The New Nation - Internet Edition

Pulack Ghatack

The Government is serious to hold the general election under the state of emergency and apparently has become successful in softening tough negative stances of some politicians, after winning international support to it.

Education and commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman yesterday ruled out any possibility of lifting the state of emergency, which he said was necessary to protect voters, the women and minorities in particular.

Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed in an interview with the Time magazine in New York also asserted that the interim government wanted to continue with the state of emergency until general election as "emergency will help control the use of money and muscle power during the polls".

Post-election violence, intimidation and vote buying were a reality in Bangladesh, which necessitated elections under emergency, Dr Zillur argued yesterday.

He said, "The international community realised the matter and the European Union too would also realise it soon."

Meanwhile, the United Nations and the United States of America (USA) have already given green signal to continuation of the emergency unto election and are ready to send observers to cover the much awaited December 18 polls. But the biggest victory of the Government in this regard seems to be in winning support of Bangladesh Awami League (AL), which leads the biggest political front, and enjoys popular support.

Awami League is now valuing the holding of the election with participation of all the parties more rather than stressing withdrawal of the emergency rule.

The party has no objection to participate in the election under the emergency rules, but fears that its arch rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) may find it as an excuse for boycotting the election which may frustrate the whole arrangement.

Following a presidium meeting on Tuesday, acting general secretary of AL Syed Ashraful Islam said the issue of the state of emergency would create no problem during the elections if the government only renamed the Emergency Powers Rules.

"The rules in the current emergency law can be converted into general rules. But if these rules under the name of emergency law are enforced, then some parties will get an excuse to boycott the elections," he told reporters.

However, BNP is still insisting on lifting the emergency, which would bar many of its leaders, convicted of corruption, to contest the polls.

Meanwhile, the policymakers of the Government are hopeful to woo BNP participate in the election under emergency.

BNP has some other demands to which it want to secure government assurance, a highly placed source in the government told The New Nation yesterday.

"You will see BNP to take part in the election. Many top level BNP leaders are more concerned about their pending cases with courts. Problems and prospects rest there," said the source holding important government portfolio.

The military-backed interim Government, that took a serious move to clean up endemic political corruption soon after its inception, is now working hard to come out of it by resolving political complexities through negotiations with parties.

But, as the emergency rule is the basis of all its tasks, the government was serious in soliciting international support about holding the election under emergency, which appeared as a stumbling block to the general elections.

The Chief Adviser and the Foreign Adviser held series of meetings with the diplomats to woo their support for holding the parliamentary election under emergency rule.

Now, the United States government has decided to send election observers to cover the general election in December, even if the emergency is not lifted, said US ambassador James F Moriarty on Tuesday.

UN resident coordinator Renata Lok Dessalian on Monday expressed her support to the Caretaker Government's decision of holding upcoming parliamentary elections under state of emergency.