Rebuilding state: A trajectory to tread

Begin with the formation of constitution commission, now that 'rebuilding the state' comes out as a common ground for three major stakeholders of the August 5th or 'July 36th' student-mass uprising billed by the vanguards as 'revolution'. The Anti-discrimination Student Movement finally pivoted on this theme, its offspring-the interim government-takes rebuilding Bangladesh as its principal mandate and the political parties and fronts adopt it as their core agenda before going for a fresh start through fair elections.
Constitution is the basic institutional and legal structure of a state. The 1972 original Bangladesh Constitution, founded on four basic principles-Bengali nationalism, democracy, socialism and secularism-has navigated political rough seas with so many changes so many times.
Moreover, both local and global contexts have seen, and constantly see, sea changes. But, make no mistakes about it, the basics of the declaration of independence still hold water. Equality, human dignity and social justice resonate through slogans the students chant and graffiti they paint.
A vision of the 'rebuilt' Bangladesh emerges from the summation of aspirations voiced and painted in the graffiti. The structure and looks of a possible reborn republic are shaped up below:
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH: Bicameral parliament (with upper house and lower house) to be constituted through general election based on the system of proportional representation.
The form of government will be federal with several provinces.
An independent judiciary with full-fledged secretariat. The Bangladesh Supreme Court, along with the Appellate Division, headquartered in the capital, will have High Court Division in the provinces.
The press, the fourth estate after the three state organs-the legislative, the executive and the judiciary-will enjoy qualified freedom. A national mass media council with quasi-judicial power will oversee the press, as does Bangladesh Bar Council, Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council and so.
The constitution commission of experts has to be vested with the authority to hold discussions with all the stakeholders and professional groups on these proposed basics. Also, it has to upload those clause-wise on public domain to elicit people's opinion. In the process of online opinion formation, the immediate-past ruling party and its allies-all disorganized, but not outlawed-will be able to participate in the opinion-building process.
Sifting and summing up the broad views will help in forging a 'national consensus' the head of interim government, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, urges for 'rebuilding the country' as a peaceful, prosperous and equitable abode for all.
The final task for this government in clearing the decks for transfer of power to an elected government through fair polls is to form a constituent assembly for the purpose of drafting or revising the constitution. Or, alternatively, take all-party written proclamation for making necessary amendments to the constitution in the new parliament to be formed through the polls. Yet another option left is referendum on the constitution and the fundamental changes being brought about in the interregnum.
Crosschecks on provincial system of government: In a federal system of government, 'winner- takes-all' type of political negation of the opposition in a democracy hardly happens. So, desperation out of the sense of deprivation is not so cut-throat like. Centripetal system of power itself breeds umpteen problems-at worst, crises. Workings of centrifugal forces in the event of devolution of power may be a bugbear, as illustrated below.
In America, the Democrats or the Republicans don't dominate both the chambers of the legislature-the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress-always. Neither of the two parties does rule in all the states of the United States. In India, the ruling BJP doesn't have majority in all the state assemblies and doesn't reign in all the states. Even in India's national capital, New Delhi, a newcomer in politics-the populist Aam Aadmi Party of Arvind Kejriwal-was reigning as state government. Pakistan has four provinces, Nepal seven and even the tiny Himalayan country like Bhutan has nine province-like administrative zones. Malaysia is a federation composed of 13 states and three federal territories.
Bangladesh was born as a unitary state when the population was 75 million but now it booms to some '180 million' and the governance system ought to be federal, the analysts say. They cite past waves of desperate crimes despite tough actions and a restive ambiance in grassroots levels up to districts to substantiate their plea for federal system of government for effective devolution of power and decentralization of administration.
In their opinion checks and balances in socioeconomic field and governance can only be brought in the real sense through devolution of power to elective provincial bodies as in other countries, including neighbouring ones. India is a federal state-apart from the union government, there are state governments. And so 'counterbalance' in exercise of power exists, said Brig-General (rtd) Sakhawat Hossain, a former election commissioner and present adviser of the interim government. "Bangladesh is now a country of 18-crore people so why not a federal system of government?" He posed the question while presenting an analytical situation of a restive countryside with menaces like drugs, strife and bizarre crimes as well as some wrongs at central levels, too, at a talk show.
Agree to disagree. No constitution(al) amendment can be a cul-de-sac on course of a nation's journey. No individual or group's wishful thinking can do anymore at this cusp-a consensus draft emanating from best brains has to be prepared and broad-based discussions be held in public domain, online and offline, to give finishing stitches to the new charter before putting it to vote in a referendum or getting through a constituent assembly.
There were, however, arguments from a few in the past-when there were suggestions for dividing Bangladesh into seven provinces-that in the case of going for provincial system 'centrifugal forces' may be active against the country's integrity. The proponents now refute such xenophobia and mention that even smaller states do exist independently around the sub-continental-sized country like India. And the time has changed.
There are a few natural regional divisions in Bangladesh and those could be brought under administrative bodies with transfer of powers, they say. "Concentration of power is giving rise to many problems-sometimes in extreme forms. It calls for checks and balances," they said in unanimity of opinion.
Such questions and suggestions came up in the past parliament, too. To a query, an outlook of decentralization was delineated from the government side of the aisles.
In Bangladesh, political standoffs for long have given rise to voices for devolution of power for diluting frequent flareup of tensions, in a 'win-win' solution. "It's difficult to rule a country of '18-crore people from the centre," some analysts say, citing the restive ambiance in political arena-drawn down to the villages which, otherwise, are packed with much of untapped potential to grow as a miniscule state each, given the chances.
Remember, in this context, the 'self-sufficient' village communes of the yesteryear. Vistas of opportunities in an ambiance of endorphins should open up now, in a shared welfare society.
It's new normal on the planet, after the upending of old order by the pandemic. Here one thing is clear-countries having the system of sovereign wealth fund or social wealth fund are swimming while private sectors, globally, were sinking in during the global calamity and now minting money feeding on high inflation.
So, economic remodelling is also deemed imperative. Countries having a combination of state control and free-market economy are working wonders in development pursuit.
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