The AL response

It's good news that the AL chief Sheikh Hasina met with President Iajuddin Ahmed yesterday and let him know her party's position on the key issues. She also requested the president to give her 24 hours for submitting the names of her party's nominees for the panel of advisors who will constitute the caretaker government. It has transpired that the AL has demanded, as it always has, the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner MA Aziz. This newspaper took the same position that he had lost the moral authority to run the EC, particularly after both the High Court and the Supreme Court found his decision to go for a new voter list to be wrong. However, the CEC is holding a constitutional post and the president can only persuade him to quit.

The political parties have to realise that the caretaker government doesn't belong to any party or individual; it's a stopgap arrangement having the sole objective of holding a free and fair election. Again, the attainment of the goal will depend largely on the role of political parties. So, the AL has rightly decided to participate in the new process and occupy its due place in it. To continue the fight against the BNP much the same way as the party did over the last five years could not be the right thing to do under the different circumstances prevailing now.

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The country has already paid a heavy price for the political confrontation between the two major parties. They tried to outmaneuver each other in every possible way, while citizens were reduced to helpless bystanders. Finally, the showdown that began last Saturday crossed all limits. Now, the nation is waiting for the political parties, led by the BNP and the AL, to steer it out of the present crisis through taking a constructive path.