Opposition's common minimum programme under the microscope
People and the media appreciated the peaceful and democratic manner in which the programme was announced by the mainstream opposition parties. The BNP-led ruling alliance reacted positively to the moderate stance of the opposition and interpreted the conduct and the message of the grand rally of the opposition combine as pro-election.
The ruling BNP proposed to sit with the opposition combine to discuss its 23-point programme excepting reforms in caretaker government (CTG) system. The opposition requested the government to sit first outside the parliament to discuss the reform proposals on the CTG and the Election Commission (EC) to pave the way for its joining the parliament.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Either way, what appeared was that a favourable atmosphere for a meaningful dialogue between the ruling alliance and the mainstream opposition was in the offing. But a rapid rise in militancy with the new dimension of suicide bombings by the misguided Islamic militants and the government's initiative to invite more than 25 political parties including the AL, which has rejected the invitation, and some professional bodies to discuss ways to combat militancy, have for the time being stalled the prospect of dialogue on the minimum national programme of the 14-party opposition coalition.
This article, therefore, makes an attempt to dispassionately discuss the common minimum national programme announced by the AL-led 14-party opposition combine.
First, the programme has pledged to establish a secular democratic government through free and fair elections to be held after bringing reforms in the CTG and the EC on the basis of the guidelines announced on July 15 this year and free the elections from black money, violence, and communalism.
It may be mentioned that on July 15, the then AL-led 10-party alliance announced proposals for reforms in the CTC and in the EC. The proposals for reforms in the CTG suggested that (a) the chief adviser and the other advisers to the CTG should not have any active involvement, at present or in the past, in any political party and the chief adviser should be acceptable to all political parties; (b) eligibility for being appointed chief adviser should not be limited only to judges, rather it should be expanded to other professions; (c) the president would act in all matters on the advice of the chief adviser during the tenure of the CTG, keeping parliamentary democracy in consideration; (d) the defence ministry would be entrusted with and run by the CTG during its tenure; and (e) the jurisdiction of the CTG would be confined to day-to-day, routine work and assisting the EC in conducting the general elections.
As regards the reforms in the EC, the salient points included: (a) appointing the chief election commissioner (CEC) and other members of the EC in consultation with all the active political parties; (b) empowering the EC to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner and in an independent atmosphere; (c) forming an independent secretariat for the EC to make the commission an independent institution, free from the control of the executive branch of the government.
The ruling BNP has so far rejected the proposal for bringing any reforms in the CTG system. Their main argument is that it is not possible to find a person who will be acceptable to all political parties for appointment as the chief adviser to the CTG and this will create a serious constitutional crisis.
It is a fact that it is very difficult to find a person who is acceptable to one hundred plus political parties for appointment as chief adviser. But the action of the BNP-led alliance government that has sparked off the opposition demand for reforms in the CTG is the raising of the retirement age of the judges of the Supreme Court from 65 years to 67 years to make room for the immediate past retired chief justice KM Hasan -- who was the secretary of the international committee of the BNP during the regime of President Ziaur Rahman -- to be the chief adviser to the next CTG.
Thus, the BNP-led alliance government has a moral, if not legal, responsibility to discuss the CTG reform proposals with the opposition. If a better formula acceptable to the opposition combine and the government for appointment of the chief adviser is available through open-minded and problem solving discussion, it will be an invaluable contribution to end the present political impasse. Then, finding solutions to other reform proposals on the CTG may not pose big problems.
The constitution has provided that the EC shall be independent in the exercise of its functions and subject only to the constitution and any other law made thereunder. Then why is the demand for reforming the EC? There are reasons for it. In the absence of any provision in the constitution or in any other law determining the procedure for the appointment of the CEC and the ECs as well as the eligibility of persons to be appointed to these posts, successive political governments during the last three decades or so appointed persons as CEC and ECs who were sympathetic to them.
The recent appointment of the CEC by the government paying no heed to the demand of the opposition political parties including the main opposition AL to appoint the CEC through discussion with the political parties has aggravated the situation, leading to refusal of the AL to participate in any election including the forthcoming general election under the incumbent CEC.
Further, the EC has a full-fledged secretariat, headed by a secretary, to execute the decisions and orders of the EC. The secretary and other officers of the rank of additional secretary, joint secretary and deputy secretary are appointed by the government. They owe their allegiance more to the government than to the EC. People have seen the helplessness of the immediate past CEC against the activities of the incumbent secretary who enjoys blessings of the chief executive. One retired CEC has thus suggested that the EC, to be meaningfully independent, should have full control over its employees including the secretary. The EC should also be given enough money in the national budget with the right to make its financial planning independently without the necessity for government sanctions.
The pledge for freeing elections from the influence of black money and violence will be welcomed by the people.
Second, as regards the pledge to free the country from chauvinist communal forces and militants, ban communal politics, ensure freedom to practise religion, freedom of expression and freedom of conscience, execute the verdict of killing of the Bangabandhu, bring to book the perpetrators responsible for all grenade and bomb attacks, it may be said that the constitution, the highest law of the land, guarantees freedom of religion, freedom of thought and conscience, and subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law, ensures the right of every citizen to freedom of speech and expression. There is also no place for communalism and militancy. The constitution prohibits discrimination against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Militancy is a punishable offence.
So the pledge has basically assured the implementation of the existing legal provisions on these issues. The Bangabandhu murder case is awaiting disposal in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court which has to find a mechanism to dispose of the case without further delay. The nation is eagerly waiting to see that the persons who are found guilty by the highest court of law get their due punishment. The execution of the verdict of the highest court of law is the responsibility of any government in the country.
Third, the points such as recognising that all powers in the republic belong to the people, establishing rule of law, and separating judiciary from the executive are embedded in the constitution. So, these are mere repetition of the existing laws. Anyhow, the AL and the BNP, the two major political parties that ruled the independent Bangladesh for most of the period of her existence have so far failed to implement the constitutional provisions on these issues. The extra-judicial killings of the BNP-led alliance government have been condemned locally and internationally. The opposition pledge to stop extra-judicial killings deserves appreciation.
Fourth, making parliament the centre of all activities, ensuring accountability of the government, holding elections to district and upazila councils, and strengthening and empowering the local government bodies are the oft-repeated demands of the civil society leaders. The BNP and the AL that have held the state power in succession for the last fourteen years or so are on record of making such promises earlier. The confrontational politics of these two parties have made the parliament largely dysfunctional. People are worried about the fate of their hard-earned democracy. People will welcome the proposal for holding elections to the upazila and district parishads although such commitments made earlier by the two major parties have remained unfulfilled.
Fifth, identifying the criminals and their godfathers and bringing them to book and not accepting them as members of any political party nor nominating them in the elections, ensuring a healthy political environment by stopping corruption and criminalisation sound nice. These are also not new pledges of the political parties. Anyhow, ensuring implementation of these promises is the bounden duty of any good government.
Sixth, disclosing the accounts of assets of ministers, lawmakers, politicians and bureaucrats has been a long-standing demand of the members of the civil society. However, there exist rules that bind the public servants to disclose their assets annually.
But there is a poor record of monitoring implementation of these rules. Major political parties including the ruling BNP are on record to pledge earlier the disclosure of assets and properties of the prime minister, ministers, and others holding the rank and status of minister. Implementation of the pledge by any government will be a big step forward to reduce the unbridled corruption in the country.
Seventh, bringing back prices of essentials within the reach of the people, establishing a price regulating authority, introducing rationing system for the poor and the low income group, containing famine in the northern region and food crisis in other parts of the country and ensuring food security for all are the promises the success of which depends upon both internal and external factors. Increase in population at the rate of about 2 percent annually, loss of 80 thousand hectares of land from agricultural use per annum primarily due to human habitation and development work, the low rate of productivity in our agricultural and industrial sectors, external shocks like increase in fuel price in the international market, increase in the prices of imported goods in the international market, increasing trend for globalisation, conditions of the development partners who finance about 50 percent of our development programmes, etc are some important factors that must be taken into consideration for making such pledges and implementation thereof.
Eighth, reopening of the continuously loss incurring closed mills and factories is an issue of serious financial implication. The immediate past AL government denationalised 33 loss-making industrial units in between 1996-97 and 2000-2001.
Ninth, poverty reduction has been a priority issue with the successive governments. But there has been very little success so far. About 50 percent of the people live below poverty line and 20 percent of them are ultra poor. Poverty is not a lack of income alone; it is a multi-dimensional and complex phenomenon with intricate relationships with issues such as disease, illiteracy, infant mortality and many more. Anyway, poverty reduction has to continue as a priority programme of the future governments.
Tenth, unemployment is a colossal problem of Bangladesh. What is most disturbing is the higher rate of unemployment among the educated youths, which according to the labour force survey (LFS) 2002-2003, varies between 11.6 percent and 20.9 percent based on the level of education. The success of any scheme for reducing the rate of unemployment will largely depend on the growth of labour intensive manufacturing sector both in the public and private sectors, skill development of the youths to suit the requirement of the foreign employers, and adoption of other pragmatic steps.
Eleventh, freedom fighters are the noblest sons of the soil. Ensuring state, social and financial honour to them is the prime responsibility of any government of the country.
Twelfth, freeing the Bangladesh television and radio from the control of the government has been the promise of the two major parties, the BNP and the AL. But their governments have not fulfilled the promise. What is probably more important is the use of the state run media to project hereditary leadership to rule the country under the guise of democracy.
Thirteenth, the immediate past AL government that signed the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) peace accord in the second year of its rule did not take effective steps to implement its main provisions. In its election manifesto of 2001, the BNP committed to bring "fresh solution to CHT crisis in the light of the constitution." However, after coming to power, the BNP changed its stance and "expressed intention to implement the accord as the successor government, in spite of the fact that it had voiced reservations about some provisions of the accord." Peace in the CHT is crucially important to the nation. The CHT peace accord has to be implemented keeping in view the national interest.
Fourteenth, "friendship with all, malice to none" has been the cornerstone of Bangladesh foreign policy since her independence. Similarly, emphasis on regional cooperation for sharing water of the international rivers, reducing trade gap and bringing peace along the border has been the long established policy of Bangladesh. The pledge on these issues is mere repetition.
Fifteenth, eradicating gender disparity, implementing need-based education policy, ensuring healthcare for all, ensuring best use of gas, coal and other natural resources and formulation and implementation of a national defence policy are the usual functions of any elected government.
It appears from the above that the common minimum national programme announced by the AL-led 14-party opposition combine contains issues that need immediate solutions to save the country from grave crises ahead as well as issues that come within the normal functions of any popularly elected government.
The mainstream opposition should have at the moment stuck to the issues like immediate reforms in the CTG and the EC, combating terrorism, uprooting misguided Islamic militants, and establishing rule of law. Any how, the opposition programme has given a window of opportunity for political engagement, and the government must seize it. Both the government and the opposition should enter into a dialogue with an open-mind. After all, nothing is final in politics.