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12-14-06, 9:06 am
The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) has expressed its serious concern over the recent government decision to deploy the army countrywide. In a press statement on December 10 expressing their concern, the CPB President, Manzurul Ahsan Khan, and General Secretary Mujahidul Islam Selim said that since the step was taken without any consultation with other government advisors, the real intention of this unilateral decision by the President is seriously questionable.
Criticizing the decision, the CPB leaders said that the most important immediate task of the Caretaker Government (CTG) is to conduct an acceptable, meaningful, free and fair election. To implement this constitutional duty, it is absolutely essential for the CTG to reconstitute the Election Commission and to fully implement the `Package Proposal' of the CTG for election reform. But instead of implementing these urgent tasks, the decision to deploy the Army nationwide on the lame excuse that the situation requires “law and order,” will only make the country's political scenario more difficult and deepen the existing crisis. The CPB leaders reiterated what is at present most relevant in terms of resolving the ongoing crisis: the full implementation of the CPB’s `Package Proposal', and not the deployment of Army.
Considering the present political situation, the CPB leaders said, the interim government’s decision to deploy the army was not only irrelevant, but could also be viewed as a direct provocation that will further complicate the crisis. The President and General Secretary of the CPB also said that the government’s hesitation to implement its "Package Proposal," its open partiality and bias towards war criminals and autocratic forces, along with the President’s deceitful maneuvering, have already aroused massive frustration and apprehension among all sections of the people about the present state of politics in Bangladesh. Furthermore, they said, the interim government’s actions have also created a real danger to the continuity of the democratic process and democracy itself. If the decision for deployment of the army proves to have been made on the basis of partisan political considerations, it will definitely exacerbate and increase the present danger.
Calling upon the government, the CPB leaders said that despite all this, the President should take immediate initiatives to reconstitute the Election Commission and fully implement its "Package Proposal," in order to safeguard the democratic process and save the nation from a deepening political crisis, which poses a real danger of discontinuity in the constitutional process.
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