The December Two-Step

I had an inkling it wouldn't end well when Prof Yunus made that rather odd statement about how it was only one party who wanted the elections to be held by December this year.

And sure enough, it seems now that the line has been drawn: the Islamist parties, the NCP (is there really a difference between the two?) and (possibly) the interim government on one side -- the one preferring to keep the timeline grey (well the interim bosses keep saying June 2026 is the drop-dead date, while their student buddies issue vague mutterings about crossing that bridge when they come to it), and the leftists and BNP on the other -- the one insisting the world will come to an abrupt end if the elections aren't held by December 31 this year. 

Well it just so happens that I have my two cents to offer on this.

First of all, it seems quite disingenuous to infer, as our honourable Chief Advisor seems to be doing, that the overwhelming majority of the political players -- and by implication their constituents -- want the elections to be held later than December this year. 

This is obviously not true, as we've seen from the chorus of denouncements from the leftists and the BNP, and it's also pertinent to ask what percentage of the population the Islamist parties and the NCP represent. Jamaat-e-Islami did not cover themselves with glory the last time they contested an election, the others of their ilk have traditionally fared even worse, and the jury is still out on the NCP.

The BNP, on the other hand, has a solid bank of voters backing them, and are comfortably the largest party in the land after the disgrace and banishment of the Awami League. So if you want to assess things from a democratic perspective, it would seem the party that represents the will of the biggest chunk of the populace wants the elections to be held this year. Surely that should be a consideration. 

Secondly, what exactly are the reforms that can be accomplished in the six months following December and why can they not be achieved in the seven months that are left of this year? Why all this opacity and evasiveness regarding this?

Why can we not have a transparent timeline detailing what reforms can be achieved if the elections are held in December, another showing what's possible by April -- since that is another time-frame that was raised by an Islamist leader -- and a third one with a June 30 deadline?

Why not put this out in the open and -- if necessary -- have a referendum on this issue? I know this is messy, expensive and a distraction from the major tasks at hand, but surely it is better than the alternative: an impasse leading possibly to conflict? 

My hope -- admittedly forlorn -- is that once clear alternative timelines are in sight, this issue can be solved through discussion and it won't have to come to a referendum (or a fistfight). I mean, one can dream, right?

This is a time for cooler heads to prevail. We need reforms -- this is crucial -- but we also need transparency and accountability. And we do not want a return to the days of our rulers shutting us out of a say on decisions that impact each and every last one of us.