Caretaker government challenges

The two major political parties, the BNP and AL, are now negotiating over the appointment of the chief of the next CTG, as the AL believes that Justice KM Hasan is a BNP loyalist and therefore not acceptable as the chief of the non-party CTG. The dialogue which was started on October 5, reportedly reached very close to consensus on many points.

Article 58C (2) of the constitution says: "The prime minister and her cabinet, who were in the office immediately before the parliament was dissolved, shall continue to hold office until the chief adviser takes oath within 15 days after the parliament is dissolved or stands dissolved."

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Rumour is in the air that some of the BNP policymakers are out to persuade Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to remain in power for the constitutionally mandated additional time-frame of 15 days after dissolution of the parliament. Their argument is that Sheikh Hasina, the erstwhile prime minister, did the same in 2001.

Meanwhile the cabinet division has the started groundwork to arrange a ceremony to administer oath to the next chief adviser although the incumbent government is yet to fix a date to step down. As the present government's tenure will expire on October 27, there is a constitutional obligation to administer oath to the chief adviser of the CTG any day between October 28 and November 11.

Though the core responsibility of the CTG is to hold a free and fair general election for constituting the 9th national parliament, it will have to shoulder an overwhelming responsibility for creating a congenial atmosphere in which to conduct the election. The 13th amendment to the constitution has been made with a definite purpose to ensure neutrality of the persons who shall be running the non-party CTG and also making the process easy and acceptable to all.

The Citizen Group-2006, a platform of the country's civil society members, has already put forward 19-point suggestions for the CTG. On electoral and political reforms, the group said that the CTG would have to ensure a neutral, efficient and competent election commission to conduct the national election 2007 in time and it has to be fully vigilant in maintaining law and order situation.

The Citizen Group suggested that the CTG must take special efforts to stop any post- election backlashes and make sure that military and terrorism do not re-emerge during the election period. It also said that the CTG of 2006 should finish the unfinished agenda of the last CTG by taking appropriate legal measures for the separation of the judiciary from the executive.

Depoliticizing of administration will pose a major challenge to the next CTG and it will be required to initiate a massive reshuffle in the civil administration to ensure an even playing field for all the contending parties. The administration has been nakedly politicized through mass promotion and infiltration of key posts with a clear intention of election engineering. Unless this process has been negated through a series of courageous moves and reshuffle, the prospect of holding a free and fair election will remain bleak.

The BNP-led coalition government at the fag end of its tenure has given mass promotion to civil servants on political considerations turning the civil administration into a political one. The government on July 3 promoted 153 deputy secretaries to joint secretary superseding seniors and depriving around 100 eligible officers. Similarly, five additional secretaries were promoted to be full-fledged secretaries. The selection of officers for promotion, superseding the seniors, was done considering their loyalty to the BNP and its major coalition partner Jamaat-e-Islami.

The next CTG will also have a tough time keeping law and order situation under control. The law and order situation is likely to deteriorate as the ruling BNP and main opposition AL are preparing for street showdowns with their political programs after the BNP-led government tenure expires on October 27. Confrontations between the activists of the BNP and AL have already begun in many parts of the country and have every chance to grow violent if the ongoing dialogue fails to reach a consensus.

The main opposition AL has already directed its grassroots level leaders and the activists to get prepared and form action committees across the country to launch the last spell of agitation to press home its demands for reforms if the dialogue fails. BNP chairperson and prime minister, Khaleda Zia, has also directed her party high command to gear up the grassroots level leaders and activists to face the opposition politically. This is sure to put extra pressure on the CTG in their efforts to maintain law and order.

The unique system of CTG as enshrined in our constitution has drawn the attention of constitutional experts across the world. The matter lies with the members of the council of adviser to make the election free and fair as the general election 2007 is very crucial for the country in the rough political weather prevailing over last five years.

Bangladesh hovers close to a failed state status mostly because BNP and AL could not find a single agenda of bipartisan cooperation leading the country forward. There has been a common trait in the rules of BNP and AL that ignores the basic principles of democracy. The most unfortunate aspect of this trait is that each party has denied the other the legitimacy to rule the country accusing each other of manipulating the election results.

The nation now very eagerly hopes that the next CTG will take courageous steps to remove all the hurdles to holding a free and fair election while maintaining its neutrality. The CTG should also ascertain that the mainstream political parties do not indulge in vengeful politics once they are in the opposition. The culture of casting doubt on the election results, indulged in invariably by the defeated political parties, must be resisted.

ANM Nurul Haque is a columnist for The Daily Star.