System for peaceful transition of power has collapsed
Eminent citizens have said annulment of caretaker government through fifteenth amendment of the constitution has shattered the system of peaceful transition of power. They also questioned the acceptability and constitutional legitimacy of the fifteenth amendment. The amendment was made to cling to power by holding national elections under a partisan government. As a result, two lopsided elections were held in 2014 and 2018 creating crisis of democracy and good governance.
Speakers made these observations at a webinar titled ‘(Mal) politics of amending the constitution’. Forum for Bangladesh Studies held the webinar on Saturday morning.
Delivering keynote speech, Shusasoner Jonno Nagaraik (SHUJAN) secretary Badiul Alam Majumder said caretaker government system was a popular and settled system and achieved through a long movement. Caretaker government conducted free and fair national elections in 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2008. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in a summary verdict on 10 May 2011 made provision to allow the tenth and eleventh parliamentary elections to be held under caretaker system. The parliament, however, passed the fifteenth amendment on 30 June 2011 before the full verdict was published which was a flagrant conflict of interest.
The keynote paper said the fifteenth amendment did not reflect peoples’ will and aspirations as there was no plebiscite on the issue. Opinions of amicus curie and experts were flouted while opinion of the opposition was not heard. The amendment was passed misconstruing the court order. The ruling party has weaponised the law by repealing the thirteenth amendment regarding the caretaker government.
Badiul Alam Majumder said in most of the cases the political process that was followed during amendment of constitution 17 times was not acceptable. A free, fair and credible election is needed to come out of existing political crises but only an election is not enough and rather a political solution is required for sustainable solution.
Supreme Court lawyer said it is the people who suffered most due to the verdict on thirteenth amendment. It has destroyed the possibility of peaceful transition of power and political system. Nobody knows how long this damage would continue. He said the verdict repealing the thirteenth amendment was given hastily on illogical grounds flouting the opinion of amicus curies.
Former professor of Dhaka University’s law department Ridwanul Haque said the main crisis in Bangladesh right now is lack of a system of peaceful transition of power as the environment conducive to hold a free and fair election has remained absent since 2014.
Researcher Abida Aziz Khan said the two main parties have opposed caretaker government system when they were in power. BNP government made the caretaker system controversial by increasing the serving age of the Supreme Court judges while Awami League rescinded the caretaker government banking on a summary judgment.