Polls on schedule: Bangladesh President

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA, AUG. 5. The Bangladesh President, Mr. Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, has said that the general elections, which are to be held within 90 days of the caretaker Government taking office, will be held within the time limit.

According to Mr. Ahmed, there was no scope for extending the 90- day deadline even in case of natural calamities striking the nation.

The strong assertions of the head of state, who is now more than the titular head with defence under his command and the caretaker Government accountable to him, have earned the appreciation of those who have been fearing that some political parties were conspiring to delay the election. But the President, who, as chief of the country's first caretaker Government, had successfully conducted the 1991 general elections, must have also displeased a powerful section who are strongly opposed to an early poll schedule.

The President also stated that the elections must be held by October 11 since the caretaker Government took oath on July 15.

Mr. Ahmed, who was speaking to members of the Dhaka Reporters Unity, also ruled out the possibility of any serious violence during the polls. ``Adequate measures will be taken and the caretaker Government will immobilise the use of illegal arms if complete recovery is not possible'', he said.

On the slow progress in recovering illegal arms, the outspoken President who had criticised both the Awami League government and opposition BNP time and again during last five years, blamed political parties for the use of arms.

Mr. Justice Ahmed, who is now the supreme commander of the armed forces, also disapproved of deploying the army for recovering arms or giving them magisterial powers during the election. ``Arms recovery is the job of the police. The army should not perform the role of the police.'' He also said that except in the case of any catastrophic situation, the role of the army should be limited to cooperation with the civil administration.

The President's assertions must highly frustrate the BNP-led four-party combine led by Begum Khaleda Zia, the main challenger of the Awami League headed by Sheikh Hasina. The BNP alliance has been strongly opposing announcement of the poll schedule ``before ensuring a congenial atmosphere''. It has also been demanding review of all political cases filed during the tenure of the Awami League and asking for the publication of a ``white paper'' on the ``misrule'' of Sheikh Hasina. It also demanded that the Government ``clean up the administration, removing Awami League supporters''.

But Sheikh Hasina has issued a warning that if the schedule of election was not announced soon, her party would resist ``all moves to frustrate the evil designs''. Hasina said the caretaker Government's function was only to hold the election within the constitutional time-frame, and that it had no right to review the actions of an elected government.

While the President ruled out deploying the army in recovering illegal arms, a high-power delegation of the BNP called on the Chief Advisor, Justice Latifur Rahman, and demanded ``urgent deployment of the army for recovering illegal arms towards creating a congenial atmosphere for a fair election''.

Both the BNP and its ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, are strongly in favour of giving the army magisterial powers during the election. But the Awami League is opposed to any such measure which might undermine the supremacy of the civil administration. The BNP expressed its appreciation of ``all the steps taken by the caretaker Government'', though Begum Zia had claimed earlier that the Government was ``not neutral.'' She also commented that fearing sure defeat in the election, the Awami League had started criticising the caretaker Government.

The Chief Advisor, meanwhile, assured representatives of the international community that all necessary steps would be taken to hold the Parliamentary polls in a free, fair and transparent manner. ``I expect partnership and support of your Governments and organisations to help meet the challenges of carrying forward Bangladesh into the new millennium'', Justice Rahman told heads of diplomatic missions and representatives of international organisations and donor agencies.

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Section  : International
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