Editorial
Government-parties' informal dialogue
The move should yield results
WE welcome the channels of communication that have been opened between the caretaker government and the political parties. It is a good sign that the government has been talking to the Awami League and has also invited the two factions of the BNP to the dialogue. Though as yet these channels are operating on an informal level, we are quite encouraged by the fact that at long last the government has in its wisdom realised that dealing directly with the political parties is the most effective way of handling the issues confronting the country. A whole range of issues, namely, electoral reforms, polls schedule, effective participation in the elections by the parties, et al, need to be thrashed out. Even though it remains our feeling that the move should have come earlier, we feel that with elections having been promised for December this year, contacts between the government and the parties assume a sense of urgency given the limited time at their disposal.
One must note, at this point, that the agenda before the government and the parties is as heavy as it is intense. With all the developments that have occurred in the political arena since the imposition of the state of emergency in January last year, it makes sense to argue that a conceptual clarity of how the nation proceeds from here is important. Since free and transparent general elections and a transfer of power back to an elected government remain the goal of both the government and the political parties, we cannot but expect the informal dialogue between the two sides to clear the path to a formal dialogue. Both the government and the parties need to be accommodative, keeping the national interest in mind. That ought not to be a hard job given that the government has repeatedly committed itself to a sure and scheduled holding of the elections. Moreover, a paramount need for stability and normality requires that the nation give itself an elected government at the earliest. There is a need today to bridge the gap between the ground situation and the commitment of the government to its electoral agenda.
Let it be pointed out in this context that the talks between the government and the political parties should proceed without any strings attached. The objective, as the nation by and large has noted, is to ensure a smooth return to good and purposeful government. We also note that there cannot be any return to the situation which vitiated politics in the pre-emergency period. Such a condition will not be desirable at all.
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