The inadequacy of the caretaker government to cope with the problems related to elections had been repeatedly substantiated by the subsequent events. Rather it encouraged favouratism and steps beyond the Constitution.
Within a month, disagreements arose among the advisers of the caretaker government of professor Iajuddin Ahmed. The chief adviser was trying to enforce various decisions unduly beyond the rights he was given under the Constitution. Four advisers resigned for this reason. They are Dr. Akbar Ali Khan, Lieut. Gen. Hasan Mashhood Chowdhury, CM Shafi Sami and
Sultana Kamal. Iajuddin Ahmed appointed four new advisers to the vacant posts of advisers. They were:- the head of private organization Asha Safiqul Haque Chowdhury, former professor of Accounting and Information Systems, Department of Business Studies of Dhaka University M Moinuddin Khan,Major General Ruhul Amin Chowdhury and Dr. Shoaib Ahmed.
The date of the 9th National Assembly elections was fixed on 22 January, 2007. All opposition parties continued to accuse the new advisory council of bias. The caretaker government called them for talks.
Despite several rounds of discussion, the caretaker government could not convince the political parties to participate in the elections. Unable to handle the massive movement of the opposition party, all advisers including the chief adviser resigned. The President declared a state of emergency in the country.
The former governor of Bangladesh Bank, Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmad, was appointed the new Chief Adviser. Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmad, under the supervision of the Army, inaugurated the caretaker government by appointing ten new advisers and the President also cancelled the announced date of election of 22 January. On January 26, all political activities in the country were suspended through an ordinance by the President. A new chapter in politics began. The Grand
Alliance leaders were soon upset with the BNP’s manipulation of the new caretaker government and various processes of coming to power. There was also a movement in the field for resistance. BNP-Jamaat tried hard to stop the movement. Especially the Jamaat-Shibir trained cadres became active on the streets and attacked protesters in many places.
Casualties occurred almost daily. However, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina and Jatiya Party chief Hossain Muhammad Ershad attended the swearing-in ceremony of the new caretaker government. Later, however, it was this caretaker government that pushed the state towards depoliticization with the minus-two formula.
The beginning of the new caretaker government was good. This government gained huge popularity initially for freeing the country from a conflicting situation. But gradually their goals began to change. Elections were not held within three months as stipulated in the Constitution. All political activities were banned. Arrests of political leaders started in the name of anti-corruption campaign. 170 political leaders were arrested till August. In the name of anti-corruption operation by the military forces, an alarming and terrifying situation was created across the country.
Two leaders Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia were arrested. The family members of the two leaders were also detained. The intention of this government became clear to everyone. About a year and a half passed like this. The first resistance started, as always, with the students. The Dhaka University campus became turbulent due to an incident in Rajshahi. Student movement spread across the country. The people of the country came forward. Caretaker government finally took steps towards holding elections. Changes were made in the Caretaker Government.
Barrister Mainul Husein, Gitiara Safia Chowdhury, Major General (Retd) Matiur Rahman and Ayub Qadri were replaced by Dr. AMM Shaukat Ali, AF Hasan Arif, Major Gen. (Retd) Golam Quader and Rasheda K. Chowdhury The release of political leaders including the two leaders began. The environment was created for discussion.
A changed caretaker government began preparations for elections. The Election commission was restructured by appointing ATM Shamsul Huda as the new Chief Election Commissioner. A political dialogue was convened by the commission. Awami League responded to this, but BNP chief Khaleda Zia added some conditions. The conditions included the release of her two sons, Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko, and allowing them to go abroad. Finally the caretaker government agreed to this condition.
Tarique Rahman was released on 3 September, 2008 and admitted to Bangabandhu Medical University hospital for treatment. Khaleda Zia was released on March 11 and met Tarique Rahman at Bangabandhu Medical University hospital. On the same day, Tarique Rahman was sent to London as per his wishes. After that, Tarique Rahman did not return to the country.
Elections, postponed twice because of BNP demand, were held at last on December 29 under the caretaker government. The Grand Alliance led by Awami League won the election with an absolute majority.
With the passing of time the caretaker government system became the subject of strong criticism among the politically conscious people. The civil society in the country began to hold discussion on whether it will be right to keep such a system in future. Awami League also expressed similar opinion. According to the lawyers, the High Court was also getting involved in the political process in this system. Political leaders began to highlight the negative aspects of the caretaker government which became a threat to the country’s politics. In 1996, the High Court rejected a writ petition challenging the validity of the caretaker government. The matter was pending for a long time. In late 2010, a lawyer appealed to the High Court for ruling.
A lengthy hearing was held on his appeal. The High Court heard statements from eminent lawyers as amicus curiae. Finally, on May 10, 2011, the court declared the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution null and void. As a result of the court ruling, the system of caretaker government was abolished. According to the court’s ruling, on June 25, a constitutional amendment bill was introduced in the National Assembly to abolish the provision of the caretaker government. The provision of the caretaker government was abolished by the fifteenth amendment of the Constitution on June 30 after the committee’s examination and report to Parliament. It is stated in propositions 20 and 21 of the Fifteenth Amendment Bill that Article 58(a) of the Constitution shall be repealed. Article 2(a) of the Constitution states that non-partisan caretaker government shall be abolished.
Article 152 relating to the post of Chief Adviser, is amended and Article 150 relating to transitional and temporary provisions is substituted. The Bill proposed to amend Article 123 of the Constitution relating to national elections within ninety days before the expiry of the term and states that general elections of members of Parliament shall be held, in case of dissolution of Parliament due to expiry of term within 90 days preceding the dissolution, and in the case of dissolution of Parliament for any reason other than expiration of term, within 90 days of the dissolution shall be substituted.
Even though BNP did various sorts of engineering with the caretaker government, it took a stand against its cancellation. The main reason was that they were out of power. Khaleda Zia brazenly said when she was in power that no one is impartial except madmen and children. They can no longer say it.
Various strategies were resorted to to make the party person the chief advisor. Finally the President Iajuddin Ahmed himself became the Chief Advisor. It was under this Iajuddin Ahmed elections were held in the country and Sheikh Hasina became the Prime Minister. Then the elections in 2014 and 2018 were held under the party government. Having failed to prepare the party to contest, BNP again turn their attention to the caretaker government. But BNP knows it well that caretaker government is now irrelevant, but it obstinately insist on it.
BNP has taken a stand that if its demand for caretaker government is not accepted, it will not participate in the dialogue held by the election commission nor will it participate in the elections under the party government.
The people of Bangladesh have seen the chaos the caretaker government created and no one will want to go back to this system. However, it can be considered if any reforms are necessary in the election system to hold free, fair and impartial elections. The Election Commission headed by Kazi Habibul Awal is trying to hold free, fair and inclusive election. If BNP has any ideas to reform the electoral system for fair elections, it should present it to the Election Commission for its consideration. The caretaker government could not bring prosperity to the country in the past, nor will it bring it in the future. What the One Eleven caretaker government had done to BNP leaders is not to be forgotten so soon. The top leaders of BNP, in the fitness of things, should remember it and think about this.
