Nov 1 marks the triumph in a drawn-out struggle to carve out a free judiciary- seen as the last bulwark of fairness and one of the indices of vibrant democracy-as it finally breaks free from the debilitating influence of the administration. Bangladeshis, just as any other nation would want, have long craved for a fair and neutral judicial system free from the influence of political or social pressures.
But government after government fended off the move on the plea that the process has its very many handicaps and it had better be sidelined despite the fact that judicial independence was an important issue in the constitution that wanted judges and their rulings to be protected. The lingering issue assumed a new dimension on Dec 2, 1999 in the wake of the Supreme Court's 12-point directive in the "Mazder Hossain case". The case was named after the then general secretary of Bangladesh Judicial Service Association who along with 441 other judicial officers filed a writ petition with the High Court in 1995. More...TOP
Chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed has said the participation of war criminals in elections is "completely unwarranted". "But how do you define war criminals? It has to be done through a legal process," Fakhruddin told editors at a meeting at the Chief Adviser's Office Wednesday. "If any aggrieved person wants to take any legal course, the door is still open," he said. "I would always welcome (any such move)," Fakhruddin said. Answering a question from an editor, the chief adviser said: "I would not deny that some fundamental rights have been curbed because of the state of emergency." But Fakhruddin disagreed with the editor's comment that "people are entrapped".
At some point, the meeting also focused on the political parties' demand for lifting the emergency rules. "There is no doubt that we have to lift the state of emergency," Fakhruddin said. TOP
The nation's two major political parties have finally decided to go ahead with dialogue on reforms with the election commission without their top leaders, who are now in jail facing corruption charges. The Awami League is busy drawing up strategies for the Nov. 4 talks. Efforts are being made by elders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to unite the two factions who are divided on reforms.
It is good to know that the two parties, who governed Bangladesh for 15 years since 1991, have realized the necessity of reforms in their own organizations, as well as in the electoral process. In fact, the non-party caretaker government has full support of the people in its initiatives to bring about reforms. It is mainly because the BNP and Awami League failed to establish democratic rule and money and muscle power determined election results. They also did not practice democracy in their own outfits. More... TOP
Political situation is almost the same in other parts of the country also facing a serious crisis when political seashore of Chittagong had been shocked by an unexpected topsy-turvy.
The recent changes in country's political arena virtually made a suitable room for the talented new generation who is supposed to take over the responsibility of new leadership, political critics commented.
They believed that joining of honest, educated, talented, devoted and young politicians might be delayed if the changes ware not done.
Honest, courageous, credible and most importantly knowledgeable politicians that felt over the last three decades in the country can only make the existing changes sustainable, senior citizens believed.
Questions have been raised from different quarters in recent days what will be future political leadership, who will take the responsibility, will they be able to fulfill the dream of countrymen.
Conscious citizens are desperately looking for a knowledge-based political leadership to make the current changes sustainable for the development of the country. More
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