Executive powers to president

Law commission chief blasts proposal to give executive powers to president

Prakash Biswas, bdnews24.com

Published: 2015-03-10 10:41:22.0

The suggestion had been made by Centre for Policy Dialogue chief Rehman Sobhan and a few other members of the civil society at a discussion on ways to avert repeated spikes in confrontational politics ahead of national polls.

The former chief justice pointed out that people were the source of all power in a democracy. “You cannot just handover state power to someone.”

He maintained that the present Constitution assigned powers to each and everyone and any increase in the president’s power would amount to a constitutional violation.

“Nobody except the people’s representatives should exercise state power - not even the first citizen, the president.”

He said the power should remain with those accountable to the people. “Since parliament is a representation of the people, we show our accountability through them.

“We tend to forget that the people own the country and that the Constitution is their directive.”

In this context, Khairul pointed out, the president would have to be elected by the people if the post is to be given executive powers.

Only a constitutional amendment could make that possible but the change itself would run counter to the very basis of the Constitution, the former chief justice said.

The Law Commission chief cited the rule of two military strongmen Ziaur Rahman and HM Ershad.

“That was seditious and cannot be welcome,” he said, adding that such provisions fan tendencies to usurp power, and that people would do well to learn from past experience.

He offered a different perspective to highlight the flip side of such changes.

“An MP election contestant spends crores (10 million) of Taka in a constituency. In this context, a presidential contender will have to spend a few hundred crores. Who will provide that money?

“…It is easy to say something, but this system will be totally ineffective for our country.”

Khairul pointed to the world’s biggest presidential democracy, the US. “Thousands of companies donate to the presidential election fund. The big ones then influence the president’s policies, something that is completely undesirable.”

The chief justice said the Westminster system of democracy currently in place in Bangladesh had worked well for India with a population of 1.5 billion for 70 years. “There is no reason why it should not work for us.”

He called for a smoothening of the glitches through proper practice. “There will be problems at the start. There is nothing to panic.

“We should think about how we can make parliament more effective,” he said and urged the civil society to come up with meaningful suggestions.

What a structure of their mind!

From the start of the world, in any type of the fight, no one hit his opposition from the back. In Bangladesh, from the birth of the country to just now, some people strike the defenseless people from back and they enjoy this. What a structure of their mind!

Just check these:

1. 1971 - From 25 January 1971 – JENOCIDE in allover Bangladesh
2. 15 August 1975 tragedy
3. 21 August 2004 grenade attack
4. 1999- bombs were exploded at Udichi Concert in Jessore in March
5. Bombing at Kadiani Mosque in 1999
6. Killing of Ahsanullah Master
7. Killing of SAMS Kibria
8. Killing of Blogger Razib, Dip, Alam
9. Killing of Professor Humayun Azad, Professor Md. Yunus, Professor M Taher, Professor AKM Shafiul Islam, Lecturer Ziauddin Zakaria
10. Killing of Maolana Nurul Islam Faruque
11. Series of petrol bombing
12. Killing of Abhijit in 2015
13. Some other killing and Bombing: Data is collected from the report - An Evil Power of Political Violence in Bangladesh
    - a report of Kamrun Nahar
    
    

2001
Bomb-blasts occurred in/at
*CPB Rally at Paltan Maydan in January. (Several people were killed.)
*Ramna Batamul in Pahela Baishakh. (10 innocents were killed.)
*Baniachar Mission in Gopalganj.
*Narayanganj Awami League Office (19 died in June.)
*AL Rally at Mollarhat in Bagerhat in September.
*An Election Rally of AL Leader Suranjit Sengupta.

2002
The major explosions occurred in/at
* Roxy Cinema Hall and a circus party in Satkhira. (3 persons died)
* Cinema Halls in Mymensingh in December (19 innocent people were killed)

2003
Bomb-blasts occurred at-
*The Pagla Pir Mazar at Sakhipur in Tangail.
*A Madrasa Mess in Dinajpur in February.

2004
*The Shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal (R): Two deadly blasts occurred – one on January 12 and the other on May 21.
*Oros (A Muslim Ceremony): There was a Muslim ceremony in the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal (R) on January 12. Powerful bombs were kept secretly under the ground where lying about 200 camps of people. At night, explosions started, which took 3 lives (another 1 wounded person died later) and the number of the injured was more than 50.
*British High Commissioner: British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury, newly appointed in Bangladesh, whose origin is from Sylhet, came to the shame shrine on May 21 to take part in the Friday prayer. After his prayer, when he came out of the Mosque of the Mazar, someone threw a grenade towards him. It dashed against his belly, rebounded and exploded. By chance, he saved his life. But 8 people died and more than 100 including British High Commissioner were wounded.
*Mass-Meeting of Suranjit Sengupta: There went on a meeting of Suranjit Sengupta, a central leader of Awami League in Dhirai of Sunamganj on June 21. Grenade attacks on that meeting caused 1 person dead and more than 50 people injured.
*Cinema Halls: Another incidents of bombing occurred in two cinema-halls in Sylhet named Manika and Rang-mahal on August 5.
*Gulshan Hotel: In the night of August 7, a strong bomb-attack (though later diagnosed as grenade attack) was staged in front of the Gulshan Hotel in Taltala in Sylhet, targeting the city mayor named Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran. Though he could save his life by chance, about 30 persons were wounded. The severely injured leader of Awami League―Ibrahim Ali died later.
*The Anti-Terrorism Mass-Meeting of Awami League: On August 21, an anti-terrorism meeting of Awami League was going on in front of the Awami League Office standing on the Banga-Bandhu Avenue in Dhaka. A series of Grenades, measured up to 13, was thrown targeting Sheikh Hasina, former Prime Minister, from the top of the near building. 20 people including some central leaders of Awami League died and over 200 were injured.

2005
459 blasts in 63 districts in 30 minutes

It was the largest blast-incident in the history of Bangladesh, which simultaneously broke out in 63 districts out of total 64 at a time in the 17th August. Different newspapers published different number of bomb-blasts and of the injured. According to four largest national newspapers, these incidents of 300-500 blasts resulted in 2 killings and 100-200 injured. All bombs were targeted to intimidate government and people, and placed in places of importance like the stair of Zia International Airport, Hotel Sheratan, the Supreme Court (Dhaka) etc, but mainly aiming at courts and government establishments. With all bombs, leaflets were left in the name of a government banned Islamic militant group named Jama’atul Mujahidin Bangladesh (JMB) demanding to the government for the replace of country’s democratic judiciary with the Islamic Law.

Bomb-Attack on two judges: A deadly bomb-attack took two valuable lives of two judges cruelly on November 14. They were Senior Assistant Judges of the District Judge Court of Jhalakati one named Sohel Ahmed Chowdhuri (35) and the other named Jagannath Pare (32). On that day at 9 am, they were waiting for another judge by sitting in a microbus in front of the Judges’ Quarters located in Officers’ Para of Jhalakati District City for going to the court. The attacker Mamun, later arrested, threw a strong bomb inside the vehicle from a very close distance. He was later identified as a member of the suicide-squad of a banned Islamic
militant organization named Jama’atul Mujahidin Bangladesh (JMB).

Suicide Bomb-Attack in the Court-Areas of Chittagong and Gajipur: Members of the suicide-squad of JMB attacked on lawyers, police, and ordinary people in the court areas of Chittagong and Gajipur at the same time on November 29. 10 persons including policemen, lawyers and attackers died. The number of the injured was over 150.
Suicide Bomb-Attack at the Office of District Administrator: The Islamic militants piloted suicide-bomb attack at the entrance of the office of District Administrator called Deputy Commissioner (DC) in Gajipur on December 1. This incident took 1 human life and injured 30 including 3 journalists, 7 policemen and 8 lawyers. The young attacker was in the disguise of a traveling tea-seller with a tea-flask, inside of which he was bearing deadly bombs.
Blast in front of Udichi and Shatadal: A blast occurred in front of the offices of two cultural organizations named Udichi and Shatadal in Netrakona district at 10:30 am on December 8. In this incident, 7 persons died and 50 were injured. A Letter of JMB was recovered from the spot of blast in which JMB demanded to replace Islamic Law with Democratic judiciary in Bangladesh.

Now check their mentality. They are ready to kill all of them whom they don’t like for their science-minded thinking. Killers think it is their right. If it is their right, opposite can have same right. But they don’t think that. In this case they don’t want to face trial also. Struggle for justice is also facing ‘brush firing’ by them and also by their white lobbyists. In this case they are trying to say they did not kill anyone.....they want international standard...they want white lawyer...they want various facilities, but no justification is explained; they want and they force for that, they want to destroy all things i.e. infrastrucure, Moshjid, Books, even Holly Quran, all animals, trees and also general public - all are going to destroy or burn, if no one fulfill their demand. They never say sorry for their acts of genocide and crimes against humanity and never want to face trial. They believe on what they cant say in front of the court. They do all of things in the name of Islam. Of whom agenda mainly they are fulfilling by selling the name of Islam?