No move should be taken in a hurry to amend the Constitution

The Constitution of a country is a supreme document that reflects on a lasting basis the hopes and aspirations of its people and similarly declares the highest governing principles of the state. It is not that Constitutions are so sacrosanct that the same cannot be changed or enlarged to accommodate 'rightful' new needs and interests. But for the reason that a country's Constitution is highly considered to be not a casually prepared document. When it becomes imperative to carry out some rightful changes or additions to it, the sane should be done only after arriving at fairly good consensus between major political forces and other groups in it. This is needed to ensure that the changes or incorporations sought would last for a period of time. Constitutional changes, effected through any brute majority in parliament, may not endure and may become potentially the source of continuing political strife and instability. This is because the political forces who are the minority in parliament today can become the majority in the future and seek to overturn these Constitutional changes or adoptions. Therefore, it is always best to attempt constitutional amendments in a country like Bangladeh, with its bitter history of divisive and acrimonious politics, only on the basis of a national consensus. This all too important requirement for a consensus was reiterated by a number of Bangladesh's distinguished legal reports. In this backdrop, the government needs not to be in a hurry to go for any an unscheduled short session of parliament at this stage, with the express purpose of giving effect to Constitutional changes it has been working on through a special parliamentary committee. No constitutional changes should be pushed through unilaterally. The main opposition party has not been represented in that committee. Government also has had little or no direct or even indirect consultations with political and other forces about such Constitutional changes. Ramming through the changes giving everybody no time at all to even organize their opposition to the same or to express their opinion would be a politically too risky move. No one-sided move on the part of the government is likely to instigate fresh political agitation. Nurur Rahman Lalmatia, Dhaka Reforming the electoral system It is not often appreciated that electoral systems make a difference to general political life and not just to the composition of elected assemblies. The disjunction between the commitment of the Bangladesh electorate to democracy and the functioning of Bangladesh's political institutions has long been a matter of concern. A closer analysis, however, reveals problems. In Bangladesh, over 10 candidates often contest a single seat, and with turnouts of about 60 per cent, a candidate can win, getting only 10 per cent of the vote. There is no direct relation between votes cast and seats won. Furthermore, those who vote for a losing candidate go unrepresented. If a constituency contains substantial vote-banks for any party, all other votes are wasted. Even the votes forming the winner's majority, minus one, are wasted. A possible advantage for Bangladesh is that successful candidates will generally not know whose votes have helped them to win. The wider question is that of what an electoral system should achieve. At the very least, it must ensure that the parliament and other local government bodies reflect the spread of voters' preferences and also that representatives are made accountable and removable, as well as party groupings become responsive to the electorate. Ours is an infant democracy. The Constitution has been amended many times because its framers did not foresee many situations when they adopted it. Also, before we take a step in the direction of changing the electoral system, we must examine whether the change will stand legal scrutiny. It amounts to altering the basic structure of the Constitution which provides for the simple majority system. It has been in force for four decades and has started showing deficiencies which need to be corrected. Gopal Sengupta Canada E-mail : gopalsengupta@aol.com It's all nonsense about Musa bin Sham I am astonished to read how a premier financial daily like the Financial Express could publish such a stupid and nonsense article. Don't you have any editorial board? The so-called Prince Musa bin Shamser alias Lula Musa is a controversial person and this article is a complete fabricated story. It's an insult to people of Bangladesh where 32% people are living below the poverty line. There are lots of billionaires in this earth who can be personified in your daily for their accomplishment, simple life style and charity work which readers can follow as a role model. I wish you people will be more responsible before publishing this kind heinous story. Baki Billah E-mail : bbillah354@gmail.com World's best dressed man What a great honour it is for Bangladesh and especially for our young fashion houses that eccentric Bangladeshi billionaire Dr. Moosa bin Shamsher has been named the World's Best Dressed Man. Maybe with his new-found fame he could promote the local garments and fashion industries by making our lungi fashionable to wear worldwide! Ferdousi Rohman Berlin, Germany E-mail : Ferdousi.Rohman@consultant.com Expatriate welfare Bank The much-awaited 'Probashi Kallyan Bank' (expatriates' welfare bank) began its operation last Wednesday by giving loans to some workers who went abroad on the day of its launching.. It will, of course, be a bank with a difference, because loans to be provided by it will be collateral-free. The loan-seekers need to have a personal guarantor who may be hisher family member or a respectable person in their locality. Now, expatriates will not need to sell their valuable lands or wealth. The bank will provide loans once the out-bound Bangladeshi workers show their appointment letters. The condition is that the expatriates should send their remittance through the bank. They will be able to pay their loans through instalments. The expatriates who will not take loans from the bank but will prefer sending their remittance through the bank, will also get loans if heshe desires to run a business in the country. The lending rate of the bank will be only 9.0 per cent which is lower than those of other banks. The authorized capital of the bank, a specialized and the first ever full-fledged expatriates' welfare bank in the world, will be Tk 5.0 billion while its paid-up capital will be Tk 1.0 billion. The rest Tk 4.0 billion will be raised by floating shares in the near future. The expatriate Bangladeshis only will be its shareholders. The process of share floatation is under way and is expected to be completed by January 2012. The mission and vision of the bank is unique. It should keep its unparalleled position always upward. We wish all success of the bank in the days to come. Ibsan Islam Edi Flat# B5, 14A1, Lake Circus Kalabagan, Dhaka E-mail: Saiful_ibsan@yahoo.com Jatrabari-Gulshan flyover The construction work of Jatrabari-Gulshan flyover was earlier scheduled to start during the tenure of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government. But after the caretaker govt. took over the reins of the administration, the plan was abandoned. Now the flyover is being constructed by the Awami League (AL) government. About one and a half years ago when the construction of the flyover started, it went on with high speed work but these days the development work is going on a dead-slow or, somewhat at a snail's, pace. Due to flyover construction works, both sides of Jatrabari-Gulistan is jam-packed with buses, trucks, taxis, scooters, motor cycles, rickshaws and pushcarts. It takes hours to reach Jatrabari from Hatkhola and moreover, the sufferings of the pedestrians, especially the school-going children, know no bounds. On both sides of Jatrabari-Gulsitan route at Folder Street, Wari, there are boys and girls' schools and the school children cross the road at the great risk of their lives and the road crossing is a death trap. Almost daily, small and big accidents are taking place and the traffic police are sitting idle. We would request our authorities concerned to accelerate the pace of the construction work of the flyover. Moreover, pending completion of the work, all the heavy vehicles buses, trucks, lorries but not small cars, rickshaws, motor cycles and taxis, may be diverted from Jatrabari-Kamalapur Railway Station to Motijheel Commercial Area near the Bangladesh Bank temporarily for the relief and benefit of the members of public, pedestrians and school children in the interest of security of life, time and energy of all concerned. Would Dhaka City Corporation, Roads and Highways Department and Dhaka Metropolitan Police do the needful in the greater interest of public service? OH Kabir Dhaka Kettle calling the pot black! The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has put up another "Natok" (drama) about power and gas, the reports on which were published in most dailies on April 19 last: a bit late for "April's Fool". But so what; better late than never! Blaming the present government for shortage of electric power and gas which has happened because of the stupidity and unsatiated greed of the earlier BNP government does hardly make any sense. The statement is "as stupid as can be"; and the "the Madam of Bangladesh" is now trying to befool "all the people for all the time"! Easier said than done! Lest the "Madam" forget nothing, it was the BNP during their five years' 'reign' that there was 'under the table' financial deals. The then government did nothing for raising electric power generation capacity or for new gas exploration. For electric power distribution, "immense" quantities of wooden poles for power distribution were procured, with not a kilowatt of electric power to distribute. This was the grand 'Natok' released, with the "Madam" (or queen) and the "Prince 1&2", playing the 'heroine' and main 'actors' roles and with the 'suppliers', prompting the dialogue from behind the screen! It was really a rich dialogue, indeed, worthy of the 'Madam' and the two 'Princes'! Even cunning "Charlie In America" got wind of it! About gas exploration, the financial agreement for prompting the 'Natok'; could not be finalized, as what the main 'Heroine' and her nominated 'Actors' demand from the 'prompters' was very high. This was then deferred for the next "Drama Season"; but unfortunately the 'drama season' was lost to the competing party which was not thought of! May be the 'Heroine' and the main "Actors' are now waiting for the next drama season! 'Natok' Watcher Dhaka. Story about repair of the Bangabandhu Multi-Purpose Jamuna Bridge The ministry of communications and nepotism are deemed today to be synonymous. Already they have got reputation in much talking rather than execution of project. Now they are taking about the repairing the crack on the Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge over the Jamuna. It has recently been published in a daily newspaper that corruption is taking place centring the Bangabandhu bridge repairing issue. It has thus published that a Chinese company get award for its repair at a cost of Bangladesh Taka (BDT) 2.43 billion but that company does not have any prior experience regarding this type of work. It is not clear to us why the ministry concerned awarded this type of inexperienced Chinese company for repair of an important bridge of the country. It is noticed that some big hands in our country are working behind this inexperienced Chinese company to get the work order. There is widespread allegation against this ministry. We do not know why questions arise about this ministry, time and again. There is a time-frame to complete construction work of the Padma Bridge within the tenure of the present government but its work is yet to start. But two and a half years of the tenure of the government has already passed. Meanwhile, the cost for the project to the credit of the ministry concerned, has already doubled. Allegations were earlier made about the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway Project. Repairing the fracture on the Bangabandhu Bridge does not seem the real purpose, the objective is elsewhere. This is not a welcome development for the government. It should give more serious attention to redeeming its election pledge. Mohammed Jashim Uddin Dhaka E-mail: juctg2008@gmail.com A simple thank you! A group of eight school friends and I celebrated my 17th birthday at Pizza Hut recently. One of my friends spotted Sir Frank Peters having coffee with a friend and requested an autograph. He wrote: "Wishing you everything you would wish yourself, especially happiness". One after another, my friends and I went to him for one and a mobile phone photo; he didn't object, just smiled. Everyone at our school knew him by reputation for abolishing corporal punishment in school, but none of us had met him before. When the pizzas were delivered, we invited him and his friend Ali Akbar to join us for some and they did. Throughout the evening I noticed he expressed "thanks" at every given opportunity, when the waiters picked up a plate or delivered a cold-drink, even though it wasn't his. This made me curious and during an "interview" on my cell phone, I asked him about it. "Niceness is Priceless", he replied. "It doesn't cost anything to be nice, but it could be priceless to the recipient. The greatest craving of mankind is appreciation. Everyone seeks it and the majority deserves it," he said. "Take for example your mum, most likely she is at home all day preparing the food, washing your clothes, washing the dishes, cleaning the house, attending to the animals, crops and so on. The least she deserves in return is a 'thank you' or a kula-kuli or both. That would mean so much to her and boost her morale, but most folks take people for granted, especially their parents, store up in their minds all the thank-yous until they are dead and then say what wonderful people they were. Appreciation is best served hot to the living, not cold to the dead," he said. Wow! I went home, hugged mum and ever since I have been thanking her and my dad for everything! I want them to know I love and appreciate them while they are still alive. That philosophy has changed my life and the entire atmosphere in my home for the better. Thank you, Sir Frank for opening my eyes to the expectations and feelings of others. Md. Mahfus Ahmed Badda, Dhaka. E-mail : mahfus.ali.ahmed@mail.com For unlocking the economy's growth potential The way the Bangladesh economy stands today or considering the net of its able and willing entrepreneurial people, a much higher growth rate is not a dream but a very much attainable reality. To make that happen, it is necessary to provide the necessary infra-structural support facilities, provide the required amount of and reduce the cost of doing business. Experts have the opinion that a growth rate of eight per cent and even higher is easily obtainable but currently remain on hold for reasons of infrastructural deficit, high cost of doing business and severe constraints to supply of power and gas. The manufacturing sectors in Bangladesh have been growing robustly well above double digits for some years. But that growth has tapered off , particularly as a consequence of the severe energy crunch. Conditions in Bangladesh are otherwise seen as favourable for a take-off of the Bangladesh economy in all other respects such as having entrepreneurs with the requisite flair and initiatives, a growingly efficient and easily trainable workforce to work at competitive wages. But it is unfortunate that the inadequacies of infrastructural support facilities, operational constraints at parts, growing mismatch between demand for, and supply of gas and electricity and a fear their adverse factors are not making if possible to utilise, all these favourable conditions for accelerated growth of the national economy cannot be utilized as there are not enough energies to drive productive ventures fully. Thus, addressing all these problems calls for the highest focused attention on the part of the government. Government has explained that it carries the accumulated burden of wasted time of nearly seven years in all such areas. About the immediate past elected government, the functionaries of the present government say it was an ineffectual period because timely works were not done then to do the needful for putting the basics right to help promote growth-supporting economic activities in productive sectors. The period of two years under the caretaker government is also described as similarly barren. But such past lapses certainly do hardly provide any justification for the government's failings now. After all, it has been in power for nearly two and half years knowing very well how critically important it is to go for total allout actions to unlock the potential for an accelerated growth performance of the national economy, by sparring actions to address effectively the long-limping problems, as were noted at the outset. Time is running out for the government. Its performance will be judged by its own actions and not by the failures of the governments. Khurshid Azam Banani, Dhaka