Gamble with people's trust

The great English poet John Milton writes in Lust: "Capricious, wanton, bold and brutal lust is meanly selfish; when resisted, cruel; and, like the blast of pestilential winds, taints the sweet bloom of nature's fairest forms."

Our country is currently passing through a very critical juncture. The political turmoil over the 11-point demand of the Awami League led 14-party alliance has been partially productive. The stubborn, apparently unbending to tremendous public pressure, Chief Election Commissioner Justice MA Aziz at last agreed to go on three months' leave.

At an earlier stage in the 14- party alliance movement Justice KM Hasan, the prospective chief adviser of the caretaker government declined to accept the position, plainly he bowed down to popular demand without much ado. The AL led 14-party alliance celebrated these two separate incidents as a partial victory. The blockade program across the country was again suspended, as if it had achieved success on the remaining counts in the 11-point demands.

In the meantime, the LDP of Col (retd.) Oli Ahmed and Bikalpa Dhara of Dr. Badruddoza Chowdhury formed a ceremonial merger and decided in favor of joining hands with the 14-party alliance parallel to its blockade program. Somewhat amusingly the Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) of Ershad also opted for independent participation in 14-party blockade program. Abdul Kader Siddiqui and ASM Rab together followed suit, even though it had little or no impact. Besides, many professional bodies and socio-cultural organizations are now very much in the movement for total reorganization of the Election Commission, in tune with 14-party alliance demand.

The initial victory of the movement led by the 14-party alliance has been described by the alliance leaders as victory of the people. Some enthusiasts among them even compared the size and magnitude of the movement with the mass upsurge in 1969 against the Pakistani military hegemony. Conveniently enough, the BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia also thought that it was people's victory, though in a different context. She would consider CEC M A Aziz going on leave, instead of being removed by the president, as a direct vindication of the country's constitution.

She and her 4-party alliance have been, of late, very vocal advocates of the inviolability of the constitutional provisions in respect of CEC. So, she took it as victory of the people's verdict. It is expected that every citizen of the country have an unwritten moral obligation to uphold the dictates of the constitution, more so, when our political leaders are concerned. There is indeed no scope for anyone to interpret the provisions in the constitution in a way that would suit one's overt or political purpose. Such a one-eyed approach is deplorable.

The former prime minister is extra-ordinarily vocal against any infringement of the constitution, but is yet to admit that the president, a BNP beneficiary for all practical purposes, flagrantly violated the constitution by assuming the concurrent responsibility of the chief adviser of the caretaker government. Legal experts consider such an act on his part as dubious, hence, unacceptable. A number of writ petitions against Dr Iajuddin Ahmed now awaits hearing in the High Court.

Besides harping on the old tune of conspiracy by the Awami League, the BNP chairperson told her listeners in a meeting of the BNP faction of a professional association very recently that there was no rise in prices of essential commodities. She accused the news media of catering untrue stories about price hikes. On the contrary, she claimed that the purchasing capacity of the ordinary people has increased. She must have, by now, seen in the newspapers, and on the TV, the reaction of the low and middle-income group of people used to visiting bazaars. An old man was observed reacting seriously, and insisting that only those who were not required to do their own shopping could make such cruel joke.

Assuming, however, that she was right, a pertinent question could be put to her: why, then, did she go all-out to control rising prices? Why were three commerce ministers changed successively to stop the trend? Was it, then, a political hoax to appease the people and to bide time? Her assessment of the price index also sent a funny message to the noted economists of the country.

We have yet another awfully intriguing statement from the BNP chairperson during her address to the members of the Doctors' Association of Bangladesh (DAB) last week. Although she is yet to start formal election campaigning, she didn't miss the opportunity to entreat her professional listeners to treat their patients free from now on and, in return, ask them to cast their votes in favor of the 4-party alliance. By any sensible definition, such an approach on the part of any political leader in the topmost echelon is unbecoming, to say the least.

The 14-party alliance and other like-minded political, social and cultural organizations, the Bar Association, Economists Association etc, have identified themselves with the 11-point demands of the 14-party alliance. The Awami League led 14-party alliance organized a protest rally around Bangabhaban on November 27, and they observed a similar program around the Election Commission on November 28.

Coincidentally, following a late night rendezvous with the president/chief adviser of the caretaker government, the secretary of the Election Commission, Abdur Rashid Sarker, held a press conference on November 27. Among others, the agenda of the press briefing included announcement of the contentious election schedule. On the contrary, the 14-party alliance leaders have been categorically asking the president/chief adviser to defer announcement of election schedule till the large-scale mistakes in the voter list are removed. The hurried announcement, incidentally, satisfies the demand of the BNP led 4-party alliance.

The situation was about to calm down, but such a provocative act by the Election Commission might spark off a terrible crisis in the country. The 14-party alliance, most likely, will take it for a challenge and will resume a full-throated protest to foil the behind the curtain machinations. They have, in the meantime, strongly condemned the action of the EC and straightway rejected the proposition from the pulpit of the "gherao" program of Bangabhaban. The 4-party alliance, on the other hand, and as could be easily anticipated, thanked the Election Commission for announcing the schedule of the election.

The Awami League presidium members already had an emergency meeting at their Dhanmondi office. Sheikh Hasina presided over both the meetings on the next course of action that the alliance would take. Away in the streets around Bangabhaban the Liberal Democratic Party procession, led by Mahi B Chowdhury, joined the 14-party alliance siege of Bangabhaban. Notwithstanding the massive protest against his failure to be neutral, and the writ petitions in the High court, the president/chief adviser of the caretaker government appears to have succumbed to the pressure of his benefactors by granting tacit consent to announcement of the election schedule. Pitiably enough, the ten advisers had not been taken into confidence on this issue.

In actual practice, the advisers of the caretaker government appear to have been deliberately ignored in decision making. They have been rendered as mere entities, having no say in the policy options being unilaterally exercised by the president/chief advisor of the caretaker government.

It appears that the incumbent president/chief adviser of the caretaker government has a running mate in the person of Justice Mahfuzur Rahman, the acting chief election commissioner. By convention and traditional practices in the bureaucratic system of government the Chief Election Commissioner Justice MA Aziz was requested to make over charge of his office to the next senior most election commissioner, in this case Justice Mahfuzur Rahman.

Since he went on long leave on the advice/request of the head of the state, and since he didn't consider it necessary to formally hand over charge, it was incumbent upon the president himself to assign the officiating charge to anyone whom he considered suitable. It was very unfortunate that Justice Mahfuzur Rahman thought it convenient to assume the "acting" responsibilities, evidently on the strength of his relative seniority over the other two ECs.

Yet, the process he adopted had an intriguingly strange resemblance to the manner that the president appointed himself as the chief adviser of the caretaker government. Moreover, his pre-emptive remarks that he would not accept anyone from the executive cadre on his head was also uncalled for. He added, too, that as a member of the judiciary belonging to the High Court none in the executive branch of the government could be his boss. His remarks to the pressmen on the controversial voter list alleged to be containing 1 crore 22 lakh fictitious voters, was also not at all re-assuring.

Kazi Alauddin Ahmed is a management consultant.