The New Nation - Internet Edition

T.A.M. Nurul Basher

Pressure is mounting though slowly upon the interim government to hold early election. While BNP led 4 party coalitions being the aggrieved party at the undesirable (for them) turn of events appears to becoming restless, the Al lead 14 grand alliance is showing patience but asking for early election. The foreign missions while asking for early election are also adding that the election should be credible.

Few things should be considered as to what constitute a credible election. Will participation by all political parties make an election credible? What are the aims and objectives of an election? Do we not need to see how far short we fall from the desired goal of an election by conducting the same in anyway? Our aim is to have an elected government who will deliver good governance. How to ensure good governance and how to ensure free and willing participation by the people? Once these matters are addressed properly we can then go on to think for a credible election?

Very recently the honourable Adviser for Law and Parliamentary affairs has said the present government has not come as a catalytic agent to assist one group or the other to capture state power through a hasty election. Election is not only for the political parties and their leaders. Election is for the people and without them there is no election. The honourable Adviser has expressed the mind of the people of the country prevailing today. Our political parties have invented a new kind of engineering course. This course in not taught in any educational institute but taught and practiced within the political parties themselves. The name of this engineering is Election Engineering. The excellence of the engineering lies in the fact wherein popular participation is not required in any election provided the engineering is done right. And our political leaders have destroyed our judiciary, civil service, police service, Election Commissions and Anti Corruption Commission to achieve super success in election engineering. The money for destruction of these institutions has been looted from the people's treasury. Almost all our political parties be that JP of HM Ershad, AL or the 4 party alliance of BNP have contributed to this crime more or less. All of them want a quick election. They need to sit on to the throne of heaven as soon as possible.

But what the people want? Why they need an election?

Democracy has been achieved as a freedom for governance by the people, of the people and for the people and it is the result of bloody struggle of the people all over the globe for centuries starting from the signing of the Magna Carta by King Jhon of England, French Revolution of late 18th century and lastly for us the bloody War of Liberation, 1971. We need to have some fundamental changes from the rules of monarchs and dictators. Through election the people send their representatives to form a government to achieve the following.

- Civil rights for all

- To ensure good governance

- To spend the tax money for the people in a judicious manner

- The representative government will not spend the peoples money for themselves and

nor shall they allow anyone else do as such

- They will provide security to the citizens by curbing crime

- Secure the safety of the country against external aggression and internal subversion

- Ensure equitable distribution of wealth

- Shall open the door for production and thus ensure job creation for the public and thus drive the country towards progress and peace.

By any standard of good governance all our political parties who were in the seat of power have failed miserably. They have lost all credibility to run the country. The 9 years of autocratic rule and 15 years of misgovernance by the so called democratic leaders have brought our life to a choacked condition. They have institutionalised corruption so that they can loot the peoples' wealth in perpetuity. We need to try and punish them for the crime of destruction of state institutions through a tribunal set up for this purpose. The Chief Adviser has rightly said that he desires that the country be run by people of knowledge and capability. To achieve that end he has to remove all hurdles in their path of stepping into national politics. We have to call them to participate in building the nation and preserve the same from enemies both from outside and from within.

Irrespective of the fact whether this government has taken up the present responsibility upon their shoulder willingly or the peoples will have been trust upon them, they have to clean up the mess created through the 24 years of misrule and also they have to clean the country of these undesirable elements who have created the mess. Only when this sacred task has been completed the government can think of the next election. Almost every day the general public and the civil society are voicing the reforms necessary. The interim government has to complete all these before they can think of handing over the state craft to some one else.

Since almost every party is centered on a person and is not established on democratic principles and they run their operation as such, democracy is not practiced in any party. Political party reformation is also required. The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam has rightly said that under the changed circumstances the political parties will have to go into self-criticism and they should cleanse themselves to make themselves credible for next election. The proposal is a good one no doubt. But it is futile to think that they will go into an episode of self correction, within next year or two and make themselves capable to deliver good governance. It may not be right to expect that these parties will be able to keep themselves fit against the onslaught expected to befallen upon them in the cleansing drive about to be taken up by the Emergency government. The government has to regulate the political parties by promulgating a political party's Act so that the parties become democratic, responsible and oriented to public welfare. Subsequently this Ordinance will be included in the Constitution.

Therefore the next election preparation has to be taken in hand by keeping it in mind that the existing parties will not be qualified to participate in the next election. Nor it would be possible to patronise new parties within this 2 years period as the political activities will remain suspended. Therefore the next election has to be on non party basis.

Non party basis election, parliament and government may be a new concept but in no way it is impractical. We have two years time in hand and we can frame out the non party government within this period.

It is true that ultimately we have to handover the state to the hands of the party based elected governments. However we have to prepare the parties in the line of capability to good governance. We must understand that while political parties prepare for election and subsequently run a government, they also have to run the party as an educational institution where new leadership will grow for future.

With all these preparatory work by the interim government and the subsequent non party government we can justly expect that the party based government which will govern the country from the year 2014 onwards will present the nation good governance.

Therefore our proposal is that the next election will be in 2009 and it has to be on non-party basis.