[ALOCHONA] Usurpation of power should be made penal offence

Have you guys checked the Constitution?
I think, Constitution regards that as Treason already. If that is not
Penal Office, what is?

--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, Isha Khan <bd_mailer@...> wrote:
>
> Usurpation of power should be made penal offence
>  
> Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, AL presidium member and lawmaker, tells New
Age.
>  
>  
>
>  
>
> Do you find the two-year emergency rule legitimate â€" politically
and constitutionally?
>
>    In my careful assessment, the two-year rule of the Fakhruddin
government was illegal in as much as they did not help the Election
Commission to hold the elections within 90 days and they violated the
constitutional provision for not doing anything beyond the routine
work of administration. They also administered emergency rule beyond
120 days which is also illegal.
>
>    I also feel the president should have been impeached for
violating the constitution and putting the government in power. A
president is a symbol of unity. Before entering the office he takes
oath to preserve the constitution, to act without fear. It seems that
not only has he failed to do that, he has also deliberately violated
the constitution. There were ample grounds for his impeachment. If he
would have been impeached, it would serve as a caution to act
prudently in the future, to uphold the constitution and law.
>
>    The declaration of emergency itself was illegal. The
president, only on the advice of the prime minister, can declare
emergency, according to our constitution. Article 141A of the
constitution states that he can do so only if an emergency exists in
which the security or economic life of the country is threatened or
there is threat of war, external aggression or internal disturbance.
>
>    Also, the conduct of the chief adviser was illegal. Article
58D of the constitution says the chief advisor should perform routine
functions of the government, not make any constitutional amendments
and also to take measures to maintain the law and order situation. He
had no business to do what he did.
>
>    I feel that the caretaker government should not have exceeded
its 90-day limit. In the first place, the appointment of Iajuddin as
the chief adviser was illegal. The constitution clearly states that
if the immediate past chief justice cannot take power than you
appoint the one before. After all options have been exhausted only
then can the president take power.
>    Many people, however, view these events as a failure of the
caretaker system, I however differ with that.
>
>    We, the Awami League, made the demand for a caretaker
government in the first part of the 1990s. We thought that it was not
right of a party in power to conduct general elections. True, the
constitution has been violated this time. However, this does not mean
that we should get rid of the system for the few people who misused
it.
>    The Election Commission has proved that it is capable of
holding free and fair elections. I think if the practice of the
caretaker government is kept on for a few more terms we can develop a
culture for holding free and fair elections provided that the
commission gets reasonable support to function.
>    
>    In what ways have the actions of the regime affected the
country â€" politically, economically and socially â€" in the short
and long term?
>
>    The previous government was a total failure. There was a
price hike in all essential commodities in the market and there was
non implementation of development projects. Not a single megawatt of
power could they increase. Hawkers were thrown out, shops were
demolished and it seemed that the interim government was innovated as
an institution to suppress the poor for the benefit of few. The
previous government had no right to throw the hawkers out of the city
and buy luxury cars for themselves. Who authorized them to change the
tax structure and levy new taxes?
>
>    Four lakh people were arrested in the last two years.
>    The Fakhruddin government involved itself in two things â€"
the Bangladesh Better Business Forum and the citizens charter.
Don’t you think a citizen’s charter is a mockery when fundamental
rights were being violated?
>
>    Don’t you think the BBBF was counterproductive when
businessmen throughout the country were insulted, subjugated,
persecuted and extorted?
>    Investment through out the country went down despite rise in
our household savings and remittances from abroad.
>
>    The fiscal policy in the course of the last eight years
favoured luxury imports at the cost of precious capital goods. Luxury
cars, liquid milk and fried parathas were given preference over other
necessary items.
>
>    The administration of Fakhruddin government was unproductive,
reactionary, and oppressive. There is no doubt that they violated the
people’s fundamental rights â€" they interfered into the
independent functioning of the judiciary, they failed to do anything
to contain runaway inflation, they could not increase investment
within the country.
>    The Fakhruddin government neglected infrastructure
development and they could not utilise the increase in export earning
and remittances to the best advantage of economic and social
development.
>
>    Socially, their work was despicable â€" they wanted to remove
the poor instead of poverty.
>    Meanwhile, I have particular reservations about two
institutions that were used by the interim government to establish
their authority.
>
>    The first is the Anti-Corruption Commission. The Anti-
Corruption Commission Act of 2004, under which the commission is
established, is itself not a good law. It defined corruption in terms
of offences selected from the penal code excluding the main areas of
corruption in this country.
>
>    It gave itself so-called independence over the elected
executive authority of the government. In a democracy no appointed
authority, as the Anti-Corruption Commission in this case, can be
given authority and responsibility higher than that of the elected
executive order of the state.
>
>    The Anti-Corruption Commission was given power to determine
its own expenditure as if all expenditure incurred by the commission
was charged expenditure as detailed in the constitution. It was as
though the government was bound to pay all its costs. They brought
crores worth of computers without any competitive bidding.
>
>    The anti-corruption law did not prescribe any punishment for
violating their laws by their own personnel. They have spent an
astounding amount â€" Tk 76 crore â€" for paying their lawyers for
no good reason. The remuneration for their own lawyers is more than
that of the chief justice.
>
>    In the process of fighting corruption, the Anti-Corruption
Commission was not given the right to violate the fundamental rights
of the accused of seeking for a bail. They assumed every accused as
guilty even before their trial.
>
>    Unfortunately, the commission assumed that honesty was a
military thing. On that judgement, out of 18 directors they appointed
14 from the military. In its independence, the commission even
disregarded its rules with regards appointment of personnel to giving
preference to hand picked personnel, liked by the chairman and its
members.
>    The commission functioned as an arm of a military government
to limit the political activity of the politicians. They even
formulated king’s political parties. Their choice of victims was
highly selective and derogatory. The Anti-Corruption Commission
exceeded its authority..
>
>    Meanwhile, the DGFI has been abused by the powers that be..
It was politically used by its masters and in the process they lost
their sanctity and effectiveness. The rulers established DGFI as an
organisation for the violation of people’s rights and the law
itself. The DGFI should be made accountable and function within their
charter or else be disbanded.
>    
>    What approach should the parliament take in dealing with the
decisions and actions of the emergency regime?
>
>    The parliament should constitute a special committee to
investigate the misdeeds of the interim government.The prime minister
has already announced that the misdeeds of the past governments
starting 2001, will be inquired into and the criminals will be
punished.
>    
>    What do you think were the forces/factors/events that led to
the January 11, 2007 intervention?
>    For me, it was the failure of leadership of the BNP
government bent on rigging the elections slated for January 22, that
brought the 1/11 episode.
>    If the regime led by Khaleda Zia respected democratic
institutions and norms this episode would not have taken place and
people would not have suffered from undemocratic rule that followed
thereafter.
>
>    That said, the military has no right to intervene in
politics. The constitution says that this republic was set up so that
people can prosper in freedom. Military intervention has worsened the
situation in terms of our progress in building democratic
institutions, establishing people’s rights and the development
process.
>    
>    How can the recurrence of such undemocratic interventions
into the political process be deterred â€" politically and legally?
>    The recurrence of such sad episode must be avoided. For this
we need a few things:
>    People’s consciousness for the need and sustenance of
democratic development need to be increased.
>
>    The excesses and corruption committed by the interim
government should be investigated and persons responsible for such
corruption should be brought to book.
>    Usurpation of constitutional rule should be made a penal
offence like sedition.
>  
> http://www.newagebd.com/2009/feb/21/ekushey09/03.html
>

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