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M Sakhawat Hossain //

August 5, 2024 will be an important chapter not only in the history of Bangladesh but also in the history of the world. Even in the Arab Spring, there was no such roar as the young students of Dhaka University roared. Due to the arrogance of Sheikh Hasina’s fascist government, this movement spread among the common people across the country.

About 800 fresh lives were lost in this movement. About the same number of people suffer from vision loss and paralysis. It is not easy to calculate how many more people’s blood has been spilled on the streets in this movement. Hasina’s fascist government has fallen in exchange for the blood of so many people. Hasina fled the country with another member of her family and took refuge in a neighboring country. Leaving behind his party supporters and henchmen (accomplices in crime) who are accomplices of brutality.

With the fall of Hasina, the people of Bangladesh got their ‘second freedom’. The world-renowned Nobel laureate Dr. Interim government led by Muhammad Yunus. This government has many tough challenges ahead of it. The main among them is to reform the broken institutions and turn Bangladesh into a modern state and restore the distressed economy. The expectation among all, especially the youth, is ‘repair of the state’. For this they gave fresh blood from the chest. It is the desire of the young generation and countrymen to the interim government that this government will become a pioneer in the repair of the Bangladesh state.

The need for repair or reform of the Bangladesh state does not require history. Hasina government’s 15-and-a-half-year misrule and autocratic rule are rare in the modern state of the world today. As a ruler, Sheikh Hasina will be an example of a terrible dictatorship. His name can be placed in the ranks of Hitler and Mussolini.

For this reason, it is very important to reform the state to prevent the rise of such a fascist government in the future. After such a bloody revolution on August 5, I think that any conscious citizen of our country will give a verdict in favor of changing the governance structure. In this context, I am briefly presenting my personal opinion to change the structure of the state, so that the governments do not become monstrous powers in the future and Bangladesh becomes a true democratic and people’s republic. Here some important aspects of state reform are highlighted.

Decentralization

Bangladesh is the eighth largest country in the world in terms of population. The population is about 175 million. Although a small country, to bring the government to such a large population, Bangladesh can be divided into at least five provinces and made into a federal state. Four provinces each in the eastern and western regions and another province comprising Greater Dhaka. Metropolitan Dhaka will remain under Central Government. The Center will be in charge of defence, external affairs, management of border and maritime security, communications and foreign aid and cooperation. The rest of the affairs will be under the supervision of the Center but the provinces will be in charge. At the same time there will be political decentralization in the provincial government structure.

Bicameral parliament

Many political parties and thinkers of Bangladesh have been demanding a bicameral parliament for a long time. This is not only the demand of the times but also essential for modern state governance and sound politics. If we take subcontinent and SAARC countries into consideration, we will see that all countries except Maldives have bicameral parliaments.

Election Management

As the federal state structure is one of the aspects of the reform of Bangladesh, the election management should also be brought under the reform. Electoral laws and voting systems need to be changed. I believe that if 50 percent ‘PR’ or proportional representation system is adopted for the provincial and national parliaments along with the complete ‘fast past the post’ or Westminster system, the national parliament will not become a center of one-party rule. But I am in favor of proportional election in half seats not full. This system is in Nepal.

Laws relating to political parties

Political Parties Registration Act (Political Party Act) is necessary for political parties in Bangladesh to conduct politics more transparently and democratically. Through this parties have to be registered with the state. It should be noted that the existing section will be modified by maintaining separate registration for participation in the existing elections.

It should be mentioned here that an Ordinance called Political Parties Act was made in 1978, but it was not implemented. Only Bangladesh in the subcontinent does not have such involvement of political parties with the state.

Police Commission and Administration

If Bangladesh is to become a federal state, the police administration must also be decentralized. The center will have a special police force or central reserve force. A Central Police Commission should be constituted to provide supervision and direction to the police. A special force called the Central Investigation Unit (CBI) is also needed. One such initiative was taken during the caretaker government of 2007-08.

Judicial Appointments Board

Discussions have been going on for many years regarding the formation of a judicial appointment board. In the past the judiciary has been influenced by the government. Because, the method of appointing judges was flawed. Judiciary must be made independent.

In the above discussion, I have briefly outlined my personal views on some of the reforms. This list of reforms is not exhaustive. More new topics can be added to this list. But the very important thing here is to maintain some balance of power between the President and the Prime Minister.

However, I have highlighted some aspects of state reform in this article to create public opinion. The structure of the state needs to be reformed so that the future rulers of our country do not become dictators or elected dictators. I hope this proposal will have the support of healthy politicians and civil society. The current interim government will be requested to seriously consider the reform proposals and take up the task of reforming the state. Now is the time to reform the state. If we do not take advantage of this opportunity, it will not be possible to prevent the rise of demonic governments in the future.
Dr. M Sakhawat Hossain: Advisor to Interim Government Ministry of Textiles and Jute and Shipping, Former Election Commissioner

hhintlbd@yahoo.com