News editor of the Pakistan Observer, who has been in Dacca throughout the East Pakistan crisis Dacca .

President Yahya Khan, confident that order has been restored in East Pakistan, is planning a civilian takeover of the national administration. The first indication of this came last weekend when the police took over street patrols in Dacca from the Army.

The population of the capital, which shrunk from more than one million to 500,000 during the March emergency, is now slowly returning. Bazaars are open again, and in some of the busier markets destroyed during the Army operations shopkeepers have set up improvised stalls.

The responsibility for maintaining order in the country areas as well has been given to civilian authorities and the police. Even when there is bomb-throwing, which is attributed to the Mukti Fauj. (Liberation Army), it is the police and not the regular Army or its intelligence branch which does the investigation. The curfew imposed on March 26 was lifted last Friday.

The civilian administration is also taking over the main cities of East Pakistan—Chittagong, Khulna, Mymensingh, and Comilla — and the smaller towns. In the villages, where Army operations started later than in the cities, local police now guard the bridges and railways. Acts of sabotage and sniping are dealt with severely.

The Army, besides guarding the border with India, has been deployed to repair bridges, culverts, roads, and railway lines damaged or blown up by the Mukti Fauz.

Most of the road links have been fully restored, but the main communication network is still the rivers. Launches and ferries which have been lying idle for months, and others capsized by Awami League men, are being brought back into service.

President Yahya Khan is expected to give some indication of his plans to restore normality in the next two weeks. He is said to be prepared to concede to the provinces, including the East wing, control in all matters except foreign affairs, defence, currency, foreign trade, and foreign aid.

In East Pakistan, some 25 of the 167 Awami League members elected to the National Assembly are believed to have indicated their willingness to cooperate with the President. The general amnesty declared by the military government is expected to. encourage more to join them.

One of those trying to gather these politicians together is Begum Akhtar Sulaiman, daughter of Mr H. S. Suhrawardy, the founder of the Awami League and a former Prime Minister of Pakistan. She hopes that about 100 National Assembly members, and 200 out of the 300 provincial assembly members will be willing to cooperate if they receive the necessary assurances. It is felt that if this target is reached, it will be easier for President Yahya to plan for civilian rule.

It is expected that he will first order by-elections to fill the seats declared vacant. Awami League activities have been forbidden but the party itself has not been declared illegal. Approved members may even be allowed to work under their old party banner. The President will then submit constitutional proposals for ratification by the National Assembly.

Two experts are already at work drawing up a new constitution. They are Mr Justice A. R. Cornelius, a former Chief Justice sod Law Minister, and Mr Manzur Quadir, a former Attorney General and Foreign Minister.

The general mood was summed up by a Bengali middle class clerk in Dacca: "We want peace no matter whether it is Bangla Desh or Pakistan.”.—Asian News Service.