Vote for whom?

How do the voters would make their choice in that case, as they know these political opportunists are out there to grab power and amass wealth at the cost of the teeming millions. The legislators become billionaires overnight in a country where 70 percent of the population live below poverty line. Is there no respite to such situation or any other avenue so that the nation can get rid of such elements ?

With four advisers resignation due to their admission that they could no longer work towards the creation of an environment for a free and fair election, the crisis has further deepened. Bangladeshis at home and abroad are getting increasingly disillusioned to witness how rapidly the constitutional democracy in Bangladesh is bursting at the seams and the holes are getting bigger by the day.

The assumption by the President of the role of Chief Adviser and his constant failure to separate his role as President from that of CA is fueling this crisis. As CA, he is required to act on the basis of either consensus or the majority decision of his team of advisers. But he has been mostly doing just the opposite with his " go alone" approach. The President and Chief Adviser has proved thoroughly incapable of working as the team leader of a cabinet of ten advisers. Many critical decisions that the cabinet took were not fully backed by the Chief Adviser. Alternatively, many decisions which the CA took were either not endorsed by his cabinet or were not even discussed with them.

We still hope that the President will change his approach and the conditions for a free and fair election can be established and sustained. However, if such hope is only a dream, the President should voluntarily give up the post of CA to save the nation from further agony and force the two major political alliances to agree to a consensus candidate to be appointed as Chief Adviser without any delay. Meanwhile, when he consults with our warring politicians, he should make a reference to the Supreme Court to seek its opinion on the extension of time for conducting a free and fair election. He may specifically refer the issue of calculating the time of three months from the date of appointment of a Chief Adviser based on his consultation with major political groups.

Holding election within 90 days will be laudable. But if such election repeats the experience of 1995 election and throws the country into further crisis, it may be wiser to rethink the constitutional requirement in the context of exceptional circumstances. It is also possible that the country has to review afresh the institutions of governance after this election and has to make extensive constitutional elaborations and amendments if our democracy has to survive. Taking into consideration this possibility, one time exception of time extension due to extraordinary circumstances may be endorsed by the Supreme Court. Acting in conformity with the constitution is important. But more important is the survival and preservation of the integrity and transparency of the democratic system guaranteed by our constitution.

Professor A.T. R. Rahman,

City University of New York, USA