Editorial
Change of mind by BNP and Jamaat
Let the move contribute to credible elections
WE welcome the decision by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami to bring about the necessary changes in their party constitutions and, by extension, their organisational structures. The move, which the parties made separately, should now facilitate the process of their registration with the Election Commission. The decision has surely been a matter of relief and has removed the tension which lately had taken hold of the nation owing to the earlier intransigence of the parties regarding the registration issue. Even as we applaud this change of mind, we are constrained to point out that the BNP and the Jamaat, had they done earlier what they now have done, could have spared the country the uncertainty it had been put through all this while.
The decision by the two parties to revise their party constitutions is significant. Where the BNP is concerned, a salient feature of the change is that the party chairperson will no more possess the absolute powers she has so long enjoyed, given that henceforth the executive and standing committees of the BNP will now be chosen by a party council. However, what yet remains to be seen is to what extent the chairperson will allow intra-party democracy and how much freedom others will have in challenging her decisions and wishes. That said, we note that the Jamaat, which has so long been averse to according any significance to temporal authority in matters of politics, has now come round to the idea of recognising 'people's sovereignty', in democracy, and in 'establishing a fair and just Islamic society'. Of bigger importance is the Jamaat's acknowledgement of the War of Liberation in 1971 and the sacrifices made by the nation in the struggle against Pakistan, with which country the party had thrown in its lot in 1971. The Jamaat now needs to convince the nation, by clear deeds, that it is sincere about its new-found stand on national politics.
Be that as it may, we now trust that both the BNP and Jamaat, having for these past many weeks adamantly defied the call for registration, will now contribute to a holding of meaningful general elections in the country. It is for them to persuade people into believing that their change of mind has not been a move made grudgingly or is a stratagem to be part of the electoral process. For the country, it is crucial that the elections promised for December be held on schedule and in a credible manner. For that to happen, the full, unambiguous and spontaneous participation of all parties in the voting is a clear and present need.
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