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ELECTIONEERING GATHERS MOMENTUM
Poll can solve crisis, says Hasina
Abdur Rahman Khan
Awami League (AL) chief Sheikh Hasina said yesterday only an elected government can save the country from difficulties, adding that elections should be held as per schedule.
“The poll should be held on 18 December. It cannot be deferred by means of conspiracy,” Hasina told a crowded press conference yesterday morning at Zia International Airport soon after arrival from US via London. The former prime minister said she was “against politics that is full of violence. We want peace and want to remain united.”
Referring to people’s hardship Hasina said, “They do not have work for survival.” She asked all to be patient.
Expressing her optimism about her party’s win in the ensuing election, the AL President said if her party comes to the power prices of essentials would be reduced within the buying power of the common people. Terming poverty as a great enemy she said she would make efforts to alleviate poverty.
Regarding the question of likelihood of the two major leaders’ dialogue for a ‘qualitative change in politics’, Hasina parried a direct answer and said, “We will do everything to save people from hard times.”
When asked about her response to political parties which may boycott poll if their demands are not fulfilled, Sheikh Hasina said: “If the election is held peacefully and people can cast their ballots well, it will not matter which party participates in the election and which party does not.”
She further said that the grand alliance would be formed in which enemies of the people and independence would not have any place.
Electioneering
Meanwhile, politics of the country has started gaining winds with the relaxation of emergency rules and announcement of schedules for holding national elections on December 18. The general elections are due on Dec. 18, and the Upazila polls date is fixed on Dec 28 for which nominations close on October 13.
Major political parties including Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) and Awami League have already got registered with the Election Commission as required under the amended Representation of People Ordinance 2008 (RPO). They are taking preparations by sorting out the list of candidates for nomination.
Meanwhile BNP has initiated a formal mass contact programme in Chittagong today (Friday) as a preparation for election campaign. BNP chairperson is scheduled to visit Chittagong to join party’s observance of November 7, the National Revolution and Solidarity Day at the historic Laldighir Maidan.
Earlier on Wednesday evening, she presided over the four-party meeting at her Gulshan office voicing a strong sentiment for the elections but asked all concerns to avoid the path of an “unacceptable” poll. “An unacceptable election could worsen the (current political) crisis in the country,” she briefed the reporters prior to the meeting.
Khaleda said there were a bundle of mistakes over the past two years and malice was prevalent which afflicted her and her family members in particular and the people of the country in general. “I don’t believe in revenge and things will be dealt with strictly according to law in future, no matter who did what,” she promised. Khaleda asked for pragmatically addressing issues by maintaining peace, stability, solidarity and unity of the nation in order to protect the country and the people.
The other major party, Awami League, has said it is all for the parliamentary polls, with party chief Sheikh Hasina saying they will go to the polls even if the BNP does not. Hasina, facing five graft cases, flew to the United States on June 12 to seek medical treatment, a day after the government allowed her temporary release from special jail on parole.
Now, both Hasina and Khaleda favour a peaceful transition to an elected government and are asking the people to remain united and shun the path of violence.
Although Awami League has begun its electoral preparations in full swing, the four-party alliance is yet to announce clearly about its joining the general election on Dec 18. BNP’s highest policy-making body, its standing committee, on Tuesday urged the government to meet its seven-point demand including lifting of emergency to create a favourable environment for elections.
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ALLEGED DOUBLE STANDARDS OF GOVT.
Conspiracy to bring Awami League to power?
Faruque Ahmed
With two distinctly dissimilar facades the country seems to be rolling on the so-called ‘highway’ to election. One is the reactivation of Speedy Trial Courts (STCs) to take major political leaders of BNP and Jamat-e-Islami to face new court action and possible detention, and the other is relaxation of the emergency rule to facilitate poll.
In such a situation, the biggest question that perturbs the public mind is: What is the real motive of the Caretaker Government (CG) behind the double standard in dealing with politicians just ahead of election?
It brings to the fore the question whether the CG really wants a free and fair election participated by all or looking for a ‘selection’ in the name of election as alleged recently by BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.
Observers say a highly politicised administration with anti-BNP functionaries in strategic posts, hostile Election Commission, conspiracies at home and abroad and chasing major politicians at peak election time by the government are some of the biggest threats to the forthcoming election. BNP and Jamat leaders said that they would take their decision whether to take part in election early this week. They further demanded total withdrawal of rule of emergency and delaying of upazila election by at least four weeks after the parliamentary election.
They are also demanding the participation of party leaders to election who have been convicted by the speedy trial courts for different periods. Party leaders say they have filed appeals to higher courts for review of the judgment and have the right to contest the election until final judgments on their prayers were given.
Khelafat Majlish leaders and others meanwhile, blamed the CG, as news reports said, for working on a scheme to bring Awami League to power defeating BNP and its allies.
News report said Sheikh Hasina met senior state department officials last week in Washington as part her preparation for home coming to take part in election. Earlier Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed and commerce adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman also met her in the sideline of their Washinton visit last month and exchanged views on forthcoming election and the country’s transition to an elected government.
Now the question is whether the CG can deliver a free, fair and credible election to the nation in the emerging situation. Meanwhile the Election Commission (EC) has announced the polls schedule.
But the STCs, which are part of the emergency power of the CG, is still in place and ‘selectively’ taking renewed hearing of cases threatening scores of ‘disliked’ major political leaders of BNP and Jamat-e-Islami at a time when they are preparing for filing nominations.
Political observers say the STCs and election preparation can not go together. These courts should also close the shutters until after the election. The CG should give clear signals to the nation that its main task is to hold election now, not harassing political leaders with fresh trial.
But belying such sentiment, government attorneys last week filed submission to Speedy Trial Courts to carry out arrest orders issued from the lower court against BNP leader former finance minister M Saifur Rahma, Jamat-e-Islami chief Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami and its secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid.
The court has asked these leaders to appear before the designated court and there is a big apprehension that they may be sent to custody at a time when they should have the time and peace of mind to prepare their parties for election.
Moreover, the so-called Boropukuria coal mine case which was earlier shelved by the High Court and released all accused on bail, has been reconstituted by the CG under newly framed allegation to bring the accused to submission.
Responding to government lawyers’ pleas to the STCs for arrest of the frontline BNP and Jamat leaders, the judge of the court at the Jatiya Sangsad premises had asked some of them to surrender before the court immediately. The judge further said he would hold hearing on the submissions on Monday next.
Indications are that he may try to know the signal of the ruling elite in the meantime whether to go for the arrest of those frontline party leaders and put them to custody or act otherwise to keep them free to file election nominations.
Thus the holding of election still remains uncertain although the chief election commissioner (CEC) has already announced the polls schedule.
Hannan Shah’s case
Meanwhile, in a separate development BNP chairperson’s adviser Brig. Gen. Hannan Shah has been sued by Matlab police in Chandpur for taking part at a meeting hosted there by a possible BNP nominee to election.
Police super said he had violated the rule of emergency by taking part in the meeting. Police sued about 200 persons including the host although the event was organised by a charitable organisation for assisting the poor of the locality to help them in their livelihood struggle.
The big question is: What is the government looking for, whether it wants a free, fair and credible election or an election which will bring people of its choice to power. They said the 1/11 change over came on the promise to give the nation a flawless election. Is it on the highway, is the million dollar question at this turning point of our time.
They say the change over was promised to bring qualitative improvement in the country’s politics. But others say it was not achieved and on the contrary proved as a motivated act to reverse the election course that was underway that time.
They said the government can be credited for its anti-corruption crusade but again the arbitrariness with which it was carried out and targeted to a section of political establishment while remaining ‘unmindful’ to some others slowly overshadowed its real praise.
Failure to nab
The worst criticism of the Caretaker Government as observers say may be its failure to nab the criminals who staged the mayhem at the Paltan city centers on October 28, 2006 killing innocent political activists. Although the takeover was justified to cleanse politics, bring qualitative change in political practice and bring reforms to it, the CG’s inaction regarding these matters and bring the killers to justice gives a different signal.
The mid-day mayhem by activists of ‘logi-boitha’ under the command of a major political party and its top leaders had deeply shocked the people of the country and the international community. But it appears that the authorities have decided to ignore it, maybe due to its inability to deal with the issue or for burying further political tension.
But the question remains how this nation can avoid recurrence of such uncivilised incidents. Is there any visible improvement in the country’s political landscape that suggests that such violent activities will not happen again?
As the election is approaching closer, Awami League and its coalition show highly jubilant, while BNP and its allies are weighing the situation. They are blaming lack of a level playing field to take on their opponents under the cover of emergency rule in which the CG is allegedly supportive to it in one hand and their prospective candidates may become easy targets to knock them out of the race on the other.
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OBAMA’S LANDSLIDE VICTORY
Changes in despised world order likely
M. Shahidul Islam
Many say Barack Obama has made history by winning the just concluded US election. We say the vicissitudes of history has gifted to the mankind this charismatic leader to put a brake to the mad pursuance of the domination and the hegemony the US sought through wars and destructions by using ethnic and religious bigotry as weapons of choice.
The variances in the interpretation of this ground-shaking event notwithstanding, the sun has certainly shone more brightly in the autumn afternoon of November 4 when millions of voters were still in the process of changing the course of history by waiting in long queues to vote for a President whose ancestors landed in the US as subdued slaves of the White Anglo-Saxon elites of the colonial era and never dreamt of breaking the rigid ‘race-racket’ to grab the highest political office of the nation.
It was also a day marked by scattered “Good- bye- George” parties and an unnerving waiting for the results that began to beam onto TV screens by 8 PM local time.
Then, as the night progressed, a tantalizing spectacle began to unfold. Contrary to some conspiracy theorists’ assertions that ‘unseen and hidden hands’ would elude Obama of an expected win, the potent spirit of the US democracy did not allow that to happen. The voters have long been craving for a change, and it seems in the offing.
How Obama managed to pull off such a stunning victory is being debated now in length and breadth. We can only say that, from the very outset, the mission for Obama was to wage a movement for change, not an electoral campaign of conventional mould, per se.
That is where the difference lay with John McCain, and, Obama’s and his team’s untiring zeal, enthusiasm and vision struck a befitting chord in the hearts and minds of millions of voters who were tired of prolonged war, unemployment, debt and socio-political miseries at home and tarnished US image abroad.
The conscious voters were equally aware that the world would not change unless the political leadership in the White House changed first. That led young voters — students in particular – to goad the entire nation into polling stations, resulting in nearly 70 per cent voter turn out and an unprecedented victory for a leader who has made his debut into the national political landscape only four years ago, during the Democratic National Convention of 2004.
Thus, the victory turned out to be phenomenal, preponderant and sweeping. As per the latest count on November 5 (Wednesday midnight Bangladesh time), the Democratic Party has bagged a stunning 52% of the popular votes (nearly 63 millions) against 46 % by the Republicans (55.5 millions).
Ironically, the quantum of popular votes alone does not ensure victory for a US Presidential candidate. Readers may be reminded that, in the 2004 elections, Al-Gore of the Democratic Party won more popular votes than George W. Bush. But the US election system - in which the final verdict relies on winning at least 270 electoral college votes (number of electoral college votes are decided on the basis of the demographic size of individual states) - deprived Al-Gore the Presidency due to George Bush having won more electoral college votes.
Painfully, that fateful event occurred in such a circuitous manner that its bona fide faced scathing legal scrutinizes in courts following allegations of wrongdoings by election officials in the state of Florida which was being governed by George Bush’s brother, Jeb Bush.
This time, the recurrence of a similar technical blow out was fended off very effectively. Barack Obama has already secured 338 electoral college votes against John McCain’s 163 and has already been declared as the 44th US President, prompting John McCain to retreat from the scene with a graceful conceding sermon.
The Democrats have also taken full control of both Houses of the US Congress. In the Senate, they have already won 56 seats while the Republicans have, so far, managed only 40. Exit polls show the Democrats can win at least 4 more Senate seats (totalling 60), in which case the so called ‘filibuster threshold’ could be created to deprive the Republicans from blocking any bill mooted by the Democrats. In the House of Representatives, the Democrats won, according to latest count, 252 seats while the Republicans are poorly trailing at 173.
Simply put: The Republicans were routed squarely in both the Presidential and the Congressional polling, making Obama one of the most powerful Presidents in recent US history. The new President is already cobbling his transitory team and is expected to name his chief of staff sooner.
Then, once this 47 year old African-American President moves to the White House after the New Year’s eve, he will have set his mind to overcome the seemingly un-curable economic inflictions of the nation which are having a diabolic dragging effect on the output of the global economy. The new President is also expected to terminate US military mission in Iraq to spare the treasury from squandering $12-15 billion a month.
In the monetary front, the value of US dollar is likely to undergo a gradual depreciation in order to promote US exports and job creations as well as to give the desired leverage to the oil producing nations to shore up the losses they have incurred due to strong dollar and the falling prices of crude oil in the global market.
In return, oil-rich nations will contribute more funds to a global kitty which has been set up to create more ‘sovereign wealth’ to resuscitate the global economy from its downward spiral.
Meanwhile, the victory of Barack Obama has already begun to restore confidence in the global money market and US’s friends and foes worldwide seem elated and assured by this turn of event at the helm of Washington politics. The new President is considered as the one with pacifist intent and a clear grasp of the subtle dynamics that shape the contours of the global politics.
Experts also say, by bringing desired changes to US’s internal politics first, Barack Obama will eventually change the moth-eaten global order through reconciliation, positive engagement and fraternity. That may sound like music to millions of victims of the US’s pre-emptive wars of aggressions waged since 2001, but its prospect should not be discarded.
We, therefore, eagerly stand by to see how and when the new US President begins to meet the expectations of billions around the world, many of whom even stooped to prayers for his successful journey to the White House.
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Khaleda Zia’s mass contact starts from Chittagong
Holiday Report
BNP Chairperson Begum Khelda visting Chittagong today (Friday) to address a public gathering at Laldighir Maidan in Chittagong. This is going to be her first public contact program outside Dhaka after she was released from prison last month.
BNP workers see it as an initiation of election campaign. But traditionally, Begum Zia launches her election campaign by offering special prayer at the Mazar of Shah Jalal in Sylhet.
The meeting is in Chittagong is organised to protest the cancellation of the government holiday to observe November 7 as the National Revolution and Solidarity day. On this day back in 1975, soldiers and the members the public joined in a mass uprising bringing Ziaur Rahman into the helm of power after freeing him from captivity. This time, the day is being observed as a protest against government decision of cancelling the national holiday on November 7.
In Chittagong, Begum Zia is also scheduled to offer special prayer at the Mazar of Shah Amanat at Laldighi. On her way to Chittagong, she is expected to attend a few wayside meetings and break her journey at Daudkandi house of Dr Khanadakar Mosharraf Hossain, a Standing committee member of the party now in prison.
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MUDSLINGING, SMEAR CAMPAIGN FAIL
Obama first black US President
Moinuddin Naser in New York
Mr Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive.
Obama, 47, the son of a Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas, led a tide of Democratic victories across the nation in defeating Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a 26-year veteran of Washington who could not overcome his connections to President Bush’s increasingly unpopular administration.
Not only did Obama capture the presidency, he also led his party to gains in Congress. This puts Democrats in control of the House, the Senate and the White House for the first time since 1995, when Bill Clinton was in office.
As the returns became known, and. Obama passed milestone after milestone — winning Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa and New Mexico — many Americans rolled into the streets of New York, Washington, Chicago and elsewhere to celebrate what many described, with perhaps overstated if understandable exhilaration, a new era in a country where just 143 years ago, Obama, as a black man, could have been owned as a slave.
Republicans’ bitter setback
For Republicans, especially the conservatives who have dominated the party for nearly three decades, the night represented a bitter setback and left them contemplating where they now stand in American politics.
The president-elect and his expanded Democratic majority now face the task of governing the country through an achingly difficult period: the likelihood of a deep and prolonged recession, and two wars.
The roster of defeated Republicans included some notable party moderates, including Senator John E. Sununu of New Hampshire and Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, signaled that the Republican conference convening early next year in Washington will be not only smaller but more conservative.
The New York Times headline for the day was: “Obama: Racial barrier fails as voters embrace call for change.” The Washington Post’s heading was: “Obama makes History: “U.S decisively elects first black President; Democrats expand control of Congress”.
The Los Angeles Times made the heading: “Obama Wins: That is the true genius of America that America can change.” More than two hundred thousand people gathered at the Chicago Grant Park to celebrate the victory, while from Arizona Senator McCain gave his conceding speech. Barack Obama polled 59 per cent votes while the total number of electoral college votes, he polled was 364 out of total 538, while McCain polled only 162.
The remaining electoral college votes from Missouri and Georgia remained unresolved. Obama’s Campaign Manager David Plouffe and Chief Strategist David Alexrod deserve special mention in this election for their organisational capacity and all kinds of efficiency they posses in their sleeves. On the other hand the McCain campaign failed to maintain posture during the campaign and could not keep their discipline.
Historic in many ways
Many political observers opined that this election is historic in many ways. They said that from now and on the racial issues in America has been buried and new political philosophy will emerge while the blacks in America will have to reconcile among themselves.
The election of Obama as the President can only be possible in the United States. In the language of Obama: “This is the power of Democracy.” All kinds of negative campaign and mudslinging against Obama did not work. Campaign of smearing him as a friend of terrorist or real American or a Muslim proved to be wrong and the generous people of the USA rose above all kinds of nasty campaign and racial differences and embraced the call for change from Obama.
The campaign of Senator John McCain of Arizona, 72, a former prisoner of war who was making his second bid for the presidency, was eclipsed by Obama campaign at the end.
McCain also fought the headwinds of a relentlessly hostile political environment, weighted down with the baggage left to him by President Bush and an economic collapse that took place in the middle of the general election campaign.
National catharsis
The election of Obama amounted to a national catharsis — a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country. But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation’s fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago.
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” said Obama, standing in front of a huge wooden lectern, casting his eyes against a crowd that stretched far into the night in Chicago.
McCain delivered his concession speech under clear skies on the lush lawn of the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa, in Phoenix, where he and his wife held their wedding reception. The crowd reacted with scattered boos as he offered his congratulations to Obama and saluted the historical significance of the moment.
“This is a historic election, and I recognise the significance it has for African-Americans and the special significance it has for them,” McCain said, adding: “We both realise that we have come a long way from the injustices that once stained our nation’s reputations.”
Obama will come into office after an election in which he laid out a number of clear promises: to cut taxes for most Americans, to get the United States out of Iraq in a fast and orderly fashion, and to expand health care. In a recognition of the difficult transition he faces, given the economic crisis, Obama is expected to begin filling White House jobs as early as this week.
Obama defeated McCain in Ohio, a central battleground in American politics, despite a huge effort that brought McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, back there repeatedly. Obama had lost the state decisively to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in the Democratic primary.
McCain failed to take from Obama the two Democratic states that were at the top of his target list: New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Obama also held on to Minnesota, the state that played host to the convention that nominated McCain; Wisconsin; and Michigan, a state McCain once had in his sights.
The apparent breadth of Obama’s sweep left Republicans sobered, and his showing in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania stood out because officials in both parties had said that his struggles there in the primary campaign reflected the resistance of blue-collar voters to supporting a black candidate.
“I always thought there was a potential prejudice factor in the state,” Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat of Pennsylvania, an early supporter of Obama, told reporters in Chicago. “I hope this means we washed that away.”
McCain called Obama at 10 p.m., Central time, to offer his congratulations. In the call, Obama said he was eager to sit down and talk; in his concession speech, McCain said he was ready to help Obama work through difficult times.
“I need your help,” Obama told his rival, according to an Obama adviser, Robert Gibbs. “You’re a leader on so many important issues.”
Bush called Obama shortly after 10 p.m. to congratulate him on his victory. “I promise to make this a smooth transition,” the president said to Obama, according to a transcript provided by the White House .“You are about to go on one of the great journeys of life. Congratulations, and go enjoy yourself.”
For most Americans, the news of Obama’s election came at 11 p.m., Eastern time, when the networks — waiting for the close of polls in California — declared him the victor. A roar sounded from the 125,000 people gathered in Hutchison Field in Grant Park at the moment that supporters learned by way of a giant television screen that Obama had been projected the winner.
The scene in Phoenix was decidedly more sour. At several points, McCain, unsmiling, had to motion his crowd to quiet down — he held out both hands, palms down — when they responded to McCain’s words of tribute to Obama with boos.
McCain’s chief strategist, Steve Schmidt, demurred when asked whether he was happy with Ms. Palin’s performance as McCain’s running mate. “I’m not going to go there,” Schmidt said. “There’ll be time for the post-mortems in the race.”
Initial signs were that Obama benefited from a huge turnout of voters, but particularly among blacks. That group of voters made up 13 per cent of the electorate on Tuesday, according to surveys of people leaving the polls, compared with 11 percent in 2006. In North Carolina, Republicans said that the huge surge of African-Americans was one of the big factors that lead to Senator Elizabeth Dole, a Republican, losing her re-election bid in North Carolina.
Obama also did strikingly well among Hispanic voters, beating McCain did far less better among those voters than Bush did in 2004, suggesting the damage the Republican Party has suffered among those voters over four years in which Republicans have been at the forefront on the effort to crack down on illegal immigrants
The election ended what by any definition was one of the most remarkable contests in American political history, drawing what was by every appearance unparalleled public interest. Throughout the day, people lined up at the polls for hours — some showing up before dawn — to cast their votes. Aides to both campaigns said that anecdotal evidence suggested record-high voter turnout.
“Get out there and vote,” McCain said in Grand Junction, Colo. “I need your help. Volunteer, knock on doors, get your neighbours to the polls, drag them there if you need to.”
By contrast, Obama flew from his home in Chicago to Indiana, a state that in many ways came to epitomise the audacity of his effort this year. Indiana has not voted for a Democrat since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s landslide victory in 1964, and Obama made an intense bid for support there. He later returned home to Chicago play basketball, his election-day ritual.
The nation’s faltering economy seemed to weigh in voters’ minds: A survey of voters leaving polling places found that 6 in 10 said this was their dominant concern, a reflection of the economic collapse that provided the backdrop for the general election contest.
In a sign of how much the terrain of this election changed since Obama and McCain started campaigning in their party caucuses and primaries more than a year ago, only 1 in 10 cited the war in Iraq.
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BANGLADESH ELECTION
Can we make it to a smooth transition?
Sadeq Khan
Obama soundwave is now reverberating along all information highways around the world. Internationally, friends and foes of the Bush administration have all raised their antennae to detect early signals and characteristics of the “mandate for change” in sole superpower conduct.
President-elect Barack Hossain Obama had appealed to the electorate telling them it was a “defining moment in America” and the challenges facing the nation “were the greatest of our time.” He assured the American people that the United States, despite global financial meltdown caused by its systems failure and loss of face from barbaric episodes in its overstretch of war on terror, still remains and will continue to be the strongest nation on earth economically, militarily and socially in human development, if it can correct its global image and behave as a benevolent world leader, not a bully. To Obama’s campaign slogan “change we need”, the US electorate responded overwhelmingly by the “timeless creed of people: Yes, we can.”
President Bush congratulated President-elect Obama and Mrs. Obama. He commented, history was made. By that he referred to Obama being the first Black American to make it to the White House. By that token, the United State, appears at last to have transcended its White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Supremacist (WASPS) complex, and show-cased its equity of democratic culture as a multiracial state. The world, however, awaits a change of guard in the style of US leadership more substantial than mere change of complexion.
Defeated presidential candidate John McCain urged his supporters to move beyond partisan differences to put “country first” (his campaign slogan) and wished Godspeed to Obama who “will be my President.” The President-elect Barack Obama also extended his hand of goodwill to his opponents, and said. “I will be your President, too.” He called for national unity in his post-election speech and told his supporters: “Even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime¾ too wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created, new schools to build and threats to meet, and for us to lead and alliances to repair. But America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.”
In Bangladesh, we await not only a general election but also a smooth transition from an unnatural state of emergency and a long absence of representative government. Many hurdles have been crossed to prepare grounds for holding credible, fully participated free polls under relaxed emergency conditions for the ninth National Assembly, earlier postponed by proclamation of emergency. A political avalanche precipitated by charges and counter-charges of two violently contending multi-party alliances engaged in perilous power game was staged by the interim emergency administration. Many leading politicians of high stature, including two former Prime Ministers, were put behind the bars without due opportunity to seek bail on charges of corruption and misfeasance. Some of them have been convicted, others obtained writ of mandamus challenging the legality of procedure and merit of prosecution cases. Those convicted have preferred appeal in higher courts, but lost their qualification for election candidature and public representation even before their convictions are confirmed by appellate courts under a discriminatory emergency provision. However, as the self-designed roadmap of extended tenure of the caretakers to comply with transition of power reached near its end, and as engagement fatigue set in for the extraordinarily deployed armed forces called in aid of the civil administration, expediency prevailed over principles, and the process of law began to be bypassed by executive discretions. Such deviations are being termed as indiscretions by murmurs of disapproval of old loners energized and new aspirants mushroomed under emergency. But the compromises are being condoned by the public at large who feel suffocated by prolonged stalemate of bureaucratic indecision and elusive authority. Ordinary citizens want an end to careless governance, and want pro-people individuals in decision-making positions. They want change.
But can we say, ”Yes, we can” obtain that change? It is hoped that we may obtain that change through the December schedule of general election and things are progressing in a positive manner. The two former Prime Ministers are free and being freed on bail, with no bars on their participation in polls. Some convicted leaders awaiting appellate judgment are not so lucky, but several other eminent leaders are. Questions have been raised about the partisan conduct of the Chief Election Commissioner favouring the Awami League Grand Alliance. His admonition of Deputy Commissioners suggesting out of the way that they did not behave correctly in 1991 and 2001 has also come under question. The caretaker administration is being accused of posting in the districts Deputy Commissions and Police Commissioners known to be inclimed to the Awami League-led grand alliance.
Immediate past prime minister and leader of the four-party alliance Begum Khaleda Zia who has not yet registered as a voter, earlier said in a press interview that for the sake of democratic transition, she end her party were in a conciliatory mood and had forgiven the partisan lapses of the Chief Election Commissioner. But of late she renewed accusations of partisan conduct on the part of the Election Commission and the Caretaker Government. The Four Party Alliance has kept in reserve its option to boycott the scheduled general election unless some of its demands, including lifting the state of emergency and withdrawal of all cases against top leaders, are met. The withdrawal by prosecutors, on the other hand, of the case against Sheikh Hasina on an extortion charge filed by businessman Noor Ali on the ground that the police found no evidence, is being frowned upon by shocked believers in rule of law, since the deposition Noor Ali himself is prima facie evidence.
Hopes of a smooth transition by December linger. Begum Khaleda Zia, while calling upon all concerned and the people to avoid unacceptable polls, held up an olive branch saying: “In the past two years, there have been lots of wrongdoings committed and vendetta practiced. And in the course, my party, my family and I were the worst victims. But the damage done to the country was much more. I call on all to refrain from the dastardly path of vengeance.
“I never ever believe in revenge against whoever has done it. I give assurance that I will behave in just and lawful way with them in the future.
“Never before our nation was dragged to such a precipice of crisis. Bangladesh’s sovereignty is under threat. Doubts are still there over transition to democracy. Economy has broken down. People are puzzled today.”
Sheikh Hasina, on the other hand, said in London on the eve of her return to Bangladesh that her party and the allied parties are ready to participate in December polls even if BNP and its allies do not: “We are ready to participate in the election and we have preparations for it. It does not make an issue to us who will take part in it and who will not.” She also said, she will remember those who sent her to jail: “I have pardoned those who sent me to jail but I will remember them throughout my life.”
The question looms large: Let alone obtaining national unity, can we make it towards a smooth transition?
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ANALYSIS
Braving all the odds, Obama sweeps to victory
Dr. A. H. Jaffor Ullah in New Orleans
Conquering some insurmountable odds Obama beat Senator John McCain on November 4, 2008. It was definitely a history making event in America. Barack Obama, a virtually unknown entity in American politics who came to Washington in 2006 as a senator, had rapidly ascended to the highest position beating all the odds. He would be sworn as the 44th president of America on January 20, 2009.
The Associated Press writer Ron Fournier wrote that Obama’s transcendence is beyond race. Hardly a few years ago it was unthinkable to elect a man of colour to White House. Nonetheless, it happened. This is definitely a once in a life-time event.
About 20 months ago, Barack Obama went to small towns in Iowa expressing an interest to run for the Democratic primaries. He gave the Iowans a vision for tomorrow, they liked his idea, gave him small donations, and he started a campaign that culminated on November 4, 2008. The path to White House was tortuous to say the least. Nonetheless, his message went through and finally he became the nominee of the Democratic Party beating one of the most popular candidates of our time, Senator Hillary Clinton.
As the day wore by, the campaign for White House became a nasty one. The Republican candidate and his surrogates threw all the epithets on him and he braved those insults with a smiling face. Then the news of economic meltdown in the Wall Street came in September 2008. This cataclysmic event catapulted Obama to stratospheric height because he remained calm and listened to the expert. He then went to Washington meeting with the president and his colleague at the senate. This contrasted with that of Senator McCain who behaved erratically.
Barack Obama’s message of change struck a chord with the American voters who saw how the nation suffered in the hands of Bush and Cheney. The government’s expense was rising, the budget deficit was escalating, and people’s standard of living was heading down due to a rapid inflation in the prices of everyday commodities including that of energy cost. The common ordinary people were facing economic hardship while the government of Bush-Cheney remained nonchalance. The popularity poll of George W. Bush plummeted all time low and it affected the campaign of John McCain who the voters thought to be a clone of the president who belonged to the same party. In essence, the political philosophy of George W. Bush and John McCain was virtually the same.
About 3 million ordinary people of America have funded Barack Obama’s political campaign. After receiving the news of the victory, Obama wrote this e-mail to his donors and supporters. It came to my mail box right before he gave the victory speech at Grant Park, Chicago on November 4 and it reads as follows:
“I’m about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.
We just made history. And I don’t want you to forget how we did it. You made history every single day during this campaign—every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbours about why you believe it’s time for change. I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign. We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I’ll be in touch soon about what comes next. But I want to be very clear about one thing... All of this happened because of you. Thank you, Barack”
At CNN’s Election Night coverage there were quite a few Republican analysts. One of them, William Bennett, said that Obama ran a very impressive and flawless campaign. Most analysts have opined that they have never seen such a campaign that did not make any error. Also, Obama used the Internet to the fullest extent. The campaign never had any problem getting donations from supporters. It was truly an Internet-based grassroots movement.
Obama’s message of change had touched the hearts and minds of Americans of all walks of life. He was able to build a coalition of voters from minority folks, younger generation, white collar Americans, and the Democratic base composed of factory workers, unionists, labour, etc. They have responded to his call for a change in America.
At the Victory speech given at Grant Park before 125,000 people, Obama promised to fulfil his election pledge. He also said that he will need help and cooperation from ordinary Americans to build a better America. It was a historic speech which will go down in the annals of American politics as one of the finest victory speeches given at any time.
Barack Obama is considered a visionary and transformative politician. America needs a leader like him when bad times have fallen all across the nation. He promised to bring a change in the way the government is run. America is surely entering a new age with an African American president. Let us hope that it is a new beginning not only for America but also for the world.
Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA.
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Obama regime to engage others constructively
Fazle Rashid in New York
Barack Hossain Obama has made history. His immediate predecessor, George W. Bush, also made history. Obama became the first African-American to become President of the United States breaking all barriers and shackles of racial discriminations. George Bush is the first president to hold office by courtesy of a split Supreme Court verdict. So he did not have the people’s mandate to become president in his first term.
Obama has ignited a resurgence to place America in its rightful place. So overwhelmed were the African-Americans by Obama victory that they could hardly check tears. Rev. Jesse Jackson wept unabashedly. Bush had an inauspicious beginning. Misfortunes have dogged him since then.
President Bush inherited a $1 trillion federal budget surplus. He has wiped out all the gains and now leaving a $1 trillion deficit for Barack Obama. More than that, the US economy is in ruins. America is entangled in two wars, one in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan. Neither evidently is going the way Bush had wished. American’s international image has been badly mauled and impaired.
Obama will have to repair all these damages. The first thing he did last evening was to appeal to Americans to subordinate the petty party interests to national interest and work together to bring back America’s lost glory. John McCain in his concession speech made similar pleas to his supporters and promised Obama his total support to initiate the ‘change’, the major plank on which Obama ran his campaign. Both Obama and McCain were graceful in their win and defeat. However, one thing was missing from Obama’s acceptance speech: He should have acknowledged the support the Clintons had given him.
Obama acted like a statesman. He warned Americans not to expect magic results during his first term. His hands will be full. His first priority will be to set the collapsing US economy back on rail. His second will be the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
An East Coast Senator told a lunchtime group of Wall Street supporters that public anger toward them will top political agenda and expressed sympathy for the people’s rage. A memo about the financial risk the new President will face was prepared for Barack Obama’s transition team listed it as point one possibility. Both Democrats and the Republicans have railed against the Wall Street greed and promised to contain it, The Financial Times reported. Top Wall Street executives are bracing themselves for a wave of public wrath. They have promised not to use government’s bail out money to pay bonuses.
The risk of deflation could lead Fed chairman Ben Bernanke to approach the new administration and the Congress about adopting an inflation target. The Fed chairman feels that it is unlikely that the US economy will run into deflation.
The Democratic Party have made substantial gains both in the Senate and the House of Representative. Democratic Party remains three short of 60 senate seats that is required to beat back filibustering.
George W Bush who was never friendly with John McCain kept himself aloof from the campaign. It is agreed that McCain had to share a major load of Bush’s political blunders that affected his run for the presidency. Bush is making a high profile return to the centre stage hosting the international financial summit of G20 nations on Nov14-15. But more important than that is the White House’s effort at normalising ties with Iran.
The State Department is actively considering a move to send diplomats to Teheran to set up consular office there. George Bush is merely following his predecessors in seeking to make his mark right up to the last day in office. Barack Obama will be inaugurated on January 20. The Bush administration during its second term stepped up efforts to repair old alliances and emphasise a more multilateral approach to diplomacy than it did in its first. It is now trying for a rapprochement with Iran, encouraging Middle-East peace and worked out a plan with North Korea.
George W Bush’s dream of establishing two separate states of Palestine and Israel before leaving office on January 20 has remained unfulfilled. Barack Obama will obviously discard Bush’s haughty diplomatic theme of ‘You are with us or against us’ giving preference to unilateralism over multilateralism. The global economic meltdown has taught everyone including the mighty US that human species can only solve problems by collective actions and by adhering to a multilateral system.
An analyst wrote: The presidency of George Bush has been traumatic for everyone. The new administration will seek to engage more constructively with other powers on issues such as reforms of financial institutions and will clean up its act on torture and human rights.
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US Presidential poll: Is there a lesson to be learnt?
Nasreen Zaman in Toronto
Yes, Barack Obama has made history! It was a defining moment in American history when Obama won the 44th U.S. presidential election. It was a historic moment indeed not only for the American people but also for people around the globe as Obama, the 47-year old African-American, addressed the crowd at his victory rally at Chicago’s Grant Park. Over $100,000 (CNN reported about 200,000) supporters cheered Obama as they witnessed history in the making.
As Obama’s victory was announced on the jumbo television screen relaying a CNN feed to the huge crowd of democratic faithful—a broad coalition of young and old, white and black leapt into applause. To those who have wondered how the U.S. could elect George W. Bush eight years ago, this election demonstrated that the American people took the opportunity to learn from their mistake and change.
Obama’s win capped a remarkable two-year political odyssey; from an inexperienced first-term Illinois senator and distant long shot into the most powerful person in the world. Obama’s story is America’s story. However, this election was not about race or gender or youth but about the issues affecting the American people and their country. And, the American people have spoken and they have spoken clearly. This is why there were so many records set during this election – record number of registration for 1st time voters, record voter turnout, record number of early votes, and finally Obama winning with the record number of electoral votes. He was judged by the content of his character, not by the colour of his skin. Obama’s intelligence and eloquence had a large role to play in his success. At the same time, the brilliant and spectacular campaign that he had run and the never-seen-before grass roots organization that he had inspired had a tremendous role in his success. Above all, throughout his campaign Obama was consistent in focusing on issues and promises of sweeping “Change”, laying out an imaginative agenda.
Lesson to learn
Is there a lesson for us to be learnt from this U.S. election? Of course, the issues, the context and the process are very different but what about the true essence of democracy? Putting country first, putting the interest of the nation and the people first before one’s self-interest and the interest of one’s political party should be the focus of any leader. Conceding defeat graciously is another very important lesson for our leaders to learn. There was no name-calling or finger pointing in John McCain’s concession speech. Instead, he pledged his support to his former opponent and his new President to help him lead the country. He paid tribute to his former opponent for inspiring “hope in so many millions of Americans.” He urged his supporters to put aside partisan differences and work to get “the country moving again.” Can our political parties and leaders look beyond their party interests and work for what is best for the country?
Our country has also gone through unprecedented changes since 1/11. Our politicians should remember that those in power cannot exempt themselves from being held accountable for their action and that they can be brought to justice.
Let us acknowledge the need for us to change. Let us hope that we can make sweeping changes too to rid our government of greed and corruption and let us put our country first. Let us embrace Barack Obama’s slogan, “Yes, we can!”
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REGISTRATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES
Most political parties don’t have offices outside Dhaka
Shamsuddin Ahmed
It may sound incredible. Existence of a political party poised for contesting the upcoming parliamentary election has been found in a motor garage and another in a student mess.
This shows how ill organized and personalized are most of our political parties. The parties grew up over the years like the mushrooms. As many as 107 political parties applied for registration with the Election Commission when it is made mandatory by amending the relevant law recently for taking part in the national election.
Even our major political parties do not function through the party offices, which remain closed most of the time. Years ago a Japanese journalist showing keen interest visited the Awami League central office during the office hours. He was stunned to see the office closed and none was available.
The Election Commission has asked its district and divisional offices to verify existence of hitherto unknown or less known political parties sought for registration and their activities.
The election office in Barisal City in its report said investigation found barely a signboard of National People’s Party hoisted on a fruit selling shop. The shop owner pleaded ignorance about the existence of the party. Going further the investigator found a motorcycle garage behind the shop, which is used as the NPP office.
The office of Oikya Baddho Nagorik Andolon was unearthed in a student mess at B M College area. Office of Jatio Ganotantrik Party was located at the residence of Mohammad Rahim Haoladar, vice president of the party, at Kashipur in the outskirts of Barisal city.
The report said most of the 14 parties referred to the EC’s Barisal office have no political activities, not to speak of preparations for election. Some of the parties have hurriedly opened offices and formed committees as they came to know about the verification.
Dozens of activists of newly formed People’s Party of Bangladesh on Wednesday gheraoed the election office at Kishoreganj district. They protested the report of local election officer that the party has no political activities in the district. The party’s district general secretary Azad Rahman in a memorandum demanded fresh inquiry and registration of the party.
EC officials said similar reports were received about 100 political parties. Despite that some 25 parties out of 107 applied will finally be registered enabling their candidates to contest the election. The number of registered parties is likely to come down when some of them fail to secure the requisite number of votes.
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GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT
Alan Greenspan
K. Z. Islam
Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926 in New York City) is an American economist and was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private advisor, making speeches and providing consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC.
First appointed Fed chairman by President Ronald Reagan in August 1987, he was reappointed at successive four-year intervals until retiring on January 31, 2006 after the second-longest tenure in the position. He was lauded for his handling of the Black Monday October 19, 1987 stock market crash, which occurred very shortly after he first became the Fed Chairman, as well as for his stewardship of the Internet-driven, “dot-com” economic boom of the 1990s. This expansion eventually ended in a burst in March 2000 leading to an economic downturn, including negative GDP growth in the first quarter of 2001.
After 2001, some congressional leaders and others criticized him, for certain statements they found to overstep the Fed’s traditional purview of monetary policy, and for other statements they saw as overly supportive of the policies of President George W. Bush. In 2004 BusinessWeek magazine criticized his keeping of low interest levels too long and his concurrent praise of sub-prime lending vehicles such as ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) as leading to a housing bubble. Some, including Nobel Prize-winning economists Joseph E. Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, assign a large degree of culpability for the devastating Economic crisis of 2008 to Greenspan. Stiglitz stated that Greenspan “didn’t really believe in regulation; when the excesses of the financial system were noted, [he and others] called for self-regulation—an oxymoron.” Greenspan, according to The New York Times, says he himself is blameless. Krugman has repeatedly expressed his view that Greenspan is the person most responsible for the crisis.
All considered, during his tenure Greenspan was the leading authority on American domestic economic and monetary policy, and his active influence continues.
Alan Greenspan’s propagation of globalization and completely free and unregulated market is borne out by an extract from his book THE AGE OF TURBULENCE (p.376).
‘Globalization, the extension of capitalism to world markets, like capitalism itself, is the object of intense criticism from those who see only the destructive side of creative destruction. Yet all credible evidence indicates that the benefits of globalization far exceed its costs, even beyond the realm of economics. For example, economist Barry Eichengreen and political scientist David Leblang, in a paper delivered in late 2006, found “evidence [during the 130-year span from 1870 to 2000] of positive relationships running in both directions between globalization and democracy.” They found “that trade openness promotes democracy. . . . The impact of financial openness on democracy [is] not as strong but still point[s] in the same direction [and] . . . democracies are more likely to remove capital controls.”
Accordingly, we should focus on addressing and assuaging the fears induced by the dark side of creative destruction rather than imposing limits on the economic edifice on which worldwide prosperity depends. Innovation is as important products, or health care. As globalization expands and ultimately begins to slow, our financial system will need to retain its flexibility. Protectionism, whatever its guise, whether political or economic, whether it affects trade or finance, is a prescription for economic stagnation and political authoritarianism. We can do better than that. Indeed, we must.’
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SWEDEN HAILS OBAMA
New era of transatlantic cooperation to begin
Anisur Rahman in Stockholm
Swedish politicians welcomed the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States, following the Democratic candidate’s defeat of rival John McCain, on Wednesday online newspaper The Local reported.
Per Schlingmann, secretary of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt’s Moderate Party, said Obama’s election would provide ‘new possibilities for US-Swedish cooperation and for the relationship between the EU and Europe.
‘But his biggest challenge will be meeting the high expectations placed on him’, he added.
Mona Sahlin, leader of the opposition Social Democrats, speaking at the US Embassy’s election night party in Stockholm, where around five hundred politicians, diplomats, businessmen and journalists attended, she said ‘always thought he would win, but I still feel a bit stunned’. She believed that the Obama presidency would herald a new era of transatlantic cooperation.
Left Party leader Lars Ohly said the election was ‘the end of eight years of suffering and an enormous revitalisation of American democracy.’
He said: ‘Obama does not represent the old establishment. He has shown that he is willing to re-evaluate issues, such as the issue of withdrawing troops from Iraq and cooperating more with other countries and the UN. It is important for the rest of the world that the US becomes less aggressive and more willing to cooperate.’
Leaders of Swedish industry were also cautiously positive about Obama’s election. Borje Ekholm, CEO of Sweden’s powerful Investor Holding Company, said he looked forward to ‘clear leadership and a strong president. That’s what business needs.’
Some politicians have also expressed concern over Obama’s anti-free trade stance.
Ekholm acknowledged that Obama had spoken unfavourably about free trade, ‘but we should not exaggerate the anti-trade side of Obama.’
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PDB is being run with controversial and inadequate manpower
Holiday report
The Power Development Board (PDB) is running with manifold problems that affect the service to the consumers. Appointment of controversial persons in key-positions is also creating dissatisfaction in the organization.
A case in point is the post of Member Planning and Development remains vacant since June 2006. Meanwhile, Member Generation has been authorised to hold the charge of the post of Member Planning and Development. It is alleged that the Member Generation has too demanding a job and therefore he can not do justice to his new job. As a result, the office of Member Planning and Development is not being able to function.
Likewise, the office of the Member Distribution, another important position to monitor and supervise the country-wide network of PDB under eight zones, is also not running well. As a result, the field level offices are acutely suffering because of lack proper monitoring, supervision and timely action. In the absence of quick decision making, many important jobs remain incomplete and unattended. As a result implementation and modification of large number of small and big projects under the eight PDB zones located in different parts of the country are being inordinately delayed.
The newly created Power Cell is viewed as an inefficient office run by an incompetent person. A retired PDB Chief Engineer has been given the charge of holding the post of the DG of the Power Cell. He is known to be a sick person and his fellow colleagues consider him to be always too tired to perform the job properly and promptly.
Allegations have also been raised against the promotion of a divisional level official to the position of a Member of the Board of the PDB. To probe into the allegation, a departmental inquiry committee was formed and its rep[ort found him to be involved in corrupt practices while serving in Moulavibazar, Sylhet. Even after the submission of the report no action has been taken again the person concerned.
When asked about the problems in PDB, senior officials said that it was the responsibility of the concerned ministry to appoint appropriate persons to different important positions to run the organisation and improve its functioning. They say that unfortunately, despite all their efforts the ministry has done nothing. A PDB Director said: “We have been informing the ministry (from time to time) about the vacancies but the ministry is functioning in its own style”.
Critics argue that it is better close the PDB in stead of keeping it cripple with inadequate manpower and huge burden of system loss,
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