Caretaker government

They spend crores of taka during election, sympathise with the members of public for their manifold problems and sufferings, make promises and give assurances for removal of their grievances and hardship. The political leaders go door-to-door for votes.

Once elected as member of the union council, ward commissioner, mayor, MP or appointed as minister they are totally changed persons, they consider themselves super men/women, and suffer from superiority complex, hate to meet the members of public, keep themselves busy in attending receptions, conferences, state functions and visiting foreign countries. They do not have time to grant interview to people to discuss their problems.

But if they are defeated in the election they blame and criticise their opponents for malpractice, irregularities and vote rigging. They give hartal calls!

These are the common scenes in our country, no matter which political leader or political party wins the election or which party comes to power.

On the eve of the general elections 2007, many of our political leaders are asking for appointment of a new Chief Election Commissioner and reform to the caretaker government system.

We would request all concerned including the 4-party alliance government led by BNP Chairperson Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, 14-party alliance led by Opposition leader and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina, Gano Forum leader Dr Kamal Hossain and Bikalpa Dhara leader Dr. Badruddoza Chowdhury to discuss the issues and arrive at a consensus in the greater interest of the country.

We can't forget the despicable attitude of the policy-makers towards the power starved people. People were " outraged by outage ", but to our utter disappointment, the message didn't reach the prime minister. She is busy making a political strategy for the next general elections. The energy crisis could not convince the government that it had to do something to boost power generation. So, there has been agitation and violence across the country.

The present government didn't take a single step to set up any new power generation plant. Rather, they increased the number of consumers in an unplanned way. When all this was happening, police pounced on general people.

This is not how an important sector can be run.

K Hasan , Jalalabad, Sylhet

The nation is heaving a sigh of relief at the progress and prospect of a dialogue between the BNP and the AL. However, one cannot feel comfortable listening to the interview of the Jamaat Secretary General with the BBC Bengali service. In my judgement, his comments are enough to create a deadlock in the proposed and agreed dialogue between the BNP and the AL. If the Jamaat is considered a major political party and force in Bangladesh, why can't the Jamaat fight election on their own? Let us see how much popularity the Jamaat is enjoying. I think it is high time to test the popularity of the Jamaat both in the interest of the BNP and the Jamaat.

By the way, I would be interested to see the election manifesto of the Jamaat if they have one.

A Reader, On e-mail

I feel sorry for the common people of Bangladesh, the way they are duped by the ruling class (BNP or AL). The power crisis has been going on for more than a decade. Neither party has done anything to alleviate the problem. And both claim to be working hard for the common people.

Shame on these leaders! What a pathetic picture of Sonar Bangla we have now!

It is time to remove these so-called politicians and have a new leadership to lead the country out of its misery.

Javed Iqbal, New York, USA

If the Awami League is confident of winning the elections, if may reform the caretaker government system and the Election Commission as per its wishes after coming to power.

But it cannot create a political crisis in the country on the plea of reforming the caretaker government system and the Election Commission before the next general elections.

SN Hossain, Uttara, Dhaka

The BNP government is about to hand over power to a neutral (?) caretaker government. We have been told all along that the caretaker government has no authority but to conduct a fair and free election. I am pleased and hopeful to hear what Dr. Yunus and others are saying about the authority of caretaker government. The caretaker government must make necessary electoral reform and revise election rules to make the upcoming election a meaningful exercise of democracy. The inept Election Commission or the ruling party, for that matter, will do nothing.

Once the caretaker government gets down to the business of making these needed electoral reform and update the election rules, I would request them to make another change to the election laws that no one talks about. In Bangladesh one is allowed to run for Member of Parliament from more than one constituency. Some of our politicians actually contest from as many as four or five constituencies. Needless to say, almost all of these politicians live full time in Dhaka and have nothing to do with these constituencies until election time. They do not have any residence in many of these constituencies, nor do they have anything to do with the lives of the people they claim to represent.

Is this what the framers of the Constitution had in mind? This joke in the name of democracy should be stopped.

Siraj Haque, Houston, Texas, USA