Hark, what they say, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

      —Benjamin Disraeli

The elections of the City Corporations held in Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barisal and Gazipur have given a severe blow to the collective leadership of Awami League in particular and to the 14-party alliance in general. Of these 14 parties, the fallen president Hussain Muhammad Ershad of Jatiya Party has suffered damages which will not be repairable in future although he claims in loud voice that people want to see him back to power.

Kader Siddiqui has further stated that in the event of a unified Dhaka City Corporation Election, if Sheikh Hasina becomes a candidate for the post of Mayor of DCC, she would not be elected.

Khaleda Zia, Chairperson of BNP, has ridiculed Tofail Ahmed, one of the senior most leaders of Awami League by saying that Gopalgonj may become the Gazipur for Awami League in the next general election in case the elections are fair.

Khaleda Zia, Chairperson of BNP, has ridiculed Tofail Ahmed, one of the senior most leaders of Awami League by saying that Gopalgonj may become the Gazipur for Awami League in the next general election in case the elections are fair.

Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate has shown his dignified manners and extreme patience despite provocative and insulting statements against him and also against the Grameen Bank, his brain child, now replicated in all the continents including America. He has now taken up the gauntlet against government’s attempt to dismember the Grameen Bank into 19 pieces and has said that so long he is alive he will not allow this to happen. Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus is head and shoulder above in intellect, honesty, vision and ability. Those who have used intemperate, arrogant and objectionable expressions against Dr. Muhammad Yunus are the minions in the present government including Abul Maal Abul Muhith, Syed Ashraful Islam, Mahbubul Haque Hanif and other small leaders of nondescript type from Awami League.

Now look at the change in the scenario of Bangladesh politics. Hussain Mohammad Ershed, the fallen President, former President Dr. Badruduzza Chowdhury, Banga Bir Kader Siddiqui, Krishak Sramik Janata League (KSJL) and President ASM Abdur Rab, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), BNP, Dr. Oli Ahad of Liberal Democratic Party and many more political leaders have stood against the government effort to dividing the Grameen Bank and are supporting Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

This did not happen before the results of the five City Corporation Elections were published and the Awami League backed candidates lost miserably.

In the face of the present political situation, 84.00 lakh shareholders of Grameen Bank, 34.00 lakh people who lost their money in the share market scam and the disheartened garment workers who are always agitating for proper pay, salary and working conditions, due to the absence of which the US Government has suspended the GSP facility for Bangladesh and hundreds of oppressed people who have lost their kith and keen during the last few months of government’s brutal attacks on civilians to control the political demonstrations of various opposition parties, the electorates are agitated.

Suranjit Sen Gupta, MP, a Minister without portfolio, who has tried to catch the black cat in the Railway Ministry but failed, is conspicuously silent after the Gazipur debacle although he was until recently flying a political kite to connect some constitutional provisions to justify that the government of Sheikh Hasina could continue. I do not know if Suranjit Sen is a practising constitutional lawyer but I doubt if he is honest in his opinion in constitutional matters. If he were, he would have advised the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that there is no way that the government of 14-party alliance can continue without a general election which is due in the next few months.

In this connection the constitutional provision is reproduced below:

“72. (3) Unless sooner dissolved by the President, Parliament shall stand dissolved on the expiration of the period of five years from the date of its first meeting:

Provided that at any time when the Republic is engaged in war the period may be extended by Act of Parliament by not more than one year at a time but shall not be so extended beyond six months after the termination of the war.”

Abul Hossain, who has been named in the World Bank report to be involved in corruption in connection with the financing of World Bank for the Proposed Padma Bridge. Khaleda Zia has been blamed by the Prime Minister for the suspension of the GSP facility to Bangladesh by the USA because she wrote an article in the Washington Post and recommended for the suspension of the GSP facility. Khaleda Zia denied the charge and said that she did not write the article. The Prime Minister has advised her to sue the newspaper. But has not advised Abul Hossain to sue the World Bank for falsely implicating him in the matter. Instead she said that Abul Hossain is a patriot. Abul Hossain has started a deluge of advertorials through the Bangladeshi Newspaper spending huge amount of money to convince the citizens of this country that he is honest.

It appears that the government has been shaken badly due to the humiliating results of the City Corporations and they are now loosening their grips on some of the leading criminal cases mainly the case against Limon. The Home Minister has announced that they would not pursue the cases against Limon. The case against the murder of Bishwajit, a member of the minority community, by profession a tailor, is being expedited as it is being handled by the speedy trial court.

This shows some realization in the government. But the memory of the people about the two cases mentioned above and also many other cases of disappearance, murders, hijacking etc. are very green in the mind of the people who will be reminded by opposition parties about these cases when elections are held in the near future.

It is relevant to mention here that the present parliament will be dissolved, as stated by Tofail Ahmed by October 25, 2013.

Sheikh Hasina Wazed very often mentions that the elections to the next parliament will be held not under the Caretaker Government as demanded by BNP but under the Westminister style. People say that Bangladesh has not achieved the political maturity to have a British type of election; rather our elections are fought through election-rigging and election engineering. The political goons of both the party in position and the party in opposition are trained and paid to have this kind of election.

The bastions of Awami League have fallen in various parts of the country and Awami League is afraid of the results to come but AL should remember that no political bastion built on arrogance, authoritarian rule and bad public speaking has survived in the world and there are many instances in the world.

Due to the constant haranguing by the Prime Minister on some of her pet subjects such as liberation war, war crime trials, oppositions demand and mudslinging either by the Prime Minister or by the immature ministers and advisors and political touts of her party, many people have started saying that Dr. Muhammad Yunus will be long remembered after the death of Sheikh Hasina Wazed, Abul Maal Abul Muhith, Syed Ashraful Islam and other minor leaders as Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a World Icon. He has reached a stature where none of our present-day leaders will ever attain in their life time.

Sheikh Hasina says that the spirit of liberation war must be upheld. I thank her for this but the spirit of liberation does not go by her definition and by her vision as because her vision is narrowed by her dynastic consideration and she did not fight in any war theatrer in 1971. So to keep this spirit of liberation war ideals high in the minds of the countrymen: Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhist, Tribals et al she should develop understanding with all the political and social parties of major kind and solve the present political impasse which people of the country demand as has been manifested in the 5 city corporation elections because the country belongs to the people and not to the political party(s). People’s will is final, whether it is in keeping with the constitution or it needs amendment of the constitution.

Source: Weekly Holiday