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Cleaning up Bangladesh politics – The two Begums shown door |
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Harjit Singh
The decision of the Interim Government of Bangladesh to bar former Prime Minister and Awami League supremo Sheikh Hasina from returning to the country from the United States and a deal with her arch rival, BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia, to go into exile to Saudi Arabia, were both timely and demanding. Ever since Bangladesh adopted democratic institutions in 1990, after a chaotic succession of ineffective military governments, its political scene has been riven by persistent conflicts between the two warring Begums. The victory of one was not acceptable to the other and citing vote rigging the defeated Begum would invariably launch a stir against the winner. This gave little time to the party in power to concentrate on development work. Instead, to strengthen its hands, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) took the support of fundamentalist Islamic groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami to weaken the campaign of the 14-party alliance of Sheikh Hasina. In the process, Bangladesh got listed high in the ranks of countries where Islamists were running the roost. Bangladesh has the third largest Muslim population in the world. This has made the country an easy target for Islamic radical groups.
Bangladesh is reckoned by Transparency International in its Corruption Perception Index as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Even Sheikh Hasina which has a cleaner image as compared to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, has been accused by a Malaysia-based power company of extorting millions of Takas to clear a project. Similarly, Begum Zia’s son, Tarique Rahman, her presumed successor, has in recent years become the symbol of corruption, violence and misrule. He was referred to as Mr. Ten Per cent because of his cut in any deal effected by the Government.
The caretaker Government has launched an anti-corruption drive, arresting a large number of politicians from both the parties on charges of looting the country. The Interim Government is coming up with a law to deal with people charged with corruption within the next two months and has formed teams of military and civilian investigators for the task and feels confident that they will be able to collect the evidence to get the culprits convicted.
It is worth recalling briefly that it all started when the Awami League launched country-wide demonstrations in October last after Begum Zia’s rule ended and who, as provided in the Constitution, handed over power to an interim administration ahead of elections. Awami League alleged that the Election Commission was biased which would rig polling and demanded the removal of Election Commissioners and a revision of the electoral rolls. Months of street fighting left scores of people dead until the military-backed interim Government imposed a state of emergency last January. Fakhruddin Ahmed was appointed as chief advisor of the interim Government. To its credit, the caretaker Government has cancelled the holding of a parliamentary poll and banned all political activity temporarily to restore normalcy in the country. It barred corrupt people from participating in the poll and is apparently preparing tough laws in a bid to ensure financial transparency and accountability of the major political parties.
What, however, needs to be kept in mind is that the real power behind the present interim Government is the military and it has said the elections are not possible before the end of next year, a time enough for the army bosses to strengthen their hold on levers of power and delay elections further in the name of restoring normalcy. This raises the disturbing question of whether the caretaker Government could be digging in for a prolonged stay. For that would make a military takeover in Bangladesh a distinct possibility, the vehement denials of the Generals in Dhaka notwithstanding. Some behind-the-scenes role being played by the Bangladesh military appears to have aroused some suspicion. That the military would like to have a stake in the new dispensation was clear from a statement by the Army Chief, Lt. Gen. Moeen Ahmed, who said the other day that the country needs a different brand of democracy. His statement does not portend well for Bangladesh which has been under military rule for much of its early years of liberation after the murder of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman.
There was always this suspicion that the interim Government was an extraconstitutional quasi-military regime. Now, the Army Chief has confirmed the suspicion. His argument is, since the present political system has failed, the people of Bangladesh ought to decide whether they need a new platform to lead them. This assertion by the Army Chief and some recent developments indicate that Bangladesh is heading towards the political crossroads. While military rule might look like the right solution, in the long term it cannot resolve the problems of weak political institutions and rising Islamic radicalism.
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