Caretaker Government Sysytem Must Not Be Banned

Caretaker Government System must not Be Voided from the Constitution In the year 1996, under huge political pressure from the major opposition party the Awami league, the then government ruled by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) introduced the caretaker government system in Bangladesh constitution by making the 13th amendment. The summary of the amendment was that the head of the Caretaker government will be called the Chief Adviser and will be selected by the President and the main objective of the caretaker government will be to create an environment in which an election can be held in a free and fair manner without any political influence of the outgoing government. After the amendment was made in the constitution, an election was held under caretaker government the same year and Awami league won the election. Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman was the chief adviser at that time and led the election. However, after two long term gaps, in 2008, when Awami league again became the government of the country, since then they are trying to demolish the 13th amendment from the constitution. From my point of view, caretaker government system must be voided from the constitution of Bangladesh as the present government is strong enough to conduct a peaceful and fair election, the Election Commission is very sure about giving clear and acceptable results and there would be no mishaps regarding elections as there would be more law enforcement people working and law implementation. In 40 years of independence, Bangladesh has experienced the leadership of a few but major political parties. However, the matter of regret is that the existing political parties which successfully gained the trust of people could not gain the trust of each other. It is one of the sole reasons of introducing the caretaker government system in the constitution of Bangladesh. The cause is, as a lack of trust in each other, the political parties do not want to have the national election under the rule of another political party. Noted Jurist Barrister Rafiqul haque in a press briefing clearly stated, â€Å"Holding the national election under a neutral caretaker government is a must for Bangladesh as both the major political parties do not have the trust in each other. † He said, â€Å"The country’s political situation will be more volatile if the caretaker government system is dropped from the constitution. † It is ironic that political parties who brought in the caretaker government provisions in the constitution in 1996 to ensure free and fair general elections have rendered the system controversial over the years. As the major political parties do not have faith in each other, the caretaker government system is the only option for conducting a clear and peaceful election. If we look into the political history of Bangladesh we can see that whenever a parliamentary election has been hold by a political government and under its Election Commission, there was always a question of transparency and acceptability of election results. In one hand, where the present chief Election Commissioner, Mr. ATM Shamsul Huda is deliberately saying in every press briefing, â€Å" We are able to conduct a fair election and publish a authentic result†, the past few incidents regarding ‘Municipal and Union election’ shows the story of other hand. There have been enormous reports published in newspapers regarding ‘Municipal and Union election’ which have taken place very recently that the Election Commission’s authorized persons have intentionally made the persons winners who were the supporters of the present government. Reports in the newspaper mentioned about places like Narayangonj, Bikrampur, Gopalgonj and some other also. If in ‘Municipal and Union’ elections, these types of incidents took place then surely the National parliamentary Election held under this Election Commission will be nothing but a stage show. At present, the whole statements of the Chief Election Commissioner have become self-contradictory. They are saying something in front of the public and doing something else behind. If this election commission conducts the National parliamentary Election, definitely the countrymen will never have fair and authentic results of the election and it will cause a number of disastrous incidents. Therefore, a caretaker government is immensely needed for fair and acceptable results in the elections of Bangladesh. The statement made by our Home Minister ADV. Sahara Khatun regarding our law enforcement departments was that the Police is doing a great job. According to her, the police is successfully controlling all the mishaps and doing no arm to the people. What about the people who speak on behalf of the people? On the strike of 10th July 2011 for caretaker government, called upon by the opposition parties, all the people of Bangladesh and people all over saw how opposition party’s chief whip Jainal Abedin Faruk was almost beaten to death. He was pulled vigorously in the streets by the police. When he tried to save his skin and ran, all the police on the scene ag ain got all over him and started to kick him and beat him with sticks. The intellectuals, the civil society all mentioned it as a disgrace to the country’s reputation. Here lies the story of our police force and the government when the opposition party is speaking on behalf of the people for caretaker government. This is truly unexpected and in a way this incident violates the democratic rights of a country. Another story of success I would like to write about is the opposition parties of our country, who are now speaking highly in support of caretaker government. For re-establishing the caretaker government system, the main opposition parties are now calling on strikes every now and then. Undoubtedly, they do it on behalf of the people and for the betterment of country’s political future and condition of people. However, they forget what common people go through when everything is closed. Day laborers, whose earning depends on a day’s work, cannot manage the necessary items for their families. 24 hours strike means, the country is fully closed for 24 hours. This includes market of common goods too. As a result, the prices of commodities rise up, making it beyond the reach of the hard life of common people. The two stories of success which I mentioned above are not supposed to take any support of any political parties. The main reason was to state that in every way these two incidents are unexpected and disgraceful for the country’s political history. The point is all these stories leads to the cause of one thing and one thing only and that is re-establishing the caretaker government system. Therefore, in order to minimize these kinds of incidents caretaker government system must be re-introduced. In Democracy, all in all there is truly no place for systems like caretaker government. However, the fact is, our country has gone through so much political instability and crisis that none of the political parties have any positive attitude and support for each other. M. Abdul Latif Mondal, former secretary, said that people will remember how Awami League agiated for introducing the caretaker government system in Bangladesh with relentless ‘Hartals’. Now, they are just turning their back to it and want to do the national election under their supervision. They did not even try to give any solid reasons why they want to demolish the system of caretaker government. The Supreme Court in suggestion clearly stated that for the sake of ‘peace’ and public interest, elections ‘may’ be held under the 13th amendment for the next two terms. Sadly, the government did not bother to take the suggestion. Dr. Kamal Hossain, renowned law maker of the country commented it as a sign of insincerity and political opportunism of the present government. All these actions of the ruling party sent the opposition parties to the brink where they have no choice but to stand up for reasons. In addition, the inexplicable hurry to do away with the caretaker government, even though the next election is two and a half years away, raises questions and doubts about the government. The caretaker government system was formed in Bangladesh only to conduct the election by 90 days. It has no power to bring any change in the constitution nor, to change the laws of the country but to do the normal daily works of the government and maintain the protocols. Therefore, for the sake of public trust and a transparent election, the caretaker government system must go on. As a democratic country, every political party in Bangladesh along with the people has the right to say for or against any issue of the country. Therefore, if the major political parties, intellectuals are opposing the decision of government regarding voiding the caretaker government system from the constitution of Bangladesh, it has to be re-considered again. It does not have to be a one-sided decision by the government as it is a matter of a country’s political future and stability. Therefore, the caretaker government system must be continued for a peaceful and fair election, for clear and satisfactory results of the election and for minimizing unexpected incidents. References Karim Tariq A. (January 2007). Bangladesh at the Crossroads. United States Institute of Peace. http://www. usip. org/files/resources/sr181. pdf M. Abdul Latif Mondal (December 23, 2004). Political Parties and Non-party Caretaker Government. [Electronic version]. EBSCOHost. Dr. Kamal (March 22, 2011). Caretaker Govt. should stay. Daily New Age. Hasan Ur Rashid (April 9, 2011) Do we need a caretaker government? Editorial. The Daily Star. Barrister Rafiqul Haque (April 22, 2011), in his own words [television series episode]. Tritio Matra. Channel I. http://www. banglapedia. org/httpdocs/HT/C_0041. HTML