A solution to end the current Political Crisis in BD?

[Jadukor]

I am opening this thread in the hope of generating a more constructive discussion on how we can end the current political turmoil which has made the lives of common people simply unbearable right now. What options can the government take and what should be the role of the opposition parties? How we should move to hold the elections and who should be our President are things we can discuss here.
Please lets not get into the vicious cycle of Pro AL vs Pro BNP, Conservative vs Liberal battles and personal attacks on this thread. We all love Bangladesh so lets talk about possible solutions and not who is to blame. Lets discuss about a road map from here on that can bring together our deeply divided country right now.

I will go first:
Steps for the Government:
i) rethink it's stance on caretaker government and initiate dialogue with BNP regarding this
ii) release key BNP leaders from Jail to create the environment for dialogue
iii) Bolster security in the capital and elsewhere in the country. Ensure that public property do not get vandalized even the day before a scheduled Hartal
iv) Investigate claims by Hefazat e Islam on harassment and killing of it's followers

Steps for BNP
i) Stop trying to take advantage of HI movement for political gains and make it's stance clear on the 13 demands
ii) Stop associating with Jamaat
iii) Stop vandalism and relentless stream of Hartals for the sake of poor people and the overall economy
iv) Move away from the singular "fall of government objective" to engage in dialogue with the government and negotiate the parameters required for a fair election

[Blah]

Are we talking about the same bangladesh here? None of this will happen, because none of the political, religious or ideological party care about the wellfare of the country or the people, they only care about power and control.

The only solution to this current crisis will come in the middle of 2014, when AL will win the election by being the only major party running for election. Other major parties will cry foul and call hartal for another 6 months after the election claiming unfair election. Then everyone will forget what they were fighting about in the first place and take a break for few month/years before they find another reason to start fighting all over again.

This has happened before and this will happen again.

[mufi_02]

Necessary and timely thread. Too many times the partisan (AL/BNP, left/right) bickering has dominated the threads in BC lately. We come with our strong opinions and try to defend it and I was no exception. Time to look past it. This has drowned the one common and most important thing - strong love and sincere desire to see our country back on track.

I agree with the points above. But I also think Hasina and Khaleda should meet just for the sake of the country. The religion or the lack of it has hijacked the main narrative and I don't see any good thing coming out of it.

I would add --

For government -

1. Assure caretaker government would come. People won't trust or accept any elections under BAL government. Our election system isn't that matured yet and so neutral party is necessary to conduct it.
2. Meet with Shahbagh and HI group, preferably together and form some sort of understanding between them.

For BNP

1. Stop using 'hartal' as a tool.
2. Don't use Jamat/HI excuses as tools of grievances. You have enough (Padma Bridge/Stock Exchange) excuses. Debating and sorting those problem will improve the life of common people. Jamat/HI issues won't help common people.
3. Assure if they go on power they will continue fair trial for razakars.

[Jadukor]

Originally Posted by Blah
Are we talking about the same bangladesh here? None of this will happen, because none of the political, religious or ideological party care about the wellfare of the country or the people, they only care about power and control.

While that is true but we, the common people must still discuss a way out. The more we discuss possible solutions it will create waves in the social media and at least to some extent create pressure on the government and opposition party to act.
At this point we are nothing but spectators destined to suffer at the hands of a dirty political game... the only option for us is to discuss and voice our thoughts at a logical solution. The 2014 election now feels like an eternity away considering the consecutive string of Hartals that basically put the breaks on every form of economic activity. Both the government and BNP know that this is an unsustainable path and sooner or later public anger will turn on both of them.

[ReZ_1]

I am wondering what we common people have to go through in the coming days and sacrifice/suffer to get an end of this crisis and find a solution

[Dilscoop]

Get a snipper and take out the big weeds one by one. Things will take care of itself.

[MohammedC]

Silence

[Naimul_Hd]

The way i see it, only one step can minimize all the tension, that is 'bringing back Caretaker govt system with credible people'. But that will not solve the current political problem. BNP wants to participate in election under caretaker govt, so if this govt does so, BNP will have no issue. But the problem is with Jamat. Since majority of their top leaders are 'war criminals', they won't let BNP go that easily without making an issue to halt the trail of their leaders.

For me, the ball is on BNP's court. They have to make a big call. If they say, they will not support Jamat in war criminal's trial if govt brings back caretaker govt then only then AL will think twice and may agree to BNP's demand. But if BNP persists with war criminals then bringing back caretaker govt will not solve the current political chaos !

[Yameen]

The government and main opposition need to sit down and talk face to face. From Sheikh Hasina's recent BBC interview, it seems she is very much open to this idea and left the door open for such talks so as Naimul bhai said, the ball is very much on BNP's court.

[Jadukor]

I don't think the ball is in BNP's court especially now that AL is arresting a lot of BNP's top leaders. I would say AL first needs to soften it's stance on Caretaker govt issue and also release these leaders to open the door for discussion. Then the ball will truly be in BNP's court.

AL is now in power and it is their responsibility to ensure public safety and find a path towards reconciliation. When a company does bad regardless of whatever the market situation is, it is ultimately the CEO and the management that has to own up and take responsibility. A government is no different and therefore AL/prime minister must make the first move to bring opposition into dialogues. If there is a sincere effort to rebuild burnt bridges from AL, BNP would have to respond positively to it because a) they really do not have a high degree of public support b) at the moment they are taking in a lot of casualties in order to continue fighting on the street instead of the parliament

[Yameen]

Originally Posted by Jadukor
I don't think the ball is in BNP's court especially now that AL is arresting a lot of BNP's top leaders. I would say AL first needs to soften it's stance on Caretaker govt issue and also release these leaders to open the door for discussion. Then the ball will truly be in BNP's court.

AL is now in power and it is their responsibility to ensure public safety and find a path towards reconciliation. When a company does bad regardless of whatever the market situation is, it is ultimately the CEO and the management that has to own up and take responsibility. A government is no different and therefore AL/prime minister must make the first move to bring opposition into dialogues. If there is a sincere effort to rebuild burnt bridges from AL, BNP would have to respond positively to it because a) they really do not have a high degree of public support b) at the moment they are taking in a lot of casualties in order to continue fighting on the street instead of the parliament

Correct me if I am wrong but the main means of direct interface is through parliament. If the main opposition doesn't fulfill this then there is bound to be a breakdown in communication and one could even question their right to calling hartals and perhaps even standing in elections?
(This is not a dig only at BNP/JI as AL were guilty of this when the former were in power)

[Naimul_Hd]

A company's situation is no way similar to a country's political situation. Bad analogy, sorry. For a company, there are some objectives and all the employees must act on a common goal whereas in a country, there are many political groups with different objectives and different ideologies. All parties act differently and all the parties are responsible for their own act. No doubt govt is responsible for ensuring safety and other basic needs but opposition parties have to assist the govt in doing so. If Govt has its responsibilities to run the country smoothly then opposition parties have their responsibilities to help the govt by encouraging good work and positively criticizing for their bad act.

AL is in power and they will ensure everything that they remain in power. Its' BNP's interest that they approach to govt and discuss what they want and how they can get it. If BNP says, they want to discuss with Govt if govt releases BNP leaders then i don't think govt will deny that. I am again saying, BNP has to be proactive and move wisely. They are not in a situation to bargain.

[Jadukor]

A CEO makes decisions that helps the company prosper. A government also makes policies that makes the country prosper. A public company is answerable to it's shareholders for it's performance and a government is answerable to it's people. Analogies aside, my point is that people in the position of great power (to make transformative changes) must take responsibility and the initiative. People voted AL into power and they hold the majority to pass any policy in the Parliament and hence people expect AL to make decisions that will not throw the country into Chaos.

The nature of our opposition party is always to say no to everything the government does. It's terrible but not unheard of in politics. Obama faced that from Republicans in the first term too and continues to do so but at the end of the day if the economy does badly it is Obama's government that gets blamed.

Regardless of who it is (BNP or AL) the opposition party is programmed to boycott parliament and do their stuff on the street. It is the sad nature of our politics because they only care about getting into power at all cost. We all know this very well and so should the Government! So the best thing for the government to do is not to give that opportunity to the opposition party to go that route.

AL government should know what situation will transpire from past history and especially from looking back at exactly what they have done in the past as an opposition party. They should know very well that in our political climate, holding an election under the ruling party will never be acceptable to the opposition party or the general public. So before all the ICT trial saga or all these Hartals it is the abolishment of the caretaker system that has given BNP the excuse to create havoc. The caretaker government is the core issue and the moment a decision was made to hold elections under the ruling party everyone knew we were headed for chaos.

Even at this point I believe BNP would rather have dialogue than get beaten up and bloodied having to continue the hartals. We have to understand that at the moment BNP is facing an existential crisis and they will fear that softening their stance might be perceived as a weakness. AL could probably argue about the same but then AL has the police, judicial system, BCL... everything behind them... it's much easier for them to start the talks

anyways we all have our own views of how things escalated to current situation but the real question is What can we do from here on to bring our country out of the crisis?
I strongly believe one move from AL to start dialogue on Caretaker govt could force BNP to come back into negotiations

[Naimul_Hd]

Funny enough i think both AL and BNP is sitting on their chair and hoping other party will call first. Our politicians are too egoistic and self centered. Unless their (censor) is on fire, they won't move a bit. If i am not mistaken, even court has asked two ladies to have dialogue, but who cares !

[Murad]

Lock both nosta mohilas together in a small dark cell of Pabna Mental Hospital.

[Navo]

Re: Resuscitating the Caretaker Government system

The Parliament should have followed the recommendation of the Supreme Court and scrapped the Caretaker Government system after 2 more rounds of elections, i.e. 10 years from now, rather than immediately. Unfortunately, the 15th Amendment, among its out foibles, went with the latter route.

[tejkuni]

Hasina can resign and somebody like Tofail Ahmed can become Prime minister. He can pass a bill,
that only for one time an Army backed Govt. can come after the term of the current govt. and conduct the election. During the next election every party should have a plan for the caretaker govt (mandatory).
The next parliament will take a decision on the next caretaker govt.

[Navo]

The only way a Caretaker government or some form thereof can be re-introduced - using constitutional means - into Bangladeshi politics is through a Constitutional amendment. For that, the next government requires at least a 2/3rd majority in Parliament.

[Jadukor]

@Navo: how about a referendum for constitutional ammendment? is that an option for us where by the people votes yes or no on caretaker government?

[Jadukor]

বাংলাদেশ সংবিধান যে প্রধানমন্ত্রীকেই সর্বেসর্বা করেছে, ‘সর্বদলীয় সরকার’ গঠনের প্রক্রিয়ায় নতুন করে তা সবার নজর কেড়েছে। ১১ নভেম্বর মন্ত্রীদের গণপদত্যাগ দিয়ে নাটকের শুরু।

টানা নয় দিন ধরে চলছে রুদ্ধশ্বাস নাটক। কবে নতুন সরকার হবে, তা না জানিয়ে প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা শ্রীলঙ্কায় যান। আবার পতিত স্বৈরশাসক জেনারেল এরশাদের মনোনীত একজনকে উপদেষ্টা ও পাঁচজনকে হঠাৎ মন্ত্রী নিয়োগ দেন। এর মধ্যে শহীদ নূর হোসেন ও ডা. মিলনের আত্মত্যাগের দিনগুলোতে জনগণের স্মৃতিতে এক বিতর্কিত সাবেক ‘ফার্স্ট লেডি’ও আছেন। সাংসদ হয়ে যিনি গত পাঁচ বছরে তাঁর এলাকায় একটিবারের জন্যও যাননি।

১৯৯০ সালের ৬ ডিসেম্বর পতনের পরে এই প্রথম জাতীয় পার্টির (জাপা) এত বিপুলসংখ্যক মন্ত্রী একসঙ্গে শপথ নিলেন।

মন্ত্রিপরিষদ সচিব বলেছিলেন, মঙ্গলবার প্রজ্ঞাপন হবে। কিন্তু সকালে প্রধানমন্ত্রী চলে গেলেন বরগুনায়। ফিরলেন সন্ধ্যায়। কে থাকবেন, কে বাদ যাবেন—এ নিয়ে দিনভর গুজব-গুঞ্জন চলল। কেউ কিছু জানেন না। একজনই জানেন। সংসদ রেখে নির্বাচন করার ক্ষণগণনা হবে ২৭ অক্টোবর থেকে। প্রধানমন্ত্রী বললেন, এটা হবে ২৫ অক্টোবর থেকে। তাই হলো। পদত্যাগমাত্রই তা কার্যকর হবে। কিন্তু প্রধানমন্ত্রী বললেন, না, হবে না। তিনি যখন বলবেন তখন হবে। এখন আবার নির্বাচনকালীন সরকারকে ‘সর্বদলীয় সরকার’ বলতে হবে। বাস্তবে তাই হচ্ছে।

বাংলাদেশের মন্ত্রিসভায় এখন তিন ধরনের মন্ত্রী আছেন। একমাত্র নির্ভেজাল মন্ত্রী হলেন প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা। তাঁর কাছে জনপ্রশাসন ও প্রতিরক্ষা মন্ত্রণালয়ও আছে। তত্ত্বাবধায়ক আমলের নির্বাচনকালে প্রতিরক্ষার দায়িত্ব যেত রাষ্ট্রপতির কাছে। এবার এটা শেখ হাসিনার হাতেই আছে। দ্বিতীয় ধরনের মন্ত্রী হলেন ‘পদত্যাগী মন্ত্রী’। একজন নিয়মিত প্রধানমন্ত্রী ও ৫৮ জন পদত্যাগী মন্ত্রী নিয়ে বাংলাদেশ একটি দীর্ঘ সপ্তাহ অতিক্রম করেছে। পদত্যাগী মন্ত্রীদের নিয়ে গত রোববার একটি বৈঠকও হয়েছে। এসবই নতুন ইতিহাস।

অবশ্য মন্ত্রিসভা নিয়ে এর আগে সোহেল তাজ ও সুরঞ্জিত সেনগুপ্তও নতুন ইতিহাস গড়েছেন। তাঁরা পদত্যাগ করেছেন। প্রধানমন্ত্রী বলেছিলেন, তাজ পদত্যাগ করলেও তিনি তা গ্রহণ করেননি। গণপদত্যাগ সম্পর্কে প্রধানমন্ত্রী বলেছেন, তাঁরা ‘অভিপ্রায়’ ব্যক্ত করেছেন। যদিও ভারতের সুপ্রিম কোর্টের রায় হলো, ‘অভিপ্রায় ব্যক্ত করলেই চলবে। এটা তূণ থেকে তির বেরিয়ে যাওয়া। বন্দুক থেকে গুলি বেরিয়ে যাওয়া। আর ফেরত চলে না।’ কিন্তু প্রধানমন্ত্রী একে প্রকারান্তরে না বলছেন। সবাই জানেন, সেনগুপ্ত পদত্যাগ করেছেন। কিন্তু প্রধানমন্ত্রী বলেছেন, তিনি পদত্যাগ করেননি।

ড. তুহিন মালিক এর বৈধতা আদালতে চ্যালেঞ্জ করেন। মন্ত্রিসভা বিভাগ একটি প্রজ্ঞাপন হাজির করল। তাতে পদত্যাগ শব্দটিই নেই। লেখা আছে, প্রধানমন্ত্রী রেলমন্ত্রীকে দপ্তরবিহীন মন্ত্রী করেছেন। মি. সেনগুপ্ত এবারে বাদ পড়লেও তাঁর সান্ত্বনা আছে। আমির হোসেন আমু ও তোফায়েল আহমেদ গতকাল এক দিনের জন্য হলেও তাঁর সঙ্গে একই কাতারে ছিলেন। তাঁরা তৃতীয় ধরনের মন্ত্রী। নবনিযুক্ত মন্ত্রী অথচ দপ্তরবিহীন। এঁরা উজিরে খামোখা।

এমন একটি গোলমেলে অবস্থাকে যদি আরও ঝুলিয়ে রাখা হয়, তাহলেও অসুবিধা নেই। কারণ, অনেকেই মনে করেন, এ দেশে সবকিছুই সম্ভব। কারণ, প্রধানমন্ত্রীই সবকিছু। সবাই শুধু তাঁরই মুখাপেক্ষী। সর্বদলীয় সরকারে নতুন আটজন মন্ত্রীর যোগদানে নির্বাহী ক্ষমতার প্রয়োগ ও ব্যবহারে কোনো পরিবর্তন নেই। নির্বাচন কমিশনেরও কোনো মাথাব্যথা নেই।

read the rest here
http://www.prothom-alo.com/banglades...A6%95%E0%A6%B0

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by Dilscoop
Get a snipper and take out the big weeds one by one. Things will take care of itself.

Khooki boley ki !

[CricketPagolChele]

There is no constitutional solution of this mess because constitution belongs to government party only, it is only for to serve them, and whatever they say is constitution. Everyday PM S. Hasina is writing something new to the constitution and "Kalo Biral" explains that to citizens of Bangladesh. Baki amra shobai bekub jonogon.

[CricketPagolChele]

Originally Posted by Dilscoop
Get a snipper and take out the big weeds one by one. Things will take care of itself.

Bangladesh e oi rokom 2 bichiwala sniper ache?

[Banglatiger84]

http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/ne...n-their-hands/

[Tigers_eye]

Before doing this dialogue...

(I do not trust you, I will not trust you) How can you (everyone here) convince me you are telling the truth? We will see some fruitful discussions. Otherwise NOTHING WILL CHANGE. This thread will bring out NOTHING.