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Memoirs of a leader

Shakhawat Liton dwells on a man of courage
THERE is a significant difference between a leader and a boss in an organisation. leader makes his people want to achieve high goals and objectives. A boss in contrast orders his people to accomplish a task or object. When he was chief election commissioner, Dr. ATM Shamsul Huda was a leader in the real sense, not a mere boss in the Election Commission. Therefore, he succeeded in accomplishing his mission by holding a free and fair parliamentary election on December 29, 2008-the best general election in the history of Bangladesh. That election which has been lauded at home and abroad had put the democratic process back on track.
For Huda and his team, the journey was not smooth. Dr. Huda has written an account of the events in his book, Ph ire Dekha Jibon (Looking Back at Life) published by Prothoma at the February book fair this year. In the book, Huda has described the challenges he and his team had been confronted with in 2007 and how they met the growing demands of time.
Huda assumed high office at a critical juncture in the nation's history. The country was heading towards a grave political turmoil at the end of 2006 and early 2007 centering on a holding of the parliamentary election. The then BNP-led government's failure to appoint efficient and acceptable persons to constitute the EC and later the EC's failure to prepare a flawless voter list contributed largely along with the other issue of the caretaker government to give birth to the political turmoil. A state of emergency was declared to save the country from the looming danger. A new caretaker government was installed. Mired in controversy, the EC, led by Justice MA Aziz, was compelled to resign.
It was then that Huda and his team commenced their mission to accomplish an uphill and clearly Herculean task. They took up an agenda of sweeping reforms. They moved to prepare the voter list with photographs, besides many other reforms in the electoral laws, including the introduction of rules pertaining to the registration of political parties with the Election Commission. Boosting the morale of the EC officials who were upset about the controversy around the organisation was also a challenge for Huda and his team.
When the Huda-led EC announced a-18 month electoral road map in 2007, a few months after its assumption of office, to complete the Herculean jobs many people, particularly in political parties, questioned their motives. Some politicians began accusing Huda and his team of preparing the ground for the caretaker government to stay in power for an indefinite period. But that did not dampen Huda's spirit. He did not give up. He kept his team inspired into continuing working. Finally, the team was able to complete its job before the timeframe set for it. The reforms brought about a change in the pervasive electioneeringculture.
In the book, Huda also has narrated how a partisan government prevents the growth of an institution like the EC, a body that provides the ground for democracy in a country. He has made some recommendations too regarding a transformation of the EC into a strong and effective institution. The present situation in the EC proves the necessity of considering carefully Huda's recommendations for making the EC stronger.
Huda, in his book, has described some of the experiences he has gone through in his long career in the civil service, beginning in the Pakistan era and coming to an end with his retirement in 2000. Though personal, the experiences in fact help readers to be brought in touch with some interesting aspects as to how politics has influenced the civil administration, thereby preventing it from growing as an institution.
The life Dr. Huda has lived is rich with the experience of decades. He will, however, be best remembered for long for his strong and courageous leadership skills demonstrated in the accomplishment of an uphill and Herculean task at the Election Commission. He has taken the EC to new heights of credibility and respectability. People's confidence was restored in the EC under his leadership. It is Huda who has proved that leadership is all about courage, courage to dream big and to take tough decisions.
SHAKHAWAT LITON IS WIT H THE DAILY STAR