Badruddoza's Iftar

The observations the former president made, the concerns he voiced and the fears he expressed about pervasive corruption, lack of rule of law, inefficiency, and overall governmental under-performance are shared by most people. There is, however, nothing new in what he said: all this has been in the newspapers and very much a matter of common knowledge and under constant public discourse. Even his move to mobilise civil society opinion has a ring of familiarity when viewed with a hindsight of Dr. Kamal Hossain or Gen. Osmani's initiatives. The former president has only urged civil society representatives to respond to the situation by advancing their suggestions. He himself has not given any road map.

Yet, Prof. Badruddoza Chowdhury's observations have considerable import. For, these are not only timely, but coming from a veteran politician whose contributions to the BNP in its initial stages have been second to only that of President Ziaur Rahman, they also have a relevance, credibility and force of their own.

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What merits special mention is his pointer to an additional power centre whose 'rise people are also questioning'. This is the first articulation of the aberration by any major figure in the country. As such, this matter of public concern should be addressed by the government with all the seriousness it deserves.

We don't want to pre-judge what Prof. Badruddoza's political move is likely to be. In fact, we don't like to be seen as being judgmental at all on the issue. At this stage, we have very little to comment on as to its future impact. But what we would certainly like to assert is that there has been a tremendous amount of disappointment with the major political parties of the country. There is hardly any doubt people want to see political alternatives emerge to the two tested political parties -- the BNP and Awami League. Isn't democracy about freedom of choice?