They demand that the president relinquishes his additional charge of the office of the chief adviser in favour of the person who, following the refusal of Justice KM Hasan to assume the office of the chief adviser, is constitutionally eligible in order of priority to head the CTG.

The AL-led grand electoral alliance has announced back-to-back country-wide blockades on January 7 and 8 demanding, among other things, relinquishment of the chief adviser's office by the president, who, according to the AL president Sheikh Hasina, is "not interested in creating a congenial atmosphere for a free and fair election." The civil society members have also been making similar requests to the president.

Now the question arises as to why there is apprehension that the election held under the president-cum-chief adviser Iajuddin Ahmed may not be credible, acceptable, and fully participatory.

First, the thirteenth amendment which formally introduced the CTG system in the Constitution in 1996 has prioritized the heading of the CTG by a retired chief justice, and in case of non-availability of any retired CJ, by a retired judge of the Appellate Division who, inter alia, has not been a member of any political party or of any association associated with or affiliated to any political party.

The assumption of the office of the chief adviser by the president in addition to his own functions is the sixth and the last option in the Constitution. The incumbent president's assumption of the office of the chief adviser in addition to his own functions without exhausting all the preceding options has contradicted the provision(s) of the Constitution on the appointment of the chief adviser. Many political observers suspect a motive behind it.

Second, the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution has provided that CTG shall be collectively responsible to the president. The executive power of the republic shall, during the period of the CTG, be exercised by or on the authority of the chief adviser and shall be exercised by him in accordance with the advice of the CTG, consisting of chief adviser and not more than ten other advisers.

This normally means that the president and the chief adviser would be two separate persons holding two different offices. The president will constantly keep watch over the activities of the CTG and where necessary, will provide guidance to the CTG.

As a result, there will be checks and balances, and the activities of the CTG will be largely transparent. The assumption of the office of the chief adviser by the president himself has immensely harmed this spirit of the CTG system, and has even given rise to the question about the utility of the CTG system.

Third, the president's "two-in-one" position has made him almost unaccountable to anyone. Further, the chief adviser's distancing himself from his colleagues in the advisory council and adopting the policy of doing alone in violation of the constitutional dictum to exercise his executive power in accordance with the advice of the CTG [Article 58B (3)] led to the resignation on December 11 of four members of the advisory council, who are outstanding personalities in their respective fields. Appointment of four new advisers was not welcomed by the AL and its allies alleging their leaning towards the BNP-led alliance. Thus, the results have so far been poor success of the CTG in overcoming the political impasse.

Fourth, it needs no repetition that the chief adviser's neutrality has been questioned by the AL-led alliance and civil society members. But some foreign diplomats here, including the US ambassador to Bangladesh, have also spoken on the issue. While delivering a keynote speech at a seminar titled "Democracy and Bangladesh" organized by Bangladesh Association for American Studies in Dhaka on December 17, US Ambassador Butenis said that the CTG of President Iajuddin Ahmed had not always worked neutrally.

Fifth, people's perception is that cancellation of nomination papers of HM Ershad is politically motivated, and many suspect the chief adviser's hand behind it. Some newspapers have reported that prior to the Election Commission's (EC) start of hearing of appeals filed by aspirants challenging the validity of the returning officers' (ROs) decision rejecting their nomination papers, advisors to the CTG sent a message to the EC saying that they wanted an amicable solution of Ershad's case as the Jatiya Party has already announced that it would boycott the polls if Ershad could not contest it"

But the chief adviser's summoning the EC secretary to Bangabhaban on December 30, reportedly to discuss the law and order situation in view of the AL-led alliance's announced blockade program on January 7 and 8 has given rise to certain questions. The maintenance of the law and order at this point of time is the responsibility of the home affairs ministry headed by the chief adviser himself. Many political advisers and insiders feel that through the EC secretary, the chief adviser passed on message to the EC not to favourably consider the appeals of Ershad.

Last but not the least, the field-level administration (which is mainly responsible for conducting the elections) designed by the immediate past regime has been kept largely intact, as the deputy commissioners (DCs), superintendents of police (SPs), upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs), and officers-in-charge (OCs) of police stations have been transferred from one district to another while holding the same positions. Mentionable that DCs and UNOs normally act returning officers and assistant returning officers. The transfers have thus not been meaningful for election.

A Dhaka weekly thus writes that the fourth election was to be held under the immediate past CJ, but since the party in power manipulated the due process to facilitate Justice KM Hasan becoming the chief advise, the AL justifiably raised hell.

BNP, being a fast learner, realized that neither the chief adviser nor the civil administration, without the help of each other, could influence the election results. They therefore ensured that if they failed to install Justice Hasan as the chief adviser, the president, who is officially a BNP nominee, assumed that office. And to help the president to accomplish his mission, the immediate past BNP government neutralized all non-BNP bureaucrats so that all possible replacements had to be BNP sympathizers.

In view of the above discussion, President Iajuddin Ahmed's relinquishment of the additional charge of the chief adviser, appointment of a person who, following the refusal of Justice KM Hasan, is constitutionally eligible in order of priority to head the CTG, and making a last minute replacement of the field-level officials responsible for conducting the election with officials known for their non-partisan behaviour in consultation with the EC, may create an atmosphere for holding an election that would be credible, acceptable and fully participatory.

By relinquishing the office of the chief adviser, President Iajuddin Ahmed may be a part of history for holding an election which will receive national and global credibility and acclamation.

M Abdul Latif Mondal is a former Secretary to the Government.