AL can't turn its back to JS anymore

There are some valid reasons why we would like to insist on the unsustainability of the AL's malevolent attitude towards parliamentary activism at this juncture. First and foremost, the next general election is effectively only one and a half years away if it is considered that the last six months of the remainder two years of the present government's tenure will be taken up by the preparatory process to the national election. There is a consensus across the political and civil society spectra to the effect that unless electoral laws are radically amended we would not be able to completely ensure free, fair and impartial election in the country.

There is no gainsaying that parliament is the only place to have any meaningful discourse on the question of changing electoral laws because of the obvious reason that the amendments will have to be effected through the parliament. And a full-house parliament can only bring about the best amendment compatible with the interest of both sides. Besides, the BNP and its allies have the majority to bludgeon any statutory measure through the JS, so that if the opposition gave them a walkover it will be patently self-defeating for them. So, the opposition's need for a parliamentary leveraging at this point is highly compelling.

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With the elections only two years away, the AL needs to go nearer to the people and the best way of doing it -- and who knows that better than AL -- is by reading their pulse and doing the things they want, not as a partisan segment but an electorate as a whole. As it is, the month of Ramadan has been traditionally free of hartal which occasionally even sees an exchange of invitations to Iftar parties between government and opposition law-makers, providing an outlet for cross-party tete-a-tetes. Overall, one need not overstress the fact that hartal is an unpopular agenda that better be eschewed from this point on, if the opposition wishes to draw closer to the electorate.

So, it is our considered view that the AL must join the parliamentary session scheduled for October 28, take issue with the government on the grenade attack of August 21 followed by a series of bomb blasts and arms hauls; highlight its lack of transparency, corruption and misgovernance all of which must be accompanied by an alternative vision for improving things. That's how democracy works, and it grows from strength to strength.