EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

Egypt's trajectory to democracy

The need is to consolidate first

In what must be a most historic event Mohamed Morsi has been declared elected president of Egypt. In fact he is truly the first democratically elected president of the country, filling a vacuum left by the ouster of Hosni Mubarrak. Morsi defeated former general Ahmed Shafik in a run-off last weekend by taking 51.7 percent of the total 52 percent of votes cast.

The turnout was low and the margin of his victory slightly above 1 percent. Given such a mandate, reconciliation would be the golden path for him. It is good to see the vanquished take the defeat in good grace and even offer to serve under the newly elected President.

We congratulate the new President, leader of the Islamic Brotherhood, which has struggled for more than three decades to come to this level of public acceptance. We are sure that he is aware of the challenges that face him and his country. It is important that a fractured nation is given the time to recover and heal from the wounds suffered not only during the long years of autocratic rule but also during the period before the overthrow of Mubarrak and nearly one year and a half of political unrest after that.

Surely the first task ahead of President Morsi would be to consolidate the gains, first by rallying a disparate nation and then to accommodate the aspirations of all the people, even those that do not conform to his political philosophy. An inclusive state policy that allows for a holistic development of the country is what the new government of President Morsi should strive for not forgetting his commitment to work with all the political parties if elected.

Also, the world is waiting to see how the equation between the president and the military council is worked out. There will be need to compromise and one would hope that the military will see the wisdom in having an unfettered democracy which, given the power that have been arrogated to itself by the council, seems rather challenging. It will be interesting to see how the new president accommodates the public demand for the military to go.

While there are challenges, this must be a good opportunity for Morsi to ensure that the anxiety of those who see the victory of the Islamist party with trepidation are proved wrong by bringing about a liberal, moderate and tolerant society which can be an example to other countries in the region. The onus is now as much on the new president to deliver as it is on the army.

Probe outcome of RHD shootout

Will the lessons be learnt?

After probing the shootout incident at the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), the three-member committee has confirmed that it was a turf war between two pro-Awami League groups over assuming full control of the lucrative tender business. The probe report says that the RHD workers' union leaders assailed and shot at some Swechchhasebak Lague men in what was a retaliatory act on the part of the former. This is outrageous, to say the least, and a clear demonstration of the extent to which a section of unscrupulous RHD officials and pro-AL political groups are involved in corruption and tender manipulations. Now that the culprits have been identified, we demand of the incumbent communications minister to take legal actions against them and give them exemplary punishment.

As we know it, the RHD is responsible for repairing and maintaining all the run-down roads and highways of the country and every year a huge amount of money is allocated to this department to accomplish its work. In the backdrop of frequent road accidents claiming hundreds of innocent lives due to faulty construction and dilapidated conditions of highways, this department's work in the form of timely repair and structural reinforcement has become all the more important.

In fact, the probe report has brought to glaring light why the seriously potholed, dilapidated roads still remain so to the peril of commuters even after hefty amount of allocated funds and even after repeated outcries from media and different public quarters. Most of the fund is misappropriated by the corrupt coteries leaving the roads either very poorly repaired or entirely unchanged.

Therefore, we think the communications minister's response to the report should not be confined to punishing the shootout culprits only; he should rather break the nexus between corrupt RHD officials, influential political quarters and greedy contractors. In addition to containing the corrupt elements in the RHD, he must cleanse this department of the influence of all ruling party elements and thereafter make sure that the contracts are awarded to reputed and eligible contractors.