EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

 

 

Caretaker government reform

Three month tenure non-negotiable

The controversy over the Awami League-proposed reform of the caretaker government centres not on three month duration of the CG's mandate but on the ruling party's suggestion that the failure to hold elections within three months would render a revival of the immediate past elected government.

Let's put the whole issue in perspective to arrive at a judicious conclusion.

BNP-led four party alliance raised the retirement age of judges only to have the incumbent chief justice head the caretaker government. Naturally, the opposition Awami League then had reasons to resent it. In these circumstances, President Iazuddin Ahmed ignored the other options to choose a chief adviser and himself appeared in the dual role of the president as well as the chief adviser.

The situation was further compounded by a flawed electoral roll with more than one crore non-existent voters in it, so that there was legitimate demand for an authentic electoral roll. Meanwhile, President Iazuddin declared emergency and ushered in a military-backed caretaker government. This interim government had before it the task of making a computerised authentic voter list with photographs.

Since all these circumstances are neither present nor likely to emerge in the future, the overriding provision of three month tenure of the CG can be put firmly and squarely in place. We already have an authentic voter list, all that it requires is updating before the next general election, which also happens to be a continuing process.

Hence, the AL's suggestion that the outgoing elected government would take over if the CG cannot hold elections within ninety days, does not stand to reason. It is basically contradictory to AL's original position on the caretaker government. Its demand for a non-partisan CG was based on complete no-confidence in an elected party government to hold general elections. How can it now reverse its stand?

So we take the view that 90-day tenure for CG should be non-negotiable. In these stipulated three months the CG should not only hold elections but also effect transfer of power to an elected government. All these should be stipulated in legally tight formulation.

Symbolism of May Day

Let quality of life improve for citizens

The memory of the 1886 Chicago Haymarket bombing and shootings lingers. And because it does, there is the symbolism set off by the assault on the working classes that we observe today along with the rest of the world. In Bangladesh especially, May Day has for decades been a potent hint of how much yet remains to be done in the matter of ensuring the rights of not just industrial workers but also of the struggling masses of the country as a whole. The message on the day is, therefore, loud and clear: the collective happiness of a society is in the end dependent on how society treats its most important means of production, namely, its workers and its peasantry.

It cannot be denied that over the years economic policies have taken a distinctive turn away from the command or mixed economy and towards a free market direction in Bangladesh. The growth of industry, the development of export goods in varied ways, the institution of the micro-credit system have all yielded results which have added substance to the nation's economy. And yet one must raise the question of whether such progress has satisfactorily been reflected in the lives of the working classes. There are still the safeguards, in terms of a healthy workplace environment and job security, that must be in place in ready made garments and in other sectors of the economy. Images of the young toiling away for a pittance at unhealthy factories are yet part of the social scene in this country. The very fact that tens of thousands of our citizens are compelled by economic reasons to seek low-paying, menial jobs in other countries is a broad hint of where we might have stumbled in promoting a society of equality.

May Day has always been a time for a voicing of legitimate demands. Today, let the demand be for a guarantee of all those measures that will improve the quality of life, for workers and peasants, for all citizens of Bangladesh.