Return of caretaker system bodes well for the future

Not for the first time, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has reversed its own ruling on an important and politically sensitive matter. On 10 May 2011, the Court had ruled that the provision for elections under a neutral, caretaker government was "unconstitutional". On 20 November 2025, the Court changed its mind, overturned the ruling in its entirety, and restored the provision.

This means the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, enacted on 28 March 1996, is now reinstated, while the 15th Amendment of 30 June 2011 is nullified.

However, this does not mean that the next elections will be held under a neutral, caretaker government. In the absence of a parliament, the next polls will still be conducted by the current interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus, whose impartiality and neutrality have not been beyond question.

Even so, there is little doubt that this volte-face by the Court has been made with the best interests of the country in mind.

It would be no exaggeration to say that, of the 12 parliamentary elections held in Bangladesh since independence, only four could be described as free, fair and peaceful — and therefore credible. All four — in February 1991, June 1996, October 2001 and December 2008 — were held under neutral, caretaker governments.

Needless to say, each time the losers murmured complaints of "rigging", but few took much notice.

Honesty and integrity

The challenge, as always, will be whether the caretaker government (CTG) is able to operate in the way the law envisages, or whether politicians will once again find ways to manipulate the system to their advantage. Much will depend on the honesty and integrity of the men and women who form the CTG, and their ability to withstand pressure that will surely come from various quarters.

The success of any political institution or process depends on key players' willingness to play by the book, adhering to democratic norms and practices. Bangladesh's tragedy has always been that successive regimes — including the current one led by Yunus — have made a mockery of such norms, inventing "reasons" to veer from the constitutional path or manufacturing "threats" to justify doing so.

The Election Commission and the civil bureaucracy — particularly the administration, judiciary and police — will play crucial roles in ensuring the fairness of the polls. The CTG will be expected to allow them to work independently, without interference.

But there are dangers. Human frailties — driven by fear, favour or simple greed — could undermine the system. The media will play a major role in exposing such failures, and the CTG will be expected to act swiftly to address them. This is essential to restore public faith in the system, and to instil fear among officials that deviating from the law is no longer an option. Faith and fear combined could lay the foundation for a new political culture.

Why the system failed

The written law — such as the 13th Amendment — can only set out the path to be followed. But the country's political culture is not attuned to following either the law or the Constitution. Playing fast and loose with both has long been the default mode of governments past and present.

The challenge of making the caretaker system a success this time will depend on the same actors as before: political parties, the Election Commission and the bureaucracy.

The system failed previously for three reasons. First, the BNP attempted between 2004 and 2006 to manipulate it to their advantage. Second, the military intervention of 2007 exposed the system's structural flaws, as the nation was forced to wait two years for elections, rather than the stipulated three months. Third, Sheikh Hasina, taking note of both, decided to abolish the CTG altogether and give herself an unassailable advantage.

But the writing on the wall should be clear to all this time. Sheikh Hasina's attempt to secure that "unassailable advantage" ended in an unmitigated disaster for her and for the Awami League's political fortunes. It may take years, even decades, for the AL to stage a revival.

Those currently calling the shots would do well to look back at the history of the caretaker system, and recognise that nothing is beyond manipulation or distortion.

The road to 1996

Back in 1996, it was an extraordinary admission by politicians that they could not be trusted to hold free and fair elections. This unspoken but evident self-assessment underpinned the passing of the 13th Amendment. Elections needed to be conducted by eminent individuals with no political baggage and even less appetite for political office. Only then could elections be free and fair.

This realisation emerged from the 1991 elections, arguably the most festive polls in the country's history. There were no meaningful limits on campaign spending, and as a result, Bangladesh was awash with colourful posters, banners, makeshift gates across streets, and flashing campaign offices in every neighbourhood. Strict spending curbs came later, dimming much of the colour and noise, but the credibility of elections under the caretaker system remained intact.

The caretaker arrangement in 1991 was an ad hoc mechanism designed to ensure an orderly, constitutionally compliant and peaceful transition from the Ershad presidency to an elected parliament after a mass uprising. Initially, it seemed that the new BNP government led by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia had no intention of making it permanent.

A by-election in Magura in 1994, marred by allegations of rigging, sparked a demand for all future general elections to be held under a CTG. The BNP resisted, prompting mass resignations of opposition MPs. Fresh elections in February 1996 — boycotted and violently resisted by the opposition — saw turnout fall below 20 per cent.

To her credit, Khaleda Zia, who had once remarked that "no one is neutral other than children and mad men", eventually read the writing on the wall. In the brief days of her short-lived second term, she pushed through the amendment to institutionalise the caretaker system for all future elections.

Temptation to tamper

But the BNP, after returning to power in 2001, could not resist the temptation to tamper with the caretaker system. In 2004, it changed the retirement age of justices, raising opposition suspicions that the goal was to ensure the next CTG would be headed by a retired Chief Justice favourable to the BNP. Violent protests forced Justice KM Hasan to decline the post.

The waters were muddied further when President Iajuddin Ahmed, a BNP nominee, declared himself the head of the CTG. The very logic of a neutral election-time government appeared lost on the BNP, opening the door to military intervention on 11 January 2007 to prevent farcical polls.

The cancellation of the 13th Amendment by the Awami League in 2011 was perhaps one of its gravest political miscalculations. Abolishing the caretaker system deprived voters of the only guarantee they had that their vote would not be stolen — that their voice would count. The vast reservoir of trust the AL enjoyed after 2008 began to erode rapidly.

The return of the CTG could now restore the public confidence lost after the farcical polls of 2014, the widespread rigging of 2018 and the largely voter-free election of 2024. But, as history shows, public trust must be earned. It is always a loan — never a grant.

The writer is a former Head of BBC Bangla and a former Managing Editor, VOA Bangla. Contact: sabir.mustafa@gmail.com. Follow on X: @Sabir59