Political dialogue

When mutual respect among the political leadership is absent and the degree of mistrust is so high it is just not possible that there can be any meaningful dialogue. The concept of caretaker government is contrary to the spirit of democracy. By adopting this system we have institutionalised mistrust among political parties. To ensure a free and fair election we have to bring reform in our political parties, improve political culture and reform the Election Commission.

It appears to me that our politics is stuck in 1971 and it has not matured since. Even 35 years after the liberation war we want to be guided by a political party's role in 197l. Political parties have to accept that we are not living in 1971 but in 2006. Realities of the day are more important to what happened 35 years ago. I do not see this happening as long as present old guards are in the political leadership.

Time has come for these old guards to retire and hand over the leadership to the younger generation. These new leaders will be able to face the future based on the realities of today and will be able to push the country forward, rather than pulling it backward as is being done by the old guards.