Supreme Court on CTG
A case of confusion confounded
A seven-member Appellate Division bench of the Supreme Court has ruled that the constitutional provision of a caretaker government (CTG) is illegal. In a judgment delivered yesterday on a petition filed in January 2000, the apex court declared the 13th amendment void and ultra vires of the constitution. More intriguingly, the court has observed that the next two parliamentary elections can be held under caretaker administrations. It has also made the point that Parliament may amend the constitution to exclude the provision of retired chief justices or judges of the Appellate Division taking over as heads of caretaker governments.
We are, to say the least, perplexed by the judgement because we are not quite sure what it says specifically. If the provision of a caretaker government is now deemed to be illegal, there can be no difficulty in understanding what the Supreme Court is saying. However, for the court to suggest at the same time that the next two elections, scheduled for 2013 and 2018, can be supervised by caretaker regimes in order to 'avoid chaos' only confounds the issue. At a time when various ideas are being mooted about the next caretaker government and politicians as well as civil society are engaged in a debate about the probable nature of it, the Supreme Court verdict only adds to the confusion. How can a provision deemed illegal be permitted to continue for two more elections? What is the guarantee that the elections conducted under the caretaker system in 2013 and 2018 will not become questionable under the law? Additionally, the SC view on judges in the caretaker system leaves quite a few questions to be answered.
We cannot but state the obvious here. In a political climate where politicians have always distrusted one another on the matter of elections, the caretaker system has ensured locally and globally credible free and fair elections in the country. The four caretaker governments we have had since 1991 are thus deserving of credit. An aberration was of course the lengthy tenure of the last such government. To ensure, however, that the experience is not repeated, the Supreme Court, rather than opening up a whole new controversy with its latest mixed-bag pronouncement, could simply have put a watertight cap on the caretaker system being in place for no more than ninety days.
PM's concern over LDCs' woes
Development partners should do more
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has stressed enhancing productive capacities and improving human resources to acquire benefit from globalization. She made the remark while addressing the UN summit of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Istanbul on Monday. She further urged all to abandon past prejudiced strategies and opt for a win-win situation benefiting all. She rightly pointed out that LDCs need to redouble efforts to sustain high levels of growth for long periods to accelerate development. For this the LDCs should get further support from development partners.
We could not agree more with the PM. Indeed, as the PM has indicated, although the LDCs have made significant progress in meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), they could not match the progress the developing countries achieved in enhancing productive capacity and growth.
That the LDCs have not been able to eliminate poverty is a truth that needs no elaboration. Unsettled socio-political conditions are the main hindrances to macro-economic stability. Poor human resources capacity and inadequate access to trade and integration in the market of the developed countries are also reasons for the sluggish growth of the LDCs.
In spite of limitations in natural resources and lack of skilled manpower, Bangladesh has made considerable strides in alleviating poverty through its micro credit programs and transforming agriculture and the rural economy by integrating the domestic market.
We can do more with assistance from our development partners in enhancing our productive capacities and improve resources by receiving investment, manpower training and transfer of knowledge.
We look forward to reinforced cooperation between the LDCs and the development partners for a positive change in our conditions.
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