Dr. Syed Nesar Ahmad Rumy :
It is close to forty-five days that the new government has taken over. The expectation from the new government is sky-high. And the government is run by non-politicians.
Technically it is right but if there is a government, politics must exist there and government & politics is the same coin of two sides. So far we know the present cabinet members have no political aspirations.
But the decision they have taken to form six commissions for reforming Public administration, Police, Anti Corruption Commission, Election Commission, and Constitution & Judiciary is a political decision.
On this ground we can say the present interim government is political but not run by politicians. After the fall of the Hasina government by the student-mass uprising, people’s expectations have gone high.
The interim government must address these expectations. Among the six commissions the most important commissions are constitutional reform & Electoral reform commission.
Because democratic values and the future political system in Bangladesh will depend on this. But at the same time the other four commissions are also equally important.
At this moment, restoration of law & order and functioning supply chains of essential items are very important factors for the stability of the government. Hope government will bring normalcy to these issues very soon. We see the government already has taken some positive steps to do this.
After restoration of law & order and stability in the economy, general people and people from all corners of the society may ask about the timeframe of the much expected general election.
Government can bring it to their notice that general people whose age below 32 did not get chances to exercise their voting rights during the last fifteen years.
All political parties started a movement for fair vote under a neutral caretaker government against Hasina led allies. So the impetuses of political parties which struggled for the last fifteen years to unseat Hasina’s autocracy have to be considered positively.
Even though a large number of general people who were somehow associated with major political parties sacrificed their lives in this great uprising.
It is true that the vanguard of this uprising was students yet the general people associated with political parties infused energy with the uprising. So the contribution of the political parties cannot be undermined.
At this moment, the source of mandate to rule the country by this government is the mass-student uprising during July-August. Nobody asks/ challenges the authority of the present government. But after some months questions might arise about the ambience of the government.
How far the government will go that has to be clear-cut. After restoration of law & order and streamlining the economy the main task of the government should be holding a free, fair and inclusive general election.
For that reason coordination with the political parties is necessary. We have many grievances against political parties but at the end of the day political parties will run the country.
These are the democratic values of the present day world. No one can deny this reality. So taking major decisions bypassing political parties may be a big mistake in future. It might delay the transition of democracy in the country.
Commissions formed by the government on Administration, Judiciary, Election commission, Anticorruption commission, Constitution, Police have also importance and weightage.
It is a much needed work. People of our country and members of civil society’s accord with these issues. It is a heavy task and it needs research and time.
So it cannot be taken lightly. Maybe, these commissions make recommendations within the stipulated time.
But there are ample chances of making misstates in those probable recommendations. And the stakeholders (political parties) may have different views against such recommendations.
If that is so then there will create some uncertainty for implementing such recommendations. That situation will not bring any good political atmosphere in the country. Actually reforms are ongoing process and it takes time. Let the political government do these.
So the main tasks of this interim government is to hold a free, fair, inclusive general election for which political parties & civil societies struggled during the last fifteen years and at the same time showed highest respect for the martyrs of the July-August uprising.
So the purpose and task of this interim government should be more explicit & decisive. In this respect we can recollect the short-lived interim government headed by Justice Shabuddin Ahmed.
After the fall of Ershad regime he was able to arrange free, fair and inclusive general election and his exit from the realm of power was peaceful and people lauded his government at the then time.
That was an important instance of free, fair and inclusive general election in the electoral history of Bangladesh.
So this interim government should give a second thought on streamlining our political system and keeping major tasks for the political parties.
Presently there appears many ambiguities regarding running governmental work. We know the constitution of Bangladesh is not suspended or abrogated but in reality it is not totally functioning now.
After the uprising no one raises a question on this issue but if this government takes a longer time there are chances of raising questions about the functioning of the constitution. This situation can also embarrass the government.
But if the government takes a longer time for reforms then definitely many questions will arise on different issues from many corners of the society. Consequently it may not create an easy exit from the realm of the power.
We must consider that the present constitution is not abrogated now. So after making reforms everyone has to go to parliament for ratification of work for this interim period.
The people of this country are still now behind this interim government. They have come to power through a great uprising of mass-students. The essence of the uprising is still working in the mind of the people.
So the interim government should create such an atmosphere which can uphold the dignity of thousand martyrs and the hundreds of thousands who have become injured and lost the important organs of their bodies in this uprising.
And at the same time tangible work has to be done to transfer power to the peoples’ representatives through peaceful, fair, free and inclusive general elections.
