Political developments
Photo: Iqbal Ahmed / Driknews
I think we had quite a number of news reports on the prospect of the election to be held in December 2008. I put them down as I consider them to be very disturbing to get a definite answer whether the election is going to be held on Dec 18 as announced. These are: a. One election commissioner has remarked in a press briefing that the "Election Commission would not be responsible if the election is delayed or postponed due to court verdict or otherwise on the pending writ of the delimitation issue". This sounds like abandoning your beloved child as you cannot afford to take care! My humble question to the Commission is : Why have you not dared to delimit the upazila boundary which has much more diversified and unequal demographic distribution ? You people want the upazila election at the cost of the general election which is the government's priority and not that of the political parties and of the people. b. A foreign diplomat has expressed the fear that the security situation is deteriorating as election dates are approaching. The acting secretary general of the AL is asking for better security of their leader now abroad for treatment. My question to them is : do you think that the state of emergency should be continued till the elections are over and a new government takes over ? How a free and fair election can be held under a state of emergency? c. The secretary general of the BNP is claiming that a level playing field has not yet been created, and some major issues on RPO are still not discussed with them and agreed to. The uncertainty of election is present here also. d. The spokesperson of the government has just returned from his foreign tour. As usual he has informed the nation that a few more rounds of dialogue would be arranged by the government. He has also told the reporters that the government was not in charge of the meeting between the two leaders, the two leaders would decide and the government might act as a facilitator. People may smell lot uncertainties in it. e. In the meantime, the CA has reiterated in a New York reception meeting his plan to hold election as announced. f. A very interesting talk show was aired by the Channel-i where they invited a former secretary to the government, known for his outspoken character and tough bureaucratic behaviour. The former secretary expressed his scepticism about the election. His view on the election arrangements, general election and upazila election, deserves serious consideration. He has given very brief but convincing reasons why the sequencing of election is wrong from the administrative point of view. My comment is : if the government does not listen to these new developments as mentioned above, that would only demonstrate their careless approach.
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