Caretaker government

By Golam Ashraf DOHS Baridhara, Dhaka
28 November 2004, 18:00 PM
In all the free nations of the world, democracy functions under a written or unwritten constitution, where the electoral process is clearly defined to be conducted freely and fairly by the Election Commission. It is unfortunate that our political parties did not repose the said trust and instead opted for the caretaker government, which is an interim government for a short span of three months, for holding a general election after the end of a five-year term of a democratic government. The problem is neither with the Election Commission nor with the caretaker government! It is the mentality and intolerance of the opposition parties -- the failure to concede defeat-- which invites trouble . The second failure is as elected public representatives instead of engaging themselves in 'enacting and amending' the required laws, this important job is left to some selected government officials. The third problem is thumping of desk, shouting at the top of one's voice, tearing the official papers and documents, breaking the television camera, hurling abuses at the Hon'ble Speaker and later staging walkout. It has become a regular phenomenon to boycott parliament after restoration of the much awaited democracy in our country in 1991.

The government constitutionally reserves the right to run the administration for a five-year term for the welfare of the nation. All the failures and wrongdoings would be accounted for during the next general election. It is incorrect to think and believe that only material give and take makes a good leader! There are some constituencies in Bangladesh as well as different parts of the world still today where a person of integrity and repute is elected, and if we want them more in numbers in our Jatiya Sangsad, then we as a nation should work as responsible government and opposition on the two sides of the aisle of power.