THE chief adviser to the interim government Muhammad Yunus deserves thanks as in his address to the nation on the morning of Victory Day he has spelt out a timeline of a sort for national elections, which is a step forward from the unspecified duration of the interim government that people were worried about. He has said that with some reforms done and the electoral roll rectified, elections could be held towards the end of 2025. And, if the elections were to be held with the electoral system reforms effected and based on a national consensus, it could take six more months. It is understandable that the chief adviser on his own cannot give a specific timeline without a consensus of all political parties and other stakeholders. Yet, the timeline for the election that the chief adviser has spelt out remains somewhat vague. What is, therefore, important is to keep the dialogues on the issue for effective political negotiations going.
The chief adviser has also spoken about a national consensus on various issues of national importance, which would be effected by a national consensus commission that would be instituted on having received the recommendations of the six commissions 鈥� meant for electoral system reforms, police administrative reforms, judiciary reforms, anti-corruption reforms, public administration reforms and constitutional reforms 鈥� that the government instituted in mid-September. The chief adviser would head the commission, which may be instituted in the next month. A national consensus is needed, but what it means also remains vague because such a consensus could entail historical narratives, development policies, economic frameworks, foreign policy, political atmosphere, cultural unity, etc. And, for the interim government to effect a national consensus on all the fronts, it would take much time. Besides, whether the political aspects of the consensus would involve only the Bengalis or also include national minorities remains vague in the speech. All this would require a long dialogue. The interim government should, rather, initiate the dialogue, which will keep going, but it should not wait for it to complete to hold elections. The process for a national consensus involving all quarters based on all such issues is a great idea, but all this should not be a precondition for the return of power to elected representatives.
The chief adviser also deserves thanks for owning up to the government鈥檚 failure to arrest inflation, which has pushed up prices, leaving people, in general, and the poor and low- and fixed-income people, in particular, to suffer. He has also owned up to failure in completely stopping extortion in the transport sector. But, the government has not also been able to adequately keep law and order. This is a failure that he should have talked about. Besides, the allegations of corruption that have been levelled against leaders of the overthrown Awami League and officials of the deposed government that it presided over 鈥� for which some have been arrested 鈥� have not yet been effectively streamlined. An effort still appears absent to put all the cases on the right track so that the people arrested could be credibly investigated and effectively punished for the charges they need to be punished. The laxity in the issues as yet appears another failure. This is also good that the chief adviser has acknowledged the role of girls and women in the protests and uprising that toppled the Awami League government.
The interim government should, therefore, work in a way so that all that it needs to do to hold elections should end by 2025.