Capt. Iqbal Hossain (Retd)

Barely two months have passed and political parties seem to be more interested in setting a date for new elections, than helping the Interim Government, under the honorable leadership of Prof. Yunus, to sort out the horrific mess the last government put us in.

The BNP voice of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been calling for new elections from the rooftops ever since the present interim government was installed. Now new kid on the block with ambition, but relatively no political track record, the Nationalist Democratic Movement and its Chairman/founder Bobby Hajjaj are echoing the same message.

The only political party that seems to have its feet solidly on the ground, in touch with the sentiments of the people, and is prepared to give the interim government time to put everything right first for the greater benefit of Bangladesh, seemingly is Jamaat-e-Islami under the leadership of Amir Dr. Shafiqur Rahman.

He calls for patience and restraint above the senseless imbecilic shouts and screams that permeates Dhaka’s polluted air seeking premature fresh elections.

Like Dr. Ismail Chowdhury voiced I also wonder if those who call for fresh elections is honorable and intended to help Bangladesh recover from its massive loss or as he writes:

“The only people, in my opinion, who want to stop the investigations into corruption are those who are involved and the Prof. Muhammad Yunus investigator are getting too close to uncovering and revealing who they are.”

I think it would be in the best interest of all these political parties/would-be governments if they were to back-off and allowed the Interim Government to continue its cleaning-up operation and create a level playing field.

Bangladesh Jatiyo Party (Manzu) Chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partho has proposed the formation of a commission on "Laundered Money Recovery" so that stolen money can be brought back from abroad.

That’s a positive a step in the right connection, but ONLY if it were coupled to the recommendation made by non-political foreign friend Sir Frank Peters.

Sir Frank suggested a team of Allah-fearing incorruptible individuals of impeccable character similar to the Eliot Ness team during the American prohibition be established. Within the ACC or totally independent.

Eliot Ness, for those who do not know, was leader of a nine-man team of law enforcement agents, handpicked by him for their incorruptibility and were nicknamed “The Untouchables”. In the pursuit of justice and adherence to the law they put their lives on the line 24/7 and were not influenced by offers of bribery, intimidation, or even death threats.

With the temptation of so many billions of dollars at stake, finding such caliber of people even in a population of 175-million, might be extremely difficult to find, but the people have every confidence in Prof. Yunus being successful if he were to look.

Meanwhile, it would be wise for all political parties to stop harassing the interim government about bringing the elections forward, which is time wasting and complete nonsense. And if they don’t know that, they should not be players in the game.

Nobody wants to return a government like the one that was just kicked out. Once is enough in anyone’s lifetime.