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A modern-day government must refrain from exploiting power in arbitrary ways. Anyone with just a little knowledge about politics knows the best way out of the current impasse is for all the political parties to join forces to reach a consensus.
However, it is equally true that the degree of public support the government had been enjoying earlier has of late been weakening. Parliament is the only authority permitted to make an amendment to the constitution and even this is limited as its basic structure cannot be touched, including the nature of the republic, democracy, rule of law and independence of the judiciary.
A constitution is subject to change to keep it in line with the changing needs of a nation, but in 2007 the Awami League general secretary rightly told a Workers Party of Bangladesh programme that “Democracy may face uncertainty if the court is given the responsibility for amending the constitution”. The BNP secretary-general echoed this view at a National Democratic Party programme. Both were right, because the primacy of parliament over the judiciary vis-à-vis making and unmaking of laws is sacrosanct.
If the nation feels [that] constitutional rule of law, human rights and democratic citizenship in a secular state represent the only form of political regime consistent with the people's ambitions, the government must go ahead with its ambitions because the people gave it a mandate to govern. However the government also needs to understand the danger in over-valuing a huge majority. To be functional, democracy requires political parties to follow democratic practices. The lack of a functioning civilian, democratic leadership — democratic in both words and action —can keep any country's governance vulnerable to extra-constitutional interventions. Unfortunately many politicians, even after half a century of self-rule, have not been able to break free from their feudal roots. Yet political parties are one of the most crucial factors for the sustenance of a viable democratic system.
We note the tendency on the part of a class of some politicians to be sycophantic towards their leaders, but unless they can become agents of progress and change, there will always be a foreboding of doom and gloom. But as Bangladeshis love their democracy, and are proud their country has a multi-party democracy, it would be advisable for all to stay away from unnecessary issues that have little relevance to the situation in hand. If they do not, they will lose their credibility. And credibility and people's confidence are extremely essential to be able to function in a democratic dispensation. — (June 7 – The Independent)
