The New Nation - Internet Edition

As the caretaker government and the political parties are making preparations for the general elections scheduled for December 18, major bilateral donors appear to be busy showering prescriptions on how things should or should not be like.

The European Union appears to have made sending election observers conditional to lifting of emergency. EU ambassador Dr Stefan Frowein told newsmen on Wednesday that they are yet to take any decision on sending poll observers as they are yet to get signal from the government as to whether they are lifting the state of emergency or how far emergency is going to be relaxed to meet the conditions for free and fair elections.

Our government should show its own competence to hold the election for establishing democracy in the country. It is most important that our elections should be acceptable to our own people. The foreign countries should be told we do not need their certificate about our own elections as they do not seek our approval about the legitimacy of their national elections. It is also disgraceful that our political leaders also take foreign advice of countries more seriously than their own wisdom.

The visiting British minister of state for Asia, Africa and the UN, Mark Moloch on the same day called for withdrawal of the state of emergency ahead of the elections. He told foreign adviser Iftekhar Chowdhury that London wanted the polls to be held in conditions which allow free and fair voting.

Earlier on Monday US ambassador to Bangladesh James Moriarty after a meeting with BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia observed that general elections would hardly be credible under the state of emergency.

These are undoubtedly well-intentioned remarks from bilateral donors who are eager to see the restoration of democracy in the country. One would recall that the same donors were too eager to see conditions conducive to the success of elections back in 2007, the elections that were never held.

While wishing the march to democracy a success the donors see things from their own perspectives. They are from old democracies which have grown to the present stages through decades and centuries of trial and error. Bangladesh, on the other hand, had a nascent democracy which needed to be nursed before all actors develop the habit of behaving democratically. None in Bangladesh would dare openly advocate for an undemocratic path because that would be against the general will of the people that has grown through decades of democratic movements, events and practices, however scanty.

Those wishing democracy a success should have trust in the people and refrain from making remarks that might obstruct the movement towards the restoration of democracy. Politicians of the country should rise to the occasion and lead the nation to democracy by making proper use of the opportunities that have emerged for a transition from the state of emergency that was clamped because of the failure to hold elections 20 months ago.

We value their friendship but foreign countries must not behave like remnants of colonial masters. Our government cannot be so helpless as to be too dependent on foreign countries for helping us about our internal politics. The weakness of the government in internal matters is a shame for us as a nation.