Mahfuz Anam
Prof Muhammad Yunus has put the election train on track with the option of reaching its destination either in December 2025 or in the first half of 2026. For a country that did not have a proper election for 15 years—three rigged elections in 2014, 2018 and 2024—a six-month time gap should not worry us much. But considering the overall situation, including the economy, lack of investment, law and order, and people’s eagerness to see an elected government and parliament installed as early as possible, we think Prof Yunus and his interim government should opt for the first of the two options he has suggested.
The main aim is to have both reforms and an election. Reforms, because we just cannot go back to the past practice of holding an election then allowing the winning party to do whatever it wishes, especially if it has a two-thirds majority. We must amend the constitution to restore checks and balances among the executive, legislative and judiciary, curtail the unilateral power of the prime minister, make the judiciary functionally independent, make the various statutory bodies like the National Human Rights Commission, Information Commission and Election Commission independent, make the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, etc autonomous, and ensure freedom of speech and of the media, among other things. A fundamental reform would be to make the parliament functional and enable it to hold the executive genuinely accountable.
However, as important and crucial as the reforms are, one cannot postpone the elections much further. We need to move away from a makeshift arrangement of an interim government to a more stable one of an elected government, fully backed by the constitution that will give the new government all the legality, legitimacy and prestige of any democratic government in the world. An election is necessary to restore the world’s faith in Bangladesh that we can wade through whatever challenges a situation may provide and still continue in the path of democracy. This is the most important thing to prove to the world.
Both can be achieved within the next 12 months.
All the main six reform committees, the most important ones as stated by the chief adviser himself, are scheduled to submit their reports by the end of 2024 or maximum by January next year. The chief adviser’s suggestion about the formation of a consensus commission is, in our view, a brilliant innovation that will help us move towards a stable future. The consensus commission will engage with all the political parties to reach consensus on which recommendations are to be implemented by the interim government—through ordinance—and which are to be left for the elected government. Achieving a consensus among all parties will be a major political goal, which has not been achieved since the all-party charter during the fall of the Ershad government in 1990. Since the chief adviser himself will chair the consensus commission, we feel confident that a positive outcome will certainly emerge.
Coming back to the timeline, if the commission starts its work following the submission of reports by December-January, the interim government will have nearly 10 months to move towards the election.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin said on Tuesday that the Election Commission has been preparing for the election from the day of their taking office, and it is ready to comply with the dates suggested by the chief adviser. He also said he would be able to complete updating of the voter list within the next two months. If the Election Commission goes for the more elaborate process of updating the voter list by doing a door-to-door verification process, it still should not take more than six or seven months, which will take us at best to July or August next year.
So, both in terms of the completion of the reform processes and in terms of preparation for the election, the coming 12 months appear sufficient from all counts to go for the polls. Also, the fact that the winter season has traditionally been preferred for holding the general elections because of the reduced prospect of natural disruptions like rain, floods, cyclones, etc must not be overlooked.
The actors in the political field today are Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, and numerous smaller political parties. The new entry, which is likely to be a significant player, is the political party of the student groups that played a decisive role in toppling the old regime. They have declared their intention of forming a political party within a very short time, with its own student wing.
BNP is the party waiting at the doorstep of assuming power. Therefore, its eagerness to push for the earliest timetable for the election is predictable. The speech by Tarique Rahman, the party’s acting chairman, on December 18, urging his party members to focus on “reforms and not revenge” deserves commendation. He further said, “If you want to respond to the injustice, oppression and suppression done to you, you should not imitate what they [Awami League] have done. If we do so, there will be no difference between them and us.” This is a highly refreshing and welcome position, and a very powerful and farsighted one.
Even before the submission of the constitutional commission’s recommendations, Tarique has said he and his party will recommend two terms for the prime minister, to be fixed by the constitution. As the person who may hold that position, if voted so, he was in fact putting restrictions on his own possible future tenure—a most appreciable and hitherto unprecedented gesture. He also expressed his support for a bicameral legislature for the future. Both these suggestions have far-reaching political consequences for us, and clearly shows that the acting chief of today’s BNP is thinking ahead.
The party’s 31-point programme, which was prepared some time ago, lays out clearly what the BNP proposes to do once in power. However, we are used to our political parties promising the moon before the election and then forgetting everything once in power. But given the July-August uprising, we hope things will be different this time.
Jamaat has extended a conditional support to the chief adviser’s polls plan, with the secretary general saying, “Despite our initial reluctance regarding the delay, we will remain patient as long as the chief adviser honours his commitment to hold elections… we are ready to cooperate with him.” This clearly shows that Jamaat is not in any hurry. The reason is obvious: the more time it gets, the more will Jamaat, as the second biggest party right now, be organised when the election comes.
It is our view that smaller parties will acquiesce to the chief adviser’s mid-2026 timeline as they may not expect too much from the election and are better off now in terms of being treated on an equal footing with all others.
Among the most interesting political developments that are likely is the new party planned by the students. It will be interesting to see them emerge as a political force, get voters’ support by joining the election, and participate in the governance process, being elected MPs. The new party may bring about a refreshing change in our political scene with new and bold ideas aimed at removing discriminations from our society. However, they would prefer more time to be able to organise themselves better, and hence are opposed to an early election.
Whatever the differing stances of various political parties may be, people in general would, we think, prefer to exercise their franchise to elect their government, something they have been deprived from for the last 15 years.
Daily Star
