Council yet to pick up required pace

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The council of advisers to the caretaker government has yet to start functioning effectively as the advisers have not been involved so far in the process of setting up an administration competent enough to hold a fair election.

Some of the advisers feel that the council should sit regularly to take steps in this regard, but the meetings are not being held frequently as the chief adviser does not convene them.

The advisers at an unscheduled meeting in a state guesthouse yesterday without the presence of the chief adviser discussed the overall situation and agreed that the process of creating a congenial atmosphere for the next parliamentary election should be expedited, sources said.

Except some measures taken by the president cum chief adviser himself in reshuffling the administration, the council of advisers has yet to take any collective decision regarding creating a level playing field for holding the next election, rather it is still stuck in a difficult situation regarding reconstitution of the Election Commission (EC).

“It is true, we have not been able to show any remarkable performance so far but we have also just begun our work,” Adviser Dhiraj Kumar Nath told The Daily Star yesterday. “We are trying our best to ensure a free and fair election.”

Currently, most of the advisers are not directly involved with the process of making changes in the administration as they are in charge of such ministries which are not so important regarding the election. The president cum chief adviser is in charge of all the ministries which are vital to the next election.

The way of ensuring the advisers’ involvement with the vital ministries is through formation of some advisory committees for reshuffling the administration and for improving the law and order situation. But the advisory committees are yet to be formed although the council of advisers at an informal meeting on last Saturday took the decision to do so.

After Saturday’s meeting, Adviser Mahbubul Alam told the media that formation of the committees would be completed by Sunday. But till yesterday, the committees were not constituted. During the last caretaker government in 2001, the advisory committee on administration made most of the decisions regarding transfers of government officials.

“As far as I know, the committees have not been formed. Official gazettes would be published if those were formed. The cabinet division can say about the progress in forming the committees,” Adviser Mahbubul Alam, who is in charge of the information ministry, told The Daily Star yesterday.

Sources in the Cabinet Division yesterday said formation of the advisory committees is yet to be completed. “In fact we are not aware of it properly,” a senior official said.

Adviser Dr Akabar Ali Khan yesterday told reporters that an advisory committee on appointments and transfers of government officials has not yet been formed.

“Yes, there are problems in the administration, but we will go to the extent we deem necessary,” he said adding that their main target is to hold a free and fair election.

Sources in the Cabinet Division said the second official meeting of the interim cabinet will be held tomorrow evening in Bangabhaban. There is no specific agenda of discussion for the meeting.

The council of advisers will hold a meeting with secretaries on Thursday, sources said.

The first formal meeting of the council of advisers was held on November 1 after the advisers had been sworn in, but the meeting did not take any decision. The council of advisers held three other informal meetings on November 2 and 4 and discussed ways to reconstitute the EC, but could not take any decision.

At the previous meetings the council of advisers did not discuss the issue of recovering illegal firearms and arresting criminals.

The council was supposed to sit yesterday in Bangabhaban, but it did not meet as the chief adviser had not convened the meeting, which was scheduled to decide on the matter of reconstituting the EC.

The advisers however met informally in the state guest house Meghna and discussed the difficulties they are facing in running their ministries.

“We discussed the problems related to financial matters with the finance adviser,” Mahbubul Alam told The Daily Star.

The situation was totally different during the last government in 2001. At that time, advisers were sworn in at 10:00am on July 16 and within an hour the chief adviser, who had been sworn in on July 15, 2001 distributed the portfolios. The first meeting of the council of advisers was held on July 16 which reviewed law and order situation and formed some advisory committees.

At a meeting on July 17, 2001, the advisory committee on law and order looked for ways to improve the law and order situation. Later, the council of advisers sat in a special meeting on the same matter again and made decisions regarding recovery of illegal arms and arrests of criminals.

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