Dhaka Bureau: Demokratia Manch has announced a 14-point program expressing solidarity with the 10-point announced by BNP. Mahmudur Rahman Manna, coordinator of the Democracy Forum and president of Nagrik Oikya, announced these 14 points in a press conference organized by the Women and Child Welfare Council on Monday (December 12).
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1. The thug ruling fascist government that has taken away democracy including the right to vote by abolishing the current unelected and illegal national parliament must resign immediately.
2. A transitional government should be formed for free, fair, democratic and credible national elections. The interim government will abolish the current illegal and unacceptable Election Commission and establish an independent, efficient and impartial Election Commission acceptable to all. This Election Commission as a prerequisite for free elections, to ensure a ‘level playing field’, stop money games and nomination trading in elections, amend undemocratic RPOs, make necessary administrative changes, solve the urgent crisis of people’s lives, ensure a fair system of voting through paper ballots by abolishing EVM system in national elections. and abolish the use of party symbols in local government elections. It will help build consensus among political parties on reforming the constitutional power structure and governing laws for the democratic transformation of the state, so that the next elected parliament can take effective measures to implement these democratic reforms.
3. A) Constitutional Dictatorship Sources of Prime Ministerial Unaccountable Arbitrary Centralized Power System will be replaced by separation of powers and rational balance between Parliament, Executive and Judiciary. A law will be enacted to form a constitutional commission for the establishment of ombudsmen and constitutional courts and the appointment of constitutional institutions including the election commission.
b) By reforming Article 70 of the Constitution, the right to independent opinion and representation of the people will be ensured in all bills except the vote of confidence and passing the budget in the formation of the government.
c) In addition to direct elections, numerically proportional election system and bicameral parliament system will be introduced.
d) Establishment of rational balance of powers of Prime Minister and President, decentralization of judiciary, establishment of decentralized governance with strong and accountable local government system, establishment of democratic and accountable state, government and constitution with full functional independence of judiciary.
e) Laws on state accounting and financial control institutions will be reformed.
4. BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and all opposition party leaders and activists convicted as part of political persecution should be quashed, all harassing false cases should be withdrawn and all political prisoners should be released immediately.
5. As a constitutional right, assembly, rally, march, meeting cannot be obstructed. Police obstruction, attacks, arrests, false cases in the peaceful programs of the opposition parties will be considered as illegal. Police and law enforcement forces cannot be used directly or indirectly as party puppet forces outside of their professional duties. The intelligence forces of the state cannot be used to harass political leaders and activists. No new case can be filed to suppress the opposition voice in autocratic manner, leaders and activists of opposition parties cannot be arrested in absentee cases.
6. All oppressive laws that take away basic human rights including the Digital Security Act 2018 and the Special Powers Act 1974 must be repealed. Disappearances, murders, extrajudicial killings will be stopped. All extrajudicial killings, disappearances, murders organized in the past will be properly investigated and those responsible will be punished. Harassment of labor movement leaders in the name of industrial police system must be stopped.
7. a) By taking concerted action on an urgent basis, the prices of daily necessities including food should be brought within the purchasing power of the common man. Effective measures should be taken against them by freeing the market syndicates of daily essential products. Rationing system and cash payment system should be introduced for poor and low income families in rural and urban areas in the situation of scarcity.
b) The anti-people government decision to increase prices in arbitrary manner in service sectors including gas, electricity, energy, water should be cancelled. The rental-quick rental scheme, which is mired in irregularities and corruption in the power sector, and the immunity law given in this sector must be canceled immediately.
c) Ensuring road safety, affordable public transport and reasonable limits on bus fares.
8. In the past years, especially in the last 15 years, a strong commission should be formed to identify the unprecedented corruption organized in all sectors of the state including money laundering, banking and financial sector, share market, power and energy sector and its responsibility. Appropriate disciplinary action should be taken swiftly against those involved in corruption, looting and money laundering. Expeditious action should be taken to confiscate the wealth acquired through corruption and looting and to bring back the smuggled money.
9. All citizens who have gone missing in the last 15 years should be rescued. Extrajudicial killings must be stopped. Credible investigation and prosecution of all cases of extrajudicial killings, disappearances and state torture will be ensured through independent and impartial commissions free from political and administrative interference.
10. Action will be taken against those responsible for vandalizing the houses, businesses, sub-sacrals and occupying the properties of religious and ethnic minorities by creating communal incitement. They have to ensure the safety of life and property.
11. a) Treating health as a resource and building the entire health sector on the principle of ‘no death without treatment’. Necessary reforms will be made by increasing state participation in the health sector and reining in profits in the private sector.
b) On the basis of the principle of ‘Education is a right, not a commercial commodity’, state responsibility ensures equal quality of education for all, education in mother tongue will be given priority. At least 6 percent of GDP will be allocated to health and education.
12. Multifaceted measures should be taken to create an enabling environment for public and private investment, increase employment opportunities and self-employment of the unemployed.
13. Fair price of farmers’ crops should be guaranteed, closed factories including jute mills and sugar mills should be reopened, dignified living wages should be declared for workers and laborers and trade union rights should be ensured.
14. National interest, national sovereignty and national security must be ensured. Bilateral issues should be resolved in accordance with equality, fairness, recognition of mutual interests and recognized international norms.
Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Coordinator of Democracy Forum, Saiful Haque of Revolutionary Workers Party, Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Bablu of Bhasani Anusari Parishad, Jonaid Saki of Mass Solidarity Movement, Hasnat Qayyum of State Reform Movement, Rashed Khan of Mass Rights Council and others spoke at the press conference. Shahidullah Kaiser of Nagrik Oikya, Habibur Rahman Riju of Bhasani Anusari Parishad and others were present.
