The government's sudden and abrupt appointment of Justice MA Aziz, a sitting judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, as the new CEC has reportedly caused shock, distress, and surprise to the opposition political camps. Awami League and some other parties have rejected this CEC appointment outright. Newspaper pages came out filled with editorials and articles about what else the government could have done along with wise comments about a missed opportunity by the government, through which the ever widening gap between it and the opposition parties could be narrowed down for the betterment of all concerned. These are all noble thoughts, no doubt.

But is there any reason to be shocked or surprised by the government action?

Do the reacting parties and persons really think so? Are not they thinking the unthinkable? Rather, the unthinkable would have been just the opposite. The government could shock and surprise the whole nation by announcing that it is inviting the main opposition party AL for a discussion on the appointment of the new CEC, though this is not constitutionally obligatory to them. AL could also shock and surprise the nation by welcoming the government move. By a stroke of the pen, the government and the opposition could have caused a massive earthquake in the political and social arena of Bangladesh.

There could be the dawn of a new political culture in our country. Political scientists could become busy writing a new chapter on Bangladesh politics. But are our politicians worthy and capable of such extraordinary happenings? The answer is no and let's see why it is no.

Our politics is based on anger, hatred, mistrust, confrontation, and spreading lies. Our political culture is the culture of non-cooperation, non-recognition, and non-appreciation between the government and the opposition. Our government policy revolves around taking it all and giving nothing to the opposition while the opposition's policy is centred on enforcing hartals to destabilize the government.

Our PM and leader of the opposition are not on speaking term and hardly sat under one roof except for a brief period of time on some rare occasions. They never met or talked together for any policy discussion. In such a scenario, any concession or initiative by a party is unthinkable as they are scared that the other party may view this as a weakness and take advantage accordingly. So only an Aladin's lamp can possibly do the trick of changing our politics and politicians overnight.

Our politicians tend to walk on a narrow strip and lack a much needed vision for a positive future for our next generation. This situation is not likely to change in the near future as the leaders are surrounded by the sycophants who are too scared to suggest any bold initiative lest they lose their privileged positions and the leaders are safely enchained to their pole positions owing to the dynastic nature of the two main political parties. We may have to wait for the next generation of leaders for something new to happen.

Coming back to the second point on recent High Court order banning all types of agitation by the lawyers on the court premises, people now think sanity will at last prevail in the Supreme Court and the lawyers would discipline themselves in their attitude, conduct, and behaviour. But are we thinking the unthinkable? Already there are signs of provocation to the court order. The Supreme Court Bar Association cannot behave like a trade union body. Bar members' way of agitation remind us of the gherao movement initiated by Moulana Bhashani during the fag end of the Pakistan period. Is there no dignified way of expressing grievances by these lawyers?

In fact, two groups of lawyers representing the two major political force of Bangladesh are causing immense harm to the judiciary by resorting to various undesirable activities during the last few years. Both groups remain silent when their preferred party assumes power and they shift their attitude towards the court according to the shift of the positions of their respective parties. These people are said to be interpreters of law, but it seems they consider themselves above the law. The image of the judiciary is the common target of their crossfire, but in doing so they have damaged and downgraded their own image to a great extent.

But what is the cause of this image crisis of the lawyers? With due respect to the excellent and dedicated lawyers, a cause may be traced back to a time, when parents in our country used to encourage their children to study law when they would not get a job anywhere else. This may sound odd but it's true indeed. Times have changed -- more students now study law as a matter of choice than as compulsion -- but we may have to wait a bit longer for this new generation of law professionals.

Lawyers are grabbing the headlines for the wrong reasons. They should rather be in the headlines for winning a major case, making some terrific argument in court, or for some extraordinary achievements. Is this too much of an expectation? Or are we thinking the unthinkable?

ATM Murshid Alam is a former project consultant.