Editorial
Remarks of the president
Was it necessary?
We would like to think the president who is also the chief of the caretaker government has realised the confusion created by his remarks regarding the nature of the present government. Given the current state of political tension it had conveyed a very wrong signal to the public, apart from eroding the neutrality of the caretaker government. And one cannot fault the people for thinking that the current dispensation was in fact an extension of the 4-party Alliance government. Not only was the comment ill advised, the timing of the statement inexplicable, that had much to do in compounding the misunderstanding. Was it at all necessary?The president must not lose sight of the fact that he is wearing two hats, whether by compulsion of circumstances or by design, and it is the caretaker hat that invests him with all the executive authority in the same degree and manner as that of a prime minister in a parliamentary form of government. Therefore, any allusion to any other kind of rule was bound to raise apprehensions in the public mind. However, we are heartened by the clarification of the Bangabhaban and are looking forward to a more dynamic functioning of the caretaker government, Although, in this regard we are constrained to say that the advisors are not being taken into confidence and utilised in the manner they might be. That he chose not to invite them to his meeting with the bureaucrats has added to the apprehension among the people that the advisors are being sidelined. This was another avoidable fallout of the president's meeting with the bureaucrats and his remarks. We note with disappointment that the council of advisors although have gelled as a team has not been utilised to the full. The authority of the caretaker chief is the constitution and his advisors are equal to the ministers; and this is his actual source of strength. It is for the president and the chief of the caretaker government who must make them act as one team to fulfill the most important task that the Constitution reposes on it - the holding of a free and fair election. The caretaker government, therefore, must rise above all personal likes and prejudices to do that.
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