Without question, the AL has grievances that have either not been addressed to its satisfaction, or totally ignored. But the picture is not all that bleak for the party: its demand that the CEC be removed and the EC reorganised in order to hold a free and fair election has assumed the overtones of national issue. And we have in this newspaper fully endorsed it many times. However, we believe that the pragmatism shown by the AL should continue and the party has to avoid committing itself to any extreme course of action rather prematurely. The caretaker government needs some time to prove its worth and much will depend on how the AL formulates its game plan in the next few days.

Obviously, it is not the sole responsibility of the AL to maintain peace but there is no denying that as the major opposition party it has to exert a sobering influence on others. AL must learn from the extreme position it took against KM Hasan. The people in general are sympathetic to many opposition demands but they are equally opposed to violence and extremism. The point will be made further clear by the fact that the gruesome incidents that took place last Saturday greatly damaged the image of both the party and the country to all those who viewed live the horrific beating to death of at least two young men in the streets of Dhaka. It sent very negative signals about the party itself and the only result could be loss of public sympathy.

We fully appreciate the points that the AL is making about changes in the EC including CEC. We have taken a stand against the lopsided allocation of portfolios to the advisors and hope that the government will try to create an even playing field for the contestants in the next election. What AL must realise that even when people agree with the opposition demands they do not endorse the extreme methods employed to realise them.