncertainties. The nation can't be shy of fighting while waging a war; may that be against corruption.
One must be clear about the right of the people in a democracy. The people of Bangladesh fought against the constitution in 1971 to restore their democratic right. We never went back to Pakistan after ‘defeating Yahya Khan because the assurance for justice was simply missing. Kosovo just declared independence from Serbia. In ultimate sense a constitution is a designed agreement to ensure the welfare of the people through a chosen mechanism. If that fundamental agreement is breached to exploit people, they must assert their right to rewrite the constitution. Our experience of elected government is frightening in its present form and continues to be vulnerable in the hands of unscru-
pulous politicians. There are simply not enough safeguards that this will not be exploited once again by same old people and parties if come to power through much abused election.
Nothing happened to the constitution or law during the interim period to shut the vulnerable windows. The loud voice of the national institutions like ACC, EC will be choked once the same people come back to power. I suppose some are already contemplating to resign. This nation cannot afford to be an ostrich anymore against the possibility of abuse of constitutional provisions by the elected governments. People love constitution that guarantees freedom but hate abuse of the highest document. This government has pledged to the nation while assuming power in the backdrop of 1/11 that bad people will not have another chance in the government. Is the nation assured now? The constitution allowed only ninety days. How many ninety days people have been patiently waiting to see the promises fulfilled? Ninety days is for an election; two years is for cleansing' politics for good' governance. After the election if a clean government fails to emerge, who takes the responsibility of denying the election to the people for two long years? What is the difference between abusing power and abusing time of the nation?
If people said no to the election of 1/22, it is not the election, but the suspect politicians who could not be trusted in the government. Where are those politicians and parries now?
The author is a freelancer.