Readers Respond
Here are some comments that came in response to Sunday's The Daily Star news report headlined “AL, BNP shift a little, show some hope”
Rezaul Karim
True power lies with the people. So the government must resolve the crisis immediately. Mayen Uddin Tazim, former Advisor, UNDP
Both parties can take the Ninian's theory of interim government system which was given in 1994. A cabinet of the interim government can be formed with the participation of all 11-15 members from the different parties who will be responsible for holding a fair election in assisting the election commissioner. It is noted that Ninian came to Dhaka in October 1994 as a special envoy from the then-Commonwealth secretary general to break the political impasse between the then-ruling BNP and the AL-led opposition over introduction of a caretaker government system. Banoo
Cheers to Blake for putting some heat to melt the ice. Neutral and non-partisan government is the main issue. Call it by any decent name. But what will you do about the Election Commission? The selected Chief Election Commissioner has a reputation of being a good man but a very weak one and the other members are connected to the ruling party. How do we make EC really non-partisan and neutral? The appointment and transfer of government officers who can influence elections in favour of the ruling party has always been an issue. Please think about all of this as a composite for a neutral election. Reaz Hassan
The truth is, we are not yet fit to hold general elections under a party government. We are too selfish and greedy to allow free, fair and credible election that might usher in a new government. Under a party government, all the state machinery would be effectively used to ensure incumbent's victory. Even the last Election Commission felt that elections under party government would be problematic. The interim government, caretaker or by whatever name we may call it, must essentially be there, if possible for a period of four months or so. A slightly longer tenure is recommended for undoing the administrative set up of the last government and for the new officials to understand the hang of things. Hope things will be sorted out soon and we will be out of this quagmire of uncertainties. Kabir Choudhury
It is the responsibility of the government to bring back a neutral and non-partisan government during the time of election. It is the ruling party who created the problem and it is its responsibility to solve it. Dr. Ahsan Habib
Both AL and BNP have successfully kept the issue alive for the last three years, diverting the attention of people from real issues and the Bangladeshi press and people treated it as a major issue. I feel sorry for us who are being treated as puppets by these two dominating political parties. Nasirullah Mridha, USA
At last BNP and AL are going off at a tangent. Both are stickler for their respective opinions. Whether it is called a non-party government or CTG system, majority people want to see a fair, free, credible and violence-free election. Both AL and BNP should come across the table and narrow down their wide differences on national issues burying their petty parochial interests.
True power lies with the people. So the government must resolve the crisis immediately. Mayen Uddin Tazim, former Advisor, UNDP
Both parties can take the Ninian's theory of interim government system which was given in 1994. A cabinet of the interim government can be formed with the participation of all 11-15 members from the different parties who will be responsible for holding a fair election in assisting the election commissioner. It is noted that Ninian came to Dhaka in October 1994 as a special envoy from the then-Commonwealth secretary general to break the political impasse between the then-ruling BNP and the AL-led opposition over introduction of a caretaker government system. Banoo
Cheers to Blake for putting some heat to melt the ice. Neutral and non-partisan government is the main issue. Call it by any decent name. But what will you do about the Election Commission? The selected Chief Election Commissioner has a reputation of being a good man but a very weak one and the other members are connected to the ruling party. How do we make EC really non-partisan and neutral? The appointment and transfer of government officers who can influence elections in favour of the ruling party has always been an issue. Please think about all of this as a composite for a neutral election. Reaz Hassan
The truth is, we are not yet fit to hold general elections under a party government. We are too selfish and greedy to allow free, fair and credible election that might usher in a new government. Under a party government, all the state machinery would be effectively used to ensure incumbent's victory. Even the last Election Commission felt that elections under party government would be problematic. The interim government, caretaker or by whatever name we may call it, must essentially be there, if possible for a period of four months or so. A slightly longer tenure is recommended for undoing the administrative set up of the last government and for the new officials to understand the hang of things. Hope things will be sorted out soon and we will be out of this quagmire of uncertainties. Kabir Choudhury
It is the responsibility of the government to bring back a neutral and non-partisan government during the time of election. It is the ruling party who created the problem and it is its responsibility to solve it. Dr. Ahsan Habib
Both AL and BNP have successfully kept the issue alive for the last three years, diverting the attention of people from real issues and the Bangladeshi press and people treated it as a major issue. I feel sorry for us who are being treated as puppets by these two dominating political parties. Nasirullah Mridha, USA
At last BNP and AL are going off at a tangent. Both are stickler for their respective opinions. Whether it is called a non-party government or CTG system, majority people want to see a fair, free, credible and violence-free election. Both AL and BNP should come across the table and narrow down their wide differences on national issues burying their petty parochial interests.
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