Stop Wasting Time About Election Date

Voting. Wikimedia Commons

Prof. Iqbal Hossain

It should be clear to all, and stand to common sense, that the people of Bangladesh are disinterested in rushing back into holding a General Election and possibly ending up with much similar to the tyrannical regime we just kicked out and had suffered during the last 15-years.

Democracy... democracy... democracy... that’s all we ever heard from former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her motley crew, (no doubt to engrace herself with the international media and be perceived to be democracy’s angelic advocate, but we never once saw or experienced it).

And those who spoke out against the tyrannical actions were swiftly whisked away under a cloak of secrecy to locations unknown, many never to be seen or heard from again.

If by spouting the word ‘democracy’ paid bills, Bangladesh would not owe the international lending agencies what it does now.

Enough! Enough! Enough!

ANYONE who attempts to exert pressure on Professor Yunus/The Interim Government to hold speedy elections ought to have their heads examined and their reasons thoroughly investigated.

These people are certainly not acting in the best interests of the nation. Whether that applies to BNP’s Khaleda Zia, Tarique Rahman, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir; Awami League’s Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed, Nationalist Democratic Movement’s Bobby Hajjaj, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Ameer Shafiqur Rahman, or whoever.

To all and sundry, with exception to the above-mentioned, it would appear, we all know Bangladesh is in a mess. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League motley crew made sure of that. One could argue, it was one thing they got right to perfection. We’re still only learning about the extent of the damage done.

Instead of demanding the return of Sheikh Hasina and her cohorts; wouldn’t it be more beneficial to Bangladesh if they were made return the money they disgracefully plundered and they stayed where they are?

I read a wonderful tongue-in-cheek quote from special foreign friend Sir Frank Peters last week in which he said the only worry Bangladesh should have is, if the corruption money is returned all at once it might sink Bangladesh (or something similar to that).

The collective thoughts and efforts should not be wasted on organizing or even thinking about new elections, but on sorting our putrid smelling garbage mess that’s been piling up and creating a stench not just for the past 15-years, but even before.

BNP is not totally blameless. It, too, did some wrongdoings, but now BNP is perceived to be the best available option and there’s a good chance of them winning, if they play their cards right.

Bangladesh has never had a parliament of angels. One might even question their standing as law abiding, compassionate, human beings and Allah-fearing good Muslims.

Not one name springs to mind as being of exemplary good character and behaviour (although there may be one or two in existence). The rest falls into the category, ‘thank God, we didn’t vote in worse’.

If for no other reason to put Bangladesh right, we owe it to the people who gave their lives in 1952, 1971, and more recently in August 2024.

There’s a hackneyed, now threadbare old saying, that say the people deserve the government they voted into power. While we all collectively share in the mistakes of the past, we should now collectively work together in building the Bangladesh we all want in the future.

We do this by not laboring the interim government with silly demands for a speedy return to the already known type of government, but to a government that represents the people and sincerely addresses their needs.

We also need to ask ourselves if certain people are advocating a speedy election to allow them to take action to prevent being caught in the net of corruption and money-laundering, that the Prof. Yunus government is intent on detecting and addressing.

Those with nothing to hide, have nothing to fear. The changes happening now are a blessing from Allah and in the best interest of the nation.

Someone said Bangladesh is similar to a septic tank at present. So allow the Interim Government to continue its cleaning process unconstrained and then at the right time the political parties can move in to maintain and improve.

Stop this silly, infantile, time-wasting talk of national elections and get on with the extensive cleaning process at hand.

Prof. Iqbal Hossain, Shahbag