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Editorial

Khaleda's threat to bring down the government

Does her rationale hold water?
9 May 2010, 18:00 PM
EDITORIAL
FRANKLY, Begum Zia's call to bring down the government has taken us by surprise. We are dismayed by her impatience to go back to power. It has been only sixteen months that the government has been in authority and certainly many of its policies merit criticism, but to seek a change in government through agitation at this point in time is bound to create a sense of uncertainty in people's mind. Nevertheless, her statements deserve consideration, come as they do from none other than the leader of the opposition. Her remarks fall under two categories. In the first is her criticism of the performance of the government, while in the second is her call to initiate movement against the government to cause its downfall. As for the first we feel that her criticism is valid. No doubt the government's performance has been less than satisfactory in certain areas. The student's front has been more than an embarrassment for the government, and appointment of judges as well as its plans to change ACC laws has conveyed a feeling of lack of opacity on its the part. It is also true that the government has not as yet been able to take concrete actions to increase the output of electricity, a matter that has indeed created much resentment in the minds of the people. But what Begum Zia has perhaps overlooked is the fact that some of the problems are the consequences of the appalling performance of her government and as such renders the rationale behind the criticisms bankrupt. In the power sector, for example, the present government is trying hard to contend with the legacy left behind by the BNP. There is lot to be said also about the opposition leader's assertion that people want change in government, and her call to start movement in order to it bring it down. It should not be forgotten that the only accepted method of change in a democratic system is through a general election, and it comes every five years, or a change brought about by an opposition win in a no-confidence motion in the parliament. It would be well for the opposition to remember that seeking change by means other than what is laid down in the constitution has very grave and sinister implications. We are not sure on what the BNP chairperson has based her argument that people have lost confidence in the government. Has her party undertaken an opinion poll before coming to that conclusion? It should, however, be acknowledged that the AL has lost some gloss since the massive mandate it got in December 2008, but that cannot be the reason why it should be forced to relinquish power through agitation and confrontation. The threat, to put it mildly, is unhelpful and undesirable in a democratic set up. While we welcome her statement on the trial of war criminals we are constrained to say that Begum Zia's stand on the issue is confusing to say the least. While she says that her party supports the idea, isn't her demand, to publish list of war criminals 'inside AL' first, a dilatory stand? If the leader of the opposition is aware of the identity of war criminals inside the ruling party we feel that she owes it to the nation to reveal the names and thereby help in the speedy conduct of the trial. Otherwise, one gets the impression that her stand is against the trial and a ploy to shield many Jamaat-e-Islam leaders, her major political allies, from being put in the dock for their crimes against humanity in 1971. The current political trend is perturbing. We feel that while the government must allow space to the opposition to play its due role the opposition must act in a more objective and balanced manner.

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