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Election 2008
As far as my memory goes. I was boro in Bangladesh which is in South East Asia. What 1 understand listening to the elders and reading books is that this part of the world was civilized much before Europe and America.
However, looking at our post inde pendence national politics for the last 37 years, like many others, I am a bit confused whether the books printed regarding the past and culture of this region are correct and authentic. I will not elaborate as everyone in Bangladesh is aware of the past & present political situation of the country The dark cloud which gathered on the horizon of the country 22 months back is still hanging out and may form into a serous storm any time, if we don't get on our feet and tighten our belts now.
It was the Awami League 22 month ago which did not want to participate in the elections, and now it is the then ruling BNP that wants to boycott the election on similar excuses. The only difference now is that there is no hartal and burning of buses full of passengers (thanks to the emergency). However, all the other symptoms are somewhat similar.
Though the elections are knocking at the door but we have not yet heard the agenda of the political parties who are taking part in the general elections, we want to know what they would like to offer the citizens when they assume power and what are the master plan they would like to implement.
We don’t want a five-year plan like the past anymore, as we have seen all the five-year plans have failed and instead of bringing peace, development and prosperity they have brought conflict, unrest and poverty. The lot of the poor has not changed and they became poorer as we can see all over Bangladesh.
The business leaders of the country, like in the past, have made special requests for an accord through preelection talks to formulate laws banning general strikes, barring children and minors from strikes and picketing. I don't know if at all the political parties which will not be in power would comply. Also will the ruling party be fair and brave enough to lift the Special Powers
Act?
We hope we do have the general election on time and we have a parliament which plays an active role in the country's development as it does in other countries where they have democracy. We want a safe heaven for our next generations as ours has been destroyed already due to virulent politics and politicians. I thank the Canadian government and the Bangladesh Election Commission for introducing the much wanted transparent ballot box and especially thank the Election Commission for introduc-
ing the "NO" option in the ballot paper.
We all hope that the elections will take place on time and if a major political party does not want to participate, let them watch as we want the elections and we want the end of the caretaker government as soon as possible as they failed to take care of the people and the country.
I am no expert on politics, nor am I a politician, but as a civilian I don't know what will be the future of the country if there is no election at all and if there is an election what will the forthcoming parliament offer to the millions of people in Bangladesh? As said before, I don't know what the 18 December election will offer to the country but one thing 1 know for sure is that we will have only 14-15 working days in December, as along with the holding of the general election and upazila election, Eid-ul-Azha and Christmas will be celebrated during the month.
Sohel Ahmed, Dhanmondi, Dhaka