Moving beyond the logjam

Let me first address the issue of the voter list. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), who is still a justice of the Supreme Court, failed to show due respect for the direction given by the High Court for updating the voter list on the basis of the existing list. He went ahead ignoring the High Court order and prepared a new voter list, which is now known to have been largely cooked up. Following the upholding of the High Court's judgment by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, he has now decided to update the voter list but that households will not be visited by the representatives of the Commission. Instead, the people have been asked to contact election offices in order to ensure that their names are included. What an innovation! This course of action will not be acceptable to the opposition parties as has been indicated by them, and, I am sure, also to people in general, except perhaps those who have a vested interest in keeping a voter list which is full of ghost voters and with large numbers of actual voters excluded.

Does the CEC not realise that he is fanning the existing volatile situation, which will lead to the electoral process being disrupted, plunging the country into chaos and constitutional crisis? Indeed, he is not alone but the other two Election Commissioners are also with him in this game. Due to public outcry the decision to use the discarded 'new voter' list as the main source of information has now seen cancelled. But, the image of the CEC and other Commissioners has been further tarnished as a result of such a decision having been taken at the first instance. It seems that the future of democracy in the country is being held hostage by these three persons.

I have known the CEC for decades; in fact, for half a century less a few years. I knew him as a reasonable person and his record in the Supreme Court in both the High Court and Appellate Divisions, I understand, has been very respectable. It remains an enigma, therefore, why he is behaving the way he is. Is it the case that he is out of touch or is he himself hostage to certain forces that he is unable to defy in conducting the business of his office and act independently? In either case, as a justice of the Supreme Court of the land, it is the most honourable thing for him, I would have thought, to quit as soon as possible. As a result of his activities so far, he has lost confidence of the people as a fair and impartial person to hold the all important forthcoming parliamentary elections. The same goes for the other two Elections Commissioners.

The positions of the CEC and the Election Commissioners are constitutional, but that does not give them the right to hold the whole nation hostage. In fact, if they are to be worthy of the exalted positions, they should have the highest possible commitment to people's causes and must work and be seen to work with the highest degree of discretion, fairness and morality. I hope the CEC and his colleagues will each take a deep breath, search their own souls, consider the imperatives of ethics and morality, and review the negative sentiments widely expressed about them. If they conduct this exercise sincerely, I don't think they themselves can avoid the conclusion that the best thing for them to do is to release the nation from their stranglehold by vacating their positions without any further loss of time. In that event, they should be replaced by people who will uphold the dignity of their high office and will be absolutely fair in the conduct of all of their responsibilities including the preparation of the voter list and the holding of the forthcoming parliamentary elections and declaration of the results thereof.

The second issue that I would like to comment on is police atrocities. Let me first recall two well-known recent mindless police operations to put the issue in perspective. In Kansat, people's protests were sought to be controlled by violent police action and in the process there were 20 deaths caused by police firing. Afterwards all the demands of the Kansat people were accepted by the government. Obviously, therefore, their demands were legitimate and the police action ill-conceived and uncalled for. Why the lives of 20 people had to be brutally cut short? The unprovoked inhuman beating up of journalists in Chittagong Stadium, while the Bangladesh-Australia second cricket test match was going on, can only be described as heinous. Here again, the demands of the journalists were accepted after the police action, which clearly indicates that the police action was an episode reflecting a degenerating administration.

The trend continues and sharpens. During Dhaka siege programme (11 June) and the two-day hartal (13 and 14 June) called by the Awami League-led 14-party opposition combine, too many and severe excesses have been committed by the police personnel. In fact, the beating up and injuring the respected Sector Commander of our War of Liberation General Shafiullah is indeed a shame for the whole nation. Other leaders including former ministers as well as other protesters and journalists have also been mercilessly beaten up. It is possible that some police personnel have taken things in their own hands and have done things which could have been avoided. Others may have acted with overenthusiasm. But, guidelines have surely been provided to the police by the government in each of the above cases, mandating them to be tough in dealing with the protesting people. This process is accentuating the volatility of the situation, which is a sure recipe for increasing political confrontations and violence leading to further upheavals and tribulations.

I feel strongly that negotiations on electoral and caretaker government reforms between the power-that-be and the political opposition can still lead to the creation of an environment which will be conducive for free and fair elections. I have earlier suggested that I would like to repeat here that, in view of the logjam that has stopped the negotiations from being initiated, the process may be begun by the General Secretaries of BNP and Awami League representing their respective groupings without further loss of time. Obviously, they will consult their colleagues and leaders and carry out negotiations as mandated. It is time for statesmanship and not for seeking to protect narrow party or alliance interests. Obviously, the main responsibility of showing the way forward lies with the main party in power.

Dr. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad is an economist.