Where is the country heading for?

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has once again written to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia on the political situation prevailing in Bangladesh. The content of the two letters is not known, but it is not difficult to fathom what could be the reasons behind his sending letters to the two key leaders of country's political spectrum. He had written to them before as well, underscoring the need for an "inclusive" election in Bangladesh since the condition prevailing in the country ahead of the polls appeared to him and many other international quarters not conducive for a fair voting. Things have further worsened since the earlier communications from the UN chief to two leaders of a country of 160 million and it is now crystal clear that the second letters stem from the heightened concern and anxiety about the shape of developments that lie ahead.
Bangladesh's election scenario is now a talked-about issue both at home and abroad for obvious reasons. While it is in the lips of the countrymen, the volatility of the political environment leading to massive violence and mayhem on the streets is a matter of common knowledge all over the world. What worries all evidently is the possible failure to hold voting in line with the Westminster system of democracy. Hardly any quarter caring for holding a true and meaningful election with the participation of the main opposition party and for that matter all other opposition groups. Bangladesh's election is a matter of importance to the European parliament or any other democratic forum and the ongoing political violence which is taking lives and causing destruction to properties everyday is no less a matter of concern for them.
As the countdown for the next general elections has already begun, the "quest" for a credible election looks to be an increasingly complex task amidst escalating violence, total uncertainty and deep frustration that has crept into the national psyche over the polls. The Election Commission has announced the date for tenth national assembly on January 05 ignoring the demands of the mainstream opposition and the ruling circles have already announced the list of their nominees for the coming national election. By all means, the coming polls in all likelihood will remain an exercise among the partners of the "Grand Alliance" that has been running the government for the last five years and the same continues in the name of the "All party" poll-time government. The opposition, which has been clamouring for the balloting under a neutral government, appears to have been marginaliged to such an extent that it has no other choice but to resort to any means to block the elections. The government says it is the obligation of any sitting authority to hold polls as per the Constitution that provides the voting under the incumbent government.
The crux of the whole crisis is under which authority the balloting should take place, and it is precisely the same issue that is generating so much of heat in Bangladesh's political horizon these days. The opposition is hell-bent up on the restoration of the non-party "caretaker" government to see the polling as it feels  any partisan government cannot ensure a free and fair balloting. The government, on the other hand, insists that the constitution has been amended dropping the previous system and reverted to earlier method of balloting under the incumbent authority even though that is called as "poll time" government. At the heart of the country's political crisis is this issue and the question that comes to the mind is whether this matter is so intractable that it cannot be resolved! True, both sides are seeking to stick to their guns demonstrating extreme stubbornness, lest they are seen as "weak" in the eye of the people. But do the people really respect anyone at all when he or she resorts to intransigence at the cost of the nation? They want to see a really "credible" polls regardless of what is being said by whom. A meaningful voting must take into account the major parties. Any arrangement with smaller or opportunistic political groups to tide over the situation is no answer to the crisis. A short-lived agenda would only create more problems in the future and as such it is imperative that settlement of the impasse is found even though time is running out fast, leaving hardly any room for such a possibility. But the bottom line is that solution can be found if the will and sincerity are there and this onerous task needs to be performed at the critical hour of the nation. Without taking any side in the current confrontational politics, one conclusion is obvious and cardinal - we cannot take Bangladesh, which was achieved after so much of sacrifice, towards an uncertain course. Nor we can relish a situation in which nation's image is tarnished abroad because of "self-seeking" politics.
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