An open application for CTG Chief Adviser

It appears that the rejection by the opposition alliance of a retired Supreme Court judge as the chief of the next caretaker government (CTG) is increasingly becoming an inevitable fait accompli. As President, you may have to invoke Article 58(C)5 of the constitutional provisions of the CTG to avert further political polarisation and gridlock. Under the premises of the rationale presented here, I humbly offer my candidacy and wish to be considered for the position of Chief Adviser.

Political scientists argue that the confluence of three factors -- economic, socio-cultural, and political -- that create distrust in government and the political process. These factors are:

• The worse an economic situation becomes, the more negative the perception held by citizens builds toward government.
• Rising rate of crime, poverty, and discriminatory application of rule of law, also lead to significant erosion in public trust in government.
• Finally, citizens' appraisal of political leaders and institutions and administrative machineries also degrade public trust in government.

The continued erosion of political stability and trust in government has hit rock bottom. Political dialogue and rapprochement between the two major parties is dimming by the day and antagonism is brewing for the worse -- reminiscent of the demise of the government in 1996 and 1991.

Recent literature on the theory of leadership highlights three enlightened scenarios of how people emerge as leaders. They are:

• Some personality traits may lead people naturally into leadership roles. This is the Trait Theory.
• A crisis or important event may cause a person to rise to the occasion, which brings out extraordinary leadership qualities in an ordinary person. This is the Great Events Theory.
• People can choose to become leaders by instilling leadership skills through learning. This is the Transformational Leadership Theory. It is the most widely accepted theory today and the premise on which many world leaders have emerged.

All CTG advisors must be politically neutral, having no trace of past political affiliation or allegiance. Among many aspects of strengths of my qualifications are my last six months of research, based on three dozen articles on political and economic issues, which were published in two leading national English dailies. Some of my writings directly criticised the four party alliance government; a few others were directed against the opposition parties' past failures, hartals, and boycotting the parliament, etc. In line with other writers, there was no deliberate attempt to belittle the image of the country or the personalities involved; there was no manifestation or promotion of any political ideology or economic paradigm.

An objective columnist would always write about the government for two reasons: (a) to challenge the ruling party to be more responsive to the country's interest, and (b) to write about a democratic government slowly turning into kleptocracy is a moral calling of all journalists. Harping on the past is tantamount to looking for scapegoats. A leader should be forward looking.

The sine qua non to running the affairs of the CTG and conducting a free and fair national poll is transparency and openness. Whatever it takes, the CTG chief must display an impeccable degree of firmness, fairness, and impartiality by imposing the following modus operandi (but not limited to) on his dealings and working environment:

• Given that the CTG's tenure of office is only for 90 days, the residence and office of the Chief of CTG should be in the same building. This will save time and resources.
• There should be at least six journalists as CTG in-house reporters, two from English dailies, and four from Bengali dailies. They should be allowed to observe CTG meetings and deliberations for openness and transparency.
• These journalists as a group would present press briefings every day at the end of the day for the country's media and answer any questions they are asked. They will be barred from speculating.
• The CTG must assure the nation about enforcing the rule of law to punish public servants caught in bribe taking and harassing the media and minorities. All branches of the government would accord full media accessibility to all issues of public welfare barring confidential matters. All nominations for MPs will be screened by the CTG advisers along with the EC for possible fraud and violations of EC guidelines, which will be brought to the attention of top party leaders before prosecuting those cases.
• The CTG advisers may organise three televised debates prior to national election among top leaders whose parties will have official nominations for MPs in 75per cent of the constituencies in the country in a format similar to those organised in the US and Canada.
• The CTG may not discharge, transfer, or undercut any ruling party appointments except for insubordination, incompetence, dishonesty, and non-neutrality in operations.

These are no soliloquies -- they indeed constitute the embodiment of my vision about how a truly neutral CTG should operate. This modus operandi will deflect potential skepticism about CTG neutrality and probity. Hopefully, this modus operandi will set a standard of neutrality for the CTG chief whoever is offered the job.

Since overseeing a free and fair national poll is the most important job in hand for the CTG, it has no choice but to work with the Election Commission as one integrated body. Every law enforcement apparatus available in the country must be placed in position for strict enforcement of the rule of law. Any trace of foul play by any official or officials, regardless of who he is or who they are, must be dealt with instantly without any vacillation and wavering. Any attempt by any political party or party functionaries must also be dealt with to the fullest extent of the rule of law.

Whoever is acceptable and appointed as the CTG chief, he/she should search and find 15 Bangladeshi citizens among (but not limited to) lawyers, doctors, engineers, professors, businessman, journalists, and retired officers from civil and military services without discriminating against anyone based on gender, ethnicity, and religion, but otherwise qualified and acceptable to major political parties.

Alternatively, the CTG chief may ask for nominations from individual political parties based on the percentage of popular votes won in 2001 election or percentage of average popular votes won in both 2001 and 1996 national elections, following the model articulated in my co-authored articles published in this newspaper in August. Whatever pragmatic consensus approach, acceptable to all major political parties concerned, is used to select 10 advisors, the CTG chief must work with them diligently as a monolithic unit. The remaining five candidates should be held in reserve to fill in vacancies created due to unforeseen events, such as a possible breach of neutrality and fairness.

Some people may argue that the rationale for neutrality of the CTG and its chief may have overemphasised the role of free media. That may be so. But there is no escaping from a reality that democracy, good governance, and free media is a triangle of three arms intertwined and glued in such a way that any attempt to disentangle them will result in what Bangladesh is facing today.

When people lose their trust and confidence in the political process and politicians of the country, and hopelessness besieges them, emergence of a new face to restore that trust becomes indispensable. This leader must inculcate that trust without elevating their expectations with elusive promises that are too high to reach.

All fair-minded people and political parties will believe in a CTG chief and cooperate with him wholeheartedly once they discover that the person has absolutely no vested interest in the politics and possessions of Bangladesh.

Dr Dewan is Professor of Economics, Eastern Michigan University, USA.