Emergency might stay past 120 days

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The ongoing state of emergency might be prolonged past ‘120 days’ and the possibility of lifting the ban on indoor politics soon is slim, in light of the prevailing situation.
The council of advisers to the military backed caretaker government, on several occasions, informally discussed lifting the ban on indoor politics. But the advisers believe the situation has yet to come into existence for either lifting the state of emergency or the ban on indoor politics, highly placed sources in the government said.

President Iajuddin Ahmed on January 11 had declared the state of emergency suspending the January 22 parliamentary election and the government banned all sorts of outdoor political activities a couple of days after. The government on March 7 also banned indoor politics.

According to the constitution a proclamation of emergency (a) may be revoked by a subsequent proclamation, (b) shall be laid before the parliament; (c) shall cease to operate at the expiration of one hundred and twenty days, unless before the expiration of that period it has been approved by a resolution of the parliament:

The constitution goes on, provided that any such proclamation is issued at a time when the parliament stands dissolved or dissolution of the parliament takes place during the period of one hundred and twenty days of the emergency as referred to in sub-clause (c) above, the proclamation shall cease to operate at the expiration of thirty days from the date on which the parliament first meets after its re-constitution, unless before the expiration of the said period of thirty days a resolution approving the proclamation has been passed by the parliament.

Questions are now being raised about the coming scenario, as the state of emergency is set to complete its 120 days on May 11. In absence of a parliament, many are questioning whether the state of emergency will be automatically lifted after May 11 or the president will extend it through another proclamation.

Some legal experts termed the prevailing situation as unique and suggested that the matter should be sent to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for explanation.

Contacted by The Daily Star yesterday, Law Adviser Mainul Hosein however said the constitutional provision is not applicable to the present situation since no parliament exists. “We don’t see any constitutional problem as there is no parliament. Now it depends on the government whether the state of emergency will be continued or not,” said the law adviser.

“The people are not interested in whether the state of emergency will continue or not. They want a meaningful change through a free and fair election and the government is working for it,” Mainul quipped.

A former judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Ghulam Rabbani, said the situation is very unusual. The parliament does not exist and there is no scope to constitute a new parliament during the 120 days term of emergency, he said.

“So, the matter should be referred to the Appellate Division for explanation,” the former judge told The Daily Star.

Constitution expert Dr M Zahir however told The Daily Star yesterday that the ongoing state of emergency may continue until the formation of a new parliament. “There is no ambiguity in the constitution,” he asserted.

A well-placed source in the caretaker government said the state of emergency might continue even till the holding of the next parliamentary election, which is likely to be held by the end of 2008 as the chief adviser had recently announced. Similarly, the ban on indoor politics also might not be lifted soon, the source added.

“The situation might deteriorate further if the state of emergency or the ban on indoor politics is lifted. Things might even spin out of control due to provocative political speeches once the ban on indoor politics is lifted,” an adviser to the government told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) could not hold dialogues with political parties to finalise the proposals for electoral reforms due to the ban on indoor politics.

“We cannot invite political parties for talks due to the ban. If we invite them, they will have to hold policy meetings to take decisions regarding proposals for electoral reforms. But the political parties cannot hold any meeting due to the ban,” Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda told reporters last Thursday.

The CEC on April 4 at a meeting with the law adviser asked the government to lift the ban on indoor politics allowing the EC to hold talks with the political parties.

But the council of advisers to the caretaker government believes that the present situation does not permit lifting of the ban on indoor politics, sources said.

The government’s recent move for sending the chiefs of two major political parties, Awami League and BNP, into exiles for the sake of reforms in the parties triggered much criticism both at home and abroad, putting the government in a rather awkward situation.

The law adviser on Friday however disclosed that leaders of the two major parties themselves had encouraged sending the two top leaders abroad in a bid to reform their parties.

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