The New Nation - Internet Edition

They will lose seats if charges prove true: No legal bar for accused from taking oath

Rafiqul Islam Azad

There is no legal bar for convicted MPs-elect to take oath as members of Parliament, for the time being, but they might lose their seats if the court finds their candidatures invalid later on, according to leading jurists and lawyers on Friday.

MPs-elect of the Bangladesh Awami League are expected to take oath today (Saturday).

Asked whether there is any bar for the convicts in corruption cases, who contested the just concluded parliamentary elections and were elected members of Parliament in taking oath, eminent jurist Dr M Zahir said, "Definitely not, I do not see any bar for them from taking oath as MPs."

Barrister Shafiq Ahmed, Vice Chairman of Bangladesh Bar Council, told this correspondent that if they (convicts) were elected duly there was no bar for them to take oath.

Dr Shahdhin Malik, a panel lawyer of the Election Commission (EC) also gave the same opinion. He said they participated in the polls obtaining the interim orders from the Appellate Division.

But, he said, the cases are yet to finalise. Within the next two to three months the question as to whether their candidatures were valid would be resolved.

Dr Shahdhin also made it clear that if their nominations were finally found invalid, they would lose their membership of Parliament.

The Sushasaner Jonnya Nagorik (SHUJAN) at a press conference on Thursday disclosed that of the 299 MPS-elect, 92 were accused either in corruption or criminal cases. A number of them were also convicted.

Of them, 61 are from the Awami League, 17 from the BNP, 10 from Jatiya Party, 2 from JSD and 1 each from Jamaat and Workers Party.

Most of the accused took part in the elections as the cases pending against them were stayed. Some of them procured interim orders to contest the elections.

Of the convicts in corruption cases, one has been elected MP.

Prices, economy main tasks for new govt: UN team

Frances Vendrell, Head of UN Secretary General's
High-level pannel on Bangladesh Parliamentary Election,
speaking to reporters after meeting Awami League President
Sheikh Hasina at Sudha Sadan residence yesterday. Focus
Bangla

UNB, Dhaka

Chief of the UN secretary general's high level panel Francesc Vendrel yesterday said major challenge before the new government in Bangladesh will be the issues of agricultural prices and of economy in the wake of global economic meltdown.

"This, of course, is not totally in the hands of the Bangladesh government and it will depend on the overall economic situation. At the moment, world is facing economic downturn. It is going to be extremely difficult. But I am sure they are aware of the challenges," he told a press briefing at Sonargaon Hotel.

Vendrel, who had a long meeting earlier with Prime

Minister-in-waiting Sheikh Hasina, said they discussed various issues including how to make the next parliament effective, trial of war criminals and Bangladesh-UN cooperation through UNDP.

The UN panel chief said he found Sheikh Hasina willing to reaching out the opposition by offering the post of the Deputy Speaker and some chairmanships of the parliamentary standing committees.

"She looks forward to working with BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in the next parliament," he said, adding despite frustration and disappointment in BNP, there is ample scope for the opposition to play their constructive role in influencing the debate and making their voice heard in parliament.

Vendrel, former UN Assistant Secretary General, does not consider that a parliament with small opposition against a huge majority cannot be effective. He said the number of the opposition in present German parliament is small while in 1993 the Canadian House of Commons had only two opposition MPs.

However, he suggested cooperation between winners and losers, saying there should not be any feeling that may lead to conflicts. "We encourage Awami League to extend their hands of friendship to the opposition," Vendrel said.

Replying to a question, he said election is one way of achieving democracy. There are other things like stable law and order, independence of the judiciary, ant-corruption commission and the human rights commission, which are required to strengthen democracy.

Regarding BNP's complaints about irregularities in certain constituencies, Vendrel said he would encourage the Election Commission to pay attention to this. He, however, said even if the complaints are valid these would not impact on the overall election results.

Asked about the post-election violence, he said it is important that the law enforcers ensure peace and tranquility.

Asked if the issue of trying war criminals came up during the meeting with Hasina, Vendrel said Sheikh Hasina had mentioned the issue. It would be up to the new government to take up the matter with the UN secretary general and make clear what they want the UN to do, he said, adding "we will look into it with very care."

The 3-member UN high level panel was dispatched twice by UN secretary general Ban ki-Moon to assess the pre-election, polling day and the post-election situation. Like other international observer missions, they said the election was conducted in credible, free and fair manner and the turnout was high.

Vedrel said unlike in the past, minority voters could cast their votes in this election without intimidation.

He said non-party caretaker government system is unique and it could be copied by other countries.

Two other members on the high level panel were Bhojraj Pokharel, chief election commissioner of Nepal, and Ms Aracelly Santana, former deputy director of the UN electoral assistance division.

Democracy not out of the woods

Hasnat Abdul Hye

Democracy in Bangladesh has been restored, after a hiatus of two years. During the interregnum, democracy was not a taboo word, though politics, its handmaiden, was kept in suspended animation. The power that be declared from the outset that it was committed to holding election within two years. But it was also made clear that democracy, beleaguered by politics of violence and kleptocracy or cronyism, would not be welcome. What the caretaker government wanted to see was politics free from all kinds of abuse of power. A raft of reform measures were underway to usher in a kind of politics that the CTG thought was in the best tradition of democracy.

Soon the contradiction between successful completion of reforms to cleanse politics of insidious malaise from which it suffered chronically earlier and the restoration of democracy became apparent. The caretaker government realised that the timeline set for holding election was not sufficiently long to carry out the reforms, particularly involving politics and politicians, though this was not aired publicly. Speculation became rife, as the election deadline approached, whether the caretaker government would extend the two-year period set by it in order to complete the major reform measures. Uncertainty over holding election gained credence when the chiefs of the two major parties were taken into custody on charges of corruption. Quite a few leaders belonging to the two parties were already facing trial in courts or had been convicted. In these circumstances, restoration of politics and re-introduction of democracy appeared to have receded to the background. Even when the government reiterated its commitment to hold election within the scheduled date the announcements were taken with a gain of salt. As the Election Commission embarked upon a detailed process of registering parties the suspense over whether election would be held on time was heightened.

At the end, however, the caretaker government made good on its promise on election. Whether it was due to their own violation or under pressure from extraneous sources can only be guessed. The visits of high profile foreign dignitaries and to-ing and fro-ing of Dhaka-based, foreign ambassadors gave some inkling in to what might have been going on behind the scene. Be that as it may, election has been held within the timeline of two years, though deviations were made from the 'road map' announced earlier.

The election held was a milestone in many respects. For the first time all parties had to be registered in order to be eligible. The candidates had to fulfil many conditions to qualify for participation in the election. The tight grip of the Election Commission was however prised open by candidates on several counts, armed with court orders. Finally, the total number of candidates stood at 1555 and the number of eligible parties at 38. The number of independent candidates was 148. The candidates vied for the support of 8,10,58,698 voters out of whom more than 80 percent have reportedly cast their votes, a record in recent times. Deployment of 6 lakh of law enforcers, including army, facilitated the holding of election smoothly and very few untoward incident were reported. Judged by all measures, the last election will be considered as a landmark in our political history.

Weeding out false voters earlier and arrangement for supervision and vigilance ensured that the election was free, fair and impartial. A large number of election observers, including foreigners, testified to the fairness of the manner and the procedure in which the election has been held. The BNP chairperson however has alleged of malpractice in 111 polling centres in 39 constituencies. In the backdrop of elaborate arrangements made by the Election Commission and in view of the opinion of independent observers, the allegation has to be taken with a grain of salt. But since objections have been raised, the allegations when formally made should be looked into in all seriousness preferably to-gether with observers from the UN and the EU. One can cynically dismiss such allegations as being routine for a party that loses but for the election to be credible the allegation should not be taken lightly. Democracy is both a process and product. All political parties must have faith in the former in order to ensure the latter.

Election is a necessary step towards establishment of democracy but it alone cannot bring about efflorescence of democracy. To be acceptable to all and have legitimacy it must be seen to have been held in a free, fair and impartial manner. If the election results are not accepted by a major party or alliance there will be no political stability and in the absence of political stability democracy will founder, as it has done several times in the past. Therefore, to secure the return of democracy, the opposition has to be convinced about the fairness and accuracy of the results. This is the first condition for the functioning of democracy.

The second condition for a robust democratic culture is the complementary roles of the parties in power and in the opposition. In the affairs of the state and in governance both have important contributions to make. The party in power forming government can ignore the opposition party but such exclusion will be at the cost of good governance and democratic principles. In the 2008 general election the opposition, particularly 4-party alliance, has got only 32 seats as against 'Mohajotes' 262. Such an overwhelming majority may tempt the Mohajote to sideline the opposition after forming the government. Such marginalisation would lead to an ineffective parliament and provoke the opposition to adopt negative attitude leading to non-cooperation, both non-violent and violent. It this happens democracy will be in jeopardy and in the worst case scenario, even the election results may come to naught.

In a demonstration of rare statesmanship, the leader of the Mohajote, the Awami League Chief has called for co-operation from the opposition. She had already promised that if elected the post of Deputy Speaker would be given to the opposition. Now she has proposed to have even minister(s) from the opposition in the cabinet. She has also asked her supporters to desist from victimising the workers and leaders of the opposition parties in the wake of the election results. These are laudable gestures and very timely. The attitude of the Mohajote leader augurs well for the future of democracy in the country. On their part, the opposition should accept the election results with equanimity and co-operate with the majority party in running the government. It should be realised that democracy cannot survive, not to speak of thriving, if there is no mutual accommodation and trust between the two major parties. Democracy has suffered for long in the absence of such co-operation and mutual respect. A repetition of the same will have egregious effect on democracy. Needless to say, if democracy suffers so will the politicians.

Tigers face Lions in 2nd Test today

Players of Bangladesh Cricket team play football
during their practice session at the Bir Sreshtha Shaheed
Ruhul Amin Stadium in Chittagong on Friday. Internet
photo

Sports Reporter

After tasting a 107-run defeat by Sri Lanka in the first Test of the Grameenphone Test Series on December 31, Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka today in the second Test , which begins at 9.30 AM at the Bir Sreshtha Shaheed Ruhul Amin Stadium in Chittagong, the port city of the country.

Bangladesh Television will telecast the match live everyday from the stadium.

Earlier, the Tigers played 11 Test matches against the Lions and the Lions won all the affairs.

Marking the upcoming Test match, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka took part in their respective practice sessions yesterday.

Bangladesh is likely to include Enamul Haque (Junior) in their squad instead of Mahbubul Alam.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka will include wizard spinner Ajantha Mendis in place of other spinner Rangana Herath.

Besides, Sri Lanka have great spin sensation Muttiah Muralitharan in their squad.

It is mentionable that Bangladesh piled up 413 in their second innings in the Dhaka Test and showed a fighting performance against their mighty opponents. It was Bangladesh's highest score in their Test campaign so far.

Thus, the cricket viewers of the country hope that their side will show satisfactory performance against their counterpart Sri Lanka, the new power house of world cricket.

Hasina pledges to make parliament effective

Staff Reporter

Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina yesterday said she would take initiative for making the next parliament effective.

She reiterated that deputy speaker would be selected from the opposition parties.

Hasina also pledged to recruit chairman of different steering committees of different ministries from opposition parties proportionate of the seats they have won in the just concluded general elections.

She made these remarks during a meeting with United Nations' (UN) special panel at her Sudha Sadan residence at Dhanmondi.

A six-member delegation led by Frances Vendrell, Head of UN Secretary General's High-Level Panel on Bangladesh Parliamentary Election 2008,took part in the meeting.

After the meeting, Dr Hasan Mahmud, Special Assistant to Sheikh Hasina, told reporters that during the talks the AL chief expressed her intention to carry out anti-corruption drive impartially and within legal framework during her tenure.

"They discussed issues on providing assistance to the elected government for the improvement of all the sectors of Bangladesh and how the UN can contribute to the development process," Mahmud said.

Mahmaud further said that the UN delegates congratulated Sheikh Hasina on the landslide victory of the grand alliance and thanked her for delivering a splendid speech at her post-election press conference.

Arrangement of training session for the newly elected parliamentary members also came up during the meeting," he added. Mahmud declined to make any comment when asked about the size of the cabinet and the probable members to be inducted into the cabinet.

Later talking to newsmen, Vendrell said they came to Sudha Sadan to congratulate Hasina for the grand victory of her party. "We have discussed about the future plan of the next government and the possible ways of contributing to different development activities of the country," he noted.

To a question whether the parliamentary election was held in fair manner, Vendrell said they have not come here as election observers. But, according to the reports of different local and international observers, the election was held in free, fair and credible manner and under peaceful climate, he remarked.

He hoped that the new government would take office soon.

Vendrell also expressed the hope that there would be no 'provocation' centering the elections from any side.

On the question of their help for bringing the war criminals under trial, he said, " We are not in a position to talk on this issue. But if the Bangladesh government seeks help, we will try to help because UN usually extended help on such issue to different countries. We had similar requests in the past," he said.

Panel members Nepal's chief election commissioner Bhojraj Pokhrel and deputy director of UN's electoral assistance division Aracelly Santana were among the delegates at the meeting.

Soon after the meeting, Sheikh Hasina came to the corridor of Sudha Sadan and addressed a large gathering of party leaders and activists. She waved to them and delivered a speech through hand mike.

"The people have given us the responsibility of running the country. Please pray to Allah for giving us strength to serve the country properly," Hasina said.

She also thanked the people of the country for voting them to power.

Govt should realise need for rapport: BNP to cooperate for making JS effective

Staff Reporter

Conceding the defeat by its rivals in the just concluded parliamentary elections, BNP secretary general Khandker Delwar Hossain yesterday said the victorious party should form the government and rule the country.

Delwar, who, earlier made allegations of vote rigging said, "Let the Awami League led grand alliance form the next government as they have an opportunity," he said to the journalists at his NAM flat.

He, however, did not disclose when his party's MP's would take oath.

He said BNP would help make parliament effective if the government so wants.

Replying to a question on whether his party would cooperate with the winners, he said the new government should fulfil its electoral promises.

Asked on whether his party would extend cooperation to the government, Delwar termed the winners as ' elder brother' and said that the government should first realise the need for cooperation from the opposition.

He said the government has the responsibility to work with the opposition.

He said BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has served as prime minister three times. " The incumbent prime minister Sheik Hasina should take suggestions from our party leader," he added. "We want to see how the Awami League fulfils the promises it made to the people," he added.

Asked on their future activities he said they will watch things closely.

"We will make our move collectively after evaluation of the government's work," he mentioned.

Newly elected MPs take oath today, tomorrow

Staff Reporter

The newly elected parliament members will formally take oath today and tomorrow at the parliament secretariat.

Ashfaque Hamid, secretary, Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Secretariat said that the gazette of the ninth parliamentary elections results had reached the JS secretariat.

The members of the major parties, who will form the government, will take the oath today at 3pm and the rest of the members will take oath tomorrow at the same time at the same venue. As per the people's verdict AL-led grand alliance has won an overwhelming majority in December29 parliamentary polls and will form government.

Hamid said all necessary preparations for administering the oath in the 'oath' chamber of parliament building have been completed.

Speaker of the parliament Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar on Thursday said his secretariat would need at least 24 hours to issue notices to the elected MPs for turning up at the parliament building as most of the elected MPs are their constituencies and they must be given time to come to Dhaka.

According to the constitution, the Speaker will administer oath within three days of the publication of the gazette. Otherwise, the Chief Election Commission Commissioner (CEC) will administer oath within the next three days and the first session of a new parliament will have to be held within 30 days since the publication of the gazette.

Meanwhile, AL president Sheikh Hasina has convened the AL parliamentary board meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban just after oath taking ceremony .

West Bank anger over Gaza raids

BBC Online

West Bank anger over Gaza raids Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank have joined demonstrations after a call from Hamas for a "day of wrath" against the Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Protests have also been held around the Muslim world after yesterday Prayers.

Medics in Gaza say more than 400 people have been killed in a week of raids. Four Israelis have died in the rocket attacks Israel is trying to prevent.

Five Palestinians, including three children, have been killed in the latest Israeli air attacks on Gaza.

Three brothers aged seven to 10 died in an air raid in southern Gaza, medics and witnesses said.

Friday's protests were called after an Israeli air strike hit the home of Nizar Rayan, a firebrand leader of Hamas who refused to go into hiding, killing him and several of his wives and children on Thursday.

"We will not rest until we destroy the Zionist entity," senior Hamas figure Fathi Hammad said at the funeral for the 20 people who died in that attack.

Meanwhile, about 100 foreign passport holders - mainly women married to Palestinians, and their children - have been allowed by Israel to leave Gaza.

Stone-throwing

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool said Palestinian protesters in the West Bank were directing anger not just at Israel but at Arab governments and their own leaders for their failure to stop the offensive.

Thousands gathered in Ramallah, while in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, youths threw stones at security forces, who fired tear gas.

Police pick up two DU BCL activists

Staff Reporter

Police picked up two Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists yesterday from Muktijoddha Ziaur Rahman Hall of Dhaka University on charges of rioting.

BCL activists Golam Baqui Chowdhury and Ziaul Haque were involved in Thursday's riots in the hall, police alleged.

Three had been reportedly injured on Thursday while the two belligerent BCL factions got into fight. Police retrieved 10 improvised bombs after a search of the hall after the fights.

Rezaul Karim officer-in-charge of Shahbagh police station told The New Nation that Hall residents detained Baqui and Ziaul yesterday. Acting on a tip-off, police arrested them and brought them to the police station. They were actively involved in Thursday's brawls.

DU leaders of BCL visited the residential hall after the fights to ascertain the real situation and identified six students including Baqui and Ziaul as troublemakers and gave the names to the hall administration.

DU president of BCL Sheikh Sohel Rana Tipu told the reporters that any attempt at destabilising the campus would be thwarted, irrespective of partisan identities.

Any Chhatra League activist found guilty of breach of discipline will be taken to task by the party, in addition to the punitive measures the hall authorities would deem necessary to take."

Elections free, fair: UN panel terms

Staff Reporter

The visiting UN panel yesterday said that Bangladesh elected its new leadership in a "free and fair" election, but it will have to face "extremely difficult challenges of agricultural prices," in the wake of global economic meltdown.

Wrapping up a week's visit, Francesc Vendrell, head of the UN panel on Bangladesh election formed by the secretary-general at a press conference said, "At the moment, world is facing economic downturn. It is going to be extremely difficult. But I am sure they are aware of the challenges."

He brushed aside BNP secretary-general Khandker Delwar Hossain's allegation on the observers' partisanship and said the ninth parliamentary polls were "free and fair."

Even, if some election-related complaints made by the BNP might be "valid" in some constituencies, those might not have changed the results, he said adding, the Awami League and the BNP should show "restraints" for the sake of the nation.

Vendrell termed the non-party caretaker government system "unique" adding, "it could be copied by other countries."

He said unlike in the past, minority voters could cast their votes in this election without intimidation.

Vendrel, who had a long meeting earlier with Prime Minister-in-waiting Sheikh Hasina, said they discussed various issues including how to make the next parliament effective, trial of war criminals and Bangladesh-UN cooperation through UNDP.

About trying war criminals he said it would be up to the new government to take up the matter with the UN secretary general and make clear what they want the UN to do. "We will look into it with very care," he added.

The UN panel chief said he found Sheikh Hasina willing to reaching out the opposition by offering the post of the Deputy Speaker and some chairmanships of the parliamentary standing committees.

"She looks forward to working with BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in the next parliament," he said, adding despite frustration and disappointment in BNP, there is ample scope for the opposition to play their constructive role in influencing the debate and making their voice heard in parliament.

Vendrel, former UN Assistant Secretary General, does not consider that a parliament with small opposition against a huge majority cannot be effective. He said the number of the opposition in present German parliament is small while in 1993 the Canadian House of Commons had only two opposition MPs.

However, he suggested cooperation between winners and losers, saying there should not be any feeling that may lead to conflicts. "We encourage Awami League to extend their hands of friendship to the opposition," Vendrel said.

Asked about the post-election violence, he said it is important that the law enforcers ensure peace and tranquillity.

The 3-member UN high-level panel was dispatched twice by UN secretary general Ban ki-Moon to assess the pre-election, polling day and the post-election situation.

Two other members of the panel are Bhojraj Pokharel, chief election commissioner of Nepal, and Ms Aracelly Santana, former deputy director of the UN electoral assistance division.