They raised a hue and cry that the whole sky would fall on our heads if the date for election was changed. Divided, as we are, some of our political pundits, constitutional wizards, legal experts, and veteran journalists, mostly belonging to Jatiyatabadi camp, also joined the chorus.

That the election is not going to be held on January 22, or within the stipulated 90 days period, is a foregone conclusion. The president has declared a state of emergency, resigned from the post of CA and appointed Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, an eminent bureaucrat-cum-banker, as the new CA.

The Election Commission has postponed all electoral activities until January 25, paving the way for a free, fair, and credible election which can be participated in by all the major political parties, and can be accepted by all at home and abroad. Surprisingly, nothing has happened. Neither has the sky fallen on our heads, nor has our most talked about constitution vanished through the window. What is the reason?

The answer is simple. The people of this country wanted this to happen and it has happened, proving once again that the constitution is for the people, not the people for the constitution.

The sad thing is, our rulers and their sycophants forget it at their convenience, and every time they forget the people prove it by shedding their blood on the streets. At least 75 people have lost their lives, and several hundred were injured this time, not to mention the untold suffering the general public had to endure to establish their right for a free franchise.

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate President Iajuddin Ahmed for the historic role he seems to have finally decided to play in upholding the rights of the common people, never mind about the big the mistakes he had committed earlier.

We understand that the members of our valiant armed forces, and the foreign diplomats and development partners, had a significant role behind this initiative. We are grateful to them. They have surely saved this country from the hands of some unscrupulous self-seekers who were out there to lead this country to total chaos and confusion in the name of the constitution and to serve their own interests.

We also welcome Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, former governor of Bangladesh Bank, as the new chief of the caretaker government, given his excellent academic record and his varied career as a senior bureaucrat-cum-banker serving at home and abroad. Because of his reputation as a thorough gentlemen of integrity, we are confident that he will probably do more than his best to discharge his responsibility with utmost sincerity, honesty, and neutrality so that his government can create a truly congenial atmosphere for holding a free, fair and credible election.

We had four major obstacles to holding a free, fair and credible election:

The president himself occupying the post of CA.

A highly controversial and incompetent Election Commission.

A shockingly flawed voter list.

A nakedly politicized civil and police administration.

The president has removed the first obstacle. Now he has to remove the second one. The entire Election Commission has to be reconstituted fully and comprehensively.

All the existing commissioners, including their chief and self-proclaimed acting chief, must not only resign, making room for a new set of persons to take over, but must also remain available for giving an account for more than Tk 100 crore of the taxpayers' money which they have wasted in making a flawed voter list.

Once this hurdle is crossed, we can possibly borrow some words from a popular advertisement of our TV channels and tell the president to have a sound sleep, using some mustard oil in his nostrils, leaving the other two hurdles for the caretaker government to settle.

Everybody will probably agree with me that the first and foremost job for this caretaker government, once the Election Commission is reconstituted, is to assist the Election Commission in the preparation of voter ID cards and a flawless voter list in the shortest possible time. A huge amount of time, energy and money has already been wasted in this regard without any positive outcome, which is probably one of the main causes for the postponement of the election. There is no scope for any more lapses in this regard.

The other important task for the caretaker government, apart from recovering illegal arms and maintaining law and order, is to drastically de-politicize, more appropriately neutralize, the entire police and civil administration. It may also be necessary for them to undertake some reform measures of our electoral laws, taking into consideration the various demands and proposals of our civil society and the political parties.

The state of emergency has given the caretaker government a unique opportunity to carry out these jobs in a peaceful atmosphere. They must not, however, lose sight of the fact that emergency cannot be a long-term measure. It does not go well with any election process or, for that matter, with any democratic process.

If the caretaker government is there mainly to create a congenial atmosphere for holding a free, fair, and credible election and hand over power to an elected government, it must dispense with the emergency measure sooner or later.

The earlier it goes, the better.

Capt Husain Imam is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.