Why is BNP not happy with Dr Yunus' speech?

Chief advisor Dr Muhammad Yunus, in his speech delivered on the occasion of 100 days of the interim government, said that with the formation of the election commission, the electoral train had begun its journey. This will not stop.

Even after this assurance from the chief advisor, the political parties and people from various strata remained apprehensive and uncertain concerning the election. Many raised the question, why is the government not announcing a possible date for the election?

The political parties, BNP in particular, have almost every day been pressurising the government to come up with an election roadmap. And the advisors were coming up with all sorts of hints and allusions.

We had assumed that after the reports of the six reform commissions were submitted by 31 December, the people would perhaps get good tidings about the election by the beginning of this year. But in his speech delivered on 16 December, on the occasion of Victory Day, the chief advisor came up with a speculative timeframe. He said, "The national election will be held sometime between the end of the coming year 2025 and the first half of 2026."

But the chief advisor had its "ifs" and "buts" here too. He said, "If it is possible to carry out a few reforms and hold the election based on the creation of an accurate voters' list, then perhaps it will be possible to hold the election towards the end of 2025. But it may take an additional six months if reforms of the electoral process and the election reform commission's recommendations based on national consensus are taken into consideration. Broadly speaking, the election will be held between the end of 2025 and the first half of 2026."

BNP was not pleased with the chief advisor's speech. BNP's standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmad said that the chief advisor had given an idea of when the election could be held. But there was no clear roadmap. It was not made clear in the chief advisor's speech in which sectors reforms would be carried out and how much time would be required. Leader of Rastra Sangskar Andolan, coordinator Hasnat Qayyum, said the government should come up with a reform roadmap before the election.

Greeting the people on the occasion of Victory Day, Professor Yunus said, "The first important task is to update the voter list. This in itself is a difficult task. This has become even more difficult because the voters did not get a chance to participate in the last three elections."        

The task is really not all that difficult. A member of the election reforms commission said every citizen of 18 years and above has a National ID and it should not be a problem to draw up an accurate voters' list based on that. It was not because of flaws in the voters' list that the people couldn't vote in the last three elections. It was because there was no contest in the elections. The young people who qualified to vote for the last three elections but could not vote, have their National IDs. So those who explained to the chief advisor that drawing up a voters' list would be tough, had advised him wrongly.

Mentioning that it would a historical event for the young people to be able to cast their votes, Professor Yunus said, "All steps must be taken to make this a smooth process. It is my sincere wish that the first-time young voters set a tradition with a nearly 100 per cent turnout." In Australia and several other countries, it is compulsory to vote. Fines are imposed if votes are not cast with no valid reason. The chief advisor didn't mention if the interim government had any such plans. The election of 2008 is evidence that a large turnout of voters does not necessarily ensure sustainable democracy.

The chief advisor said, "Political consensus is necessary for any reform that is taken up. In the first phase the interim government has created six reform commissions. I hope they will submit their final reports very soon. We are moving towards forming a commission with the heads of the six commissions, for the creation of national consensus commission. The function of this will be to exchange views with political parties and all quarters to identify the areas for consensus and then come up with recommendations for implementation."

The compilation of a voters' list may not be tough, but it will be extremely difficult to reach a national consensus on election and other reforms. There are strong differences between the political parties on various issues. Jamaat-e-Islami and the left leaning parties are eager for proportional elections while BNP is vehemently against this. The leftist parties more or less are in agreement on the four pillars of state, but these are opposed by the Islamic parties. There is also no consensus on whether to have a bicameral or a unicameral parliament.

But everyone is in consensus about one matter, and that is national elections under a non-partisan caretaker government. There is also no dissent about the present interim government in the caretaker role for the next election. The problem will arise if any of the advisors of the government want to contest in the election.

The ordinance which the advisory council has approved on principle regarding the interim government, states that no one in the government can contest in the next election. The advisory council approved this quite some time back, but it still has not been enacted as an ordinance. This gives rise to questions. The government needs to clear this matter up too.

From the chief advisor's words it seems that the government does not want to end its responsibility by merely holding an election and handing over power to people's representatives. They want to form a commission to create national consensus and ensure their involvement in the process of political reforms too. Another problem here is that the previously formed commissions were not a part of the government. Commissioners formed by the government mean appointed persons. But if the commission for national consensus is headed by the chief advisor, then that essentially means it will be a part of the government.

While the chief advisor spoke of the election train starting its journey, he did not clarify which election train would proceed first. Certain quarters have demanded that local elections be held before the national one. There are also preparations for a new party to be formed.

We hail the chief advisor for the election roadmap that he has announced. But the question remains as to how far his proposed national consensus commission will be able to unite the nation.

* Sohrab Hassan is joint editor of Prothom Alo and a poet  
* This column appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir