The New Nation - Internet Edition

With the row over the amended Representation of the People Order (RPO) 1972 over, and all political parties seeking registration under it, the prospect of the holding of elections on 18 December looks brighter than before. Government spokesmen have went out of their way in assuring them that there is no legal bar on participation of Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina in the elections and that the emergency would be further relaxed one week before the actual polling.

It is, though true as long as the corruption cases remain undecided or the prosecution fails to prove the cases as true. The government has not withdrawn the corruption cases as yet either against them.

However, preparations of the two parties and the alliances led by them appear to remain concentrated only on who would get tickets to contest the election and not on how they would deal with the multifarious problems of the country if they get elected. There is little discussion on how they plan to steer the nation to achieve which goals. What would be their strategies to face the challenges posed by the global financial crisis. Such issues do not feature in the discussions of the political parties.

The key question is, whether the political parties and their leaders have prepared themselves to form a competent government. The political parties do not feel the need to explain their ability to govern. There is no competition about leadership. The leadership is permanent to them, Political democracy does not mean any change in leadership.

The electorate is yet to know what economic programmes the major political parties will promise to make the economy vibrant and to create jobs with a view to reducing poverty. How they would face the looming recession that has already started costing jobs in the developed countries.

None of the parties or their key functionaries has made known their thoughts on ways of protecting the remittance income of expatriate Bangladeshis who form the largest source of foreign exchange earning. In the changed global economic scenario, the blue-chip readymade garment industry - second largest foreign exchange earner for the country - needs also to be guided and aided with supportive policies to stay competitive. Both the sectors face the threat of being adversely affected by the global economic crisis.

There needs to be enlightened debate and discussion on how the political parties and their leaders view the problems faced by an estimated 20 million unemployed youths, and how they plan to offer them some hope to build their future. How again, they would be planning to improve the quality of life of about 30 million people who are still in the category of hardcore poor needing support under the government's safety net programme.

Then again, how seriously the political leaders view the threat of inundation of about one-fifth of the country by saline water in the event of a worse sea level rise scenario by the end of the century because of global warming which is posing also some other threats like loss of homes and livelihood of millions of people. What moves they contemplate to take for adaptation and mitigation strategies with support from developed countries and multilateral agencies which are willing to extend help and support.

Above all, the political parties and their leaders should state clearly what values they want to promote in the society to make life and property more safe, social cohesion more strong and democratic tolerance widely practiced.

Again, there is hardly any effort from the media to neutrally probe the political parties and their leaders to make people judge and decide which party to support in the best interest of the country. In short, need for election is not explained either by political leaders or the press generally.

We again, note that the present caretaker government has lost steam to continue in power. The country must have election to have a representative government. What is disappointing is that when we all want election to be held urgently, we seem to totally ignore the real purpose of the election. The purpose of the election has also to be explained. The political parties must be made aware of the need to prove their ability to govern. The nation certainly does not need the same failed politics and failed reinstated government.