Faruque Ahmed
The election schedules as announced by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rokibuddin Ahmed last week fixing January 5 as the date for election to the 10th Parliament sidetracking the BNP-led major opposition which has sparked widespread protest throughout the country.
The present crisis is the lone creation of the CEC who can otherwise wait and act to see the parties to reach a compromise. But by acting on political line of the ruling party he has rather pushed the country to violence and people believe that all responsibility of deaths of common people and destruction of public and private properties will now squarely lie on him.
The CEC’s action, described as farcical by many political observers to facilitate the ruling party politics to hold a stage- managed election to bring the government back to power, has thus prompted BNP and its allies to impose the nationwide blockade from early Tuesday morning.
Report said 15 people were killed in the first two days violence throughout the country including a BGB member, in addition to over several hundred injured including policemen. To further destabilize the situation the government has lodged cases against several thousands more, while about half a dozen senior BNP leaders are languishing behind bars while the CEC has taken the new move to implement the government plan to hold a farcical election.
The opposition has meanwhile extended the initial two-day blockade to four days up to Friday evening and we are afraid more lives will be lost and properties destroyed during this extended blockade period.
The nation is at a loss as to why the CEC has pushed the nation to the brink of a total chaos and destabilization. He could have followed the independent role of the constitutional body to ensure all parties are taking part in the polls before announcing the election schedules to make free, fair and acceptable at home and abroad.
Questions have now arisen as to why he has abandoned the constitutional responsibility to act as the constitutional vanguard of the nation. Why he has abandoned the independence and neutrality of the Election Commission. The EC is entrusted to hold the national election, not a party election or work for a party to bring it back to power. But the EC’s decision has proved that he has abandoned the need for the participation of the major opposition without which he knows better than others that the election will not be acceptable to any quarters.
Moreover, it appears that he is not bothered also if at least 25 other registered political parties are not taking part in the election while only four parties from the 14-party coalition are moving ahead to hold the farcical polls and the EC is acting accordingly.
CEC Rokibuddin Ahmed has claimed that the EC and he as an individual have already proved its neutrality by holding local elections and City Corporations election. So there is no reason why BNP and other opposition parties should not trust in him. Is not he aware that even 30 thousand elections are not equivalent to the election of a Member of Parliament?
But many people term his claim as unabashed because his every action is proving that he is bent upon implementing the election blueprint of the ruling party by holding a stage-managed election. As the severity of the blockade has already snapped rail, road and river communication, the EC hinted that they would go for early deployment of army to beat back the blockade. Political observers said it would not only destroy army’s neutrality, it has further exposed the one sided role of the EC in facing the opposition. Earlier he had always declined BNP’s demand for deployment of army to supervise election.
Dr Kamal Hossain has blamed the Election Commission for amending and remodelling the election laws, code of conduct and for its failure to ensure a level playing field for the opposition to take part in the polls. For any viable election these must be amended, and moreover the EC should vacate to form a neutral election commission, he has said.
Observers say there is a big section of ruling party MPs, retired bureaucrats and rogue political elements who rose to party leadership using black money and misuse of power and they believe if free and fair election is held they have no chance to win. They are opposed to a compromise to allow BNP to take part in the election.
People moreover believe, if the EC had played its constitutional role and proved tough, it could secure a compromise formula for BNP’s participation in the polls. But instead, he is reported to have announced the polls schedules in a rather haste not giving dialogue a chance acting on pressure from that vested ruling party quarters.
It appears that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is also lending support to that section which may have convinced her of the opportunity to destroy BNP now next to Jamaat as part of destroying any viable opposition to the ruling party in near future.
It appears that CEC is working in a way which will destroy democracy and create the situation in which Awami League may be able to establish a virtual one-party rule in the country.
The left leaning parties within the government is pushing the unilateral election as a ‘democratic way’ establishing the one-party rule destroying the political parties which take inspirations from religion.
These are political matters and the people will vote for parties to make decision and chart out the future of the nation, but election engineering has appeared now as the biggest strategic game and by allowing the EC to step into that game, the CEC has in fact not only betrayed his oath to the nation, he is working to destroy the constitutional body which was supposed to act as the vanguard to hold free, fair and credible election.
Source: Weekly Holiday
