Artists express heartfelt congratulations to Prof. Dr. Muhammad Yunus-led newly formed interim government. Already, the interim government took their oath by the honorable president in Bangabhaban. It's a very rare instance that the two students who led the student movement have been taken as part of the newly formed government. It will be an example not only for Bangladesh but the entire world.
From 1952 to 2024, all of our movements got success holding the hands of our students, especially the students of the University of Dhaka. But none of the students were instantly evaluated like the student movement of 2024. We express our gratitude to everyone who decided to include the students in the interim government. Citizens were looking forward to the formation of an interim government after abolishing the parliament. After forming the government, citizens are hopeful.
Due to the absence of any provisions pertaining to the formation of an interim government in our constitution, the honorable PM's resignation sparked a national debate concerning its formation. We all know that the nonpartisan caretaker government system was passed in the year 1996 using the 13th amendment of the constitution, and it was abolished in the year 2011 using the 15th amendment by the recently exiting Awami government. As a result, there is no direct provision to form an interim government without election in our current constitution at the moment.
At the very first time, such a type of transitional government was formed headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Mr. Shahabuddin Ahmed, after resigning the Honorable President H.M. Ershad, though it was unconstitutional. It was validated by the 11th amendment of the constitution. Accordingly, our newly formed Prof. Dr. Muhammad Yunus-led interim government will be validated by the next elected government. But it will be extremely dangerous if the next elected government will come from existing political parties, because political parties in Bangladesh exercise dirty politics nowadays. For any cause, if the next elected government will not validate the Prof. Dr. Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, it will be illegal.
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Younus is a prominent and widely accepted figure in the world. As we are proud of him, we do not expect that Bangladesh's unscrupulous politicians will turn him into a victim. Apart from this, though the primary focus of the student movement was the reform of the quota system, subsequently it was moved to the anti-discrimination movement. At the latest, the main focus of the student movement turned into the reform of the political system in Bangladesh.
Our constitution needs to be amended in order to reflect the contemporary objectives of the student movement. But it is not possible for the interim government as per the constitution due to a lack of elected lawmakers. On the other hand, there is no well-motivated political party who will amend the constitution as per the demand of the student movement to reform the political system. Before the election, all political parties may agree to fulfill the demand of the student movement to reform the political system. But after electing, the elected government may not keep their commitment.
One of the objectives of Bangladeshi political parties is to seize and hold onto power. They won't amend the constitution in a way that would force them to cede their position of power. They won't put up any barriers to holding onto power. Moreover, they will amend the constitution in such a way that they will be able to hold the power for an uncertain period of time.
Considering the political ill-motive of our existing political parties, the nonpolitical interim government has to reform the political system and validate all activities before resigning from the power. To complete these tasks, the interim government will need to hold an election to comply with the constitution. They may hold an election taking non-political, knowledgeable students and citizens to pass laws and amend the constitution as per the student movement goal. Student movement 2024 will not be beneficial otherwise.
The writer is a member, Dhaka Taxes Bar Association and columnist
