Will “Battling Begums” of Bangladesh Come to a Compromise?

Will “Battling Begums” of Bangladesh Come to a Compromise?

Guest Column by Dr. Anand Kumar

(The views expressed by the author are his own)

Bangladesh is seeking political dialogue between two Begums who have alternately led the country, to bring about qualitative change in its politics. During it’s nearly two year rule of the country the military backed caretaker government tried to initiate political reforms with the hope of changing the face of Bangladesh politics which many thought was suffering because of the endless political hostility between Khaleda Zia and Shaikh Hasina. These ladies also head the two mainstream political parties of Bangladesh.

In fact most of these reforms were demanded by Shaikh Hasina in the run up to the now postponed January 2007 elections. But as domestic and international pressure is increasing for holding a free and fair election in Bangladesh the caretaker government now realizes that this job of eradicating corruption from public life can not be completed in a short period and actually the commitment to this end has to come from the two leaders, one of whom is likely to lead Bangladesh after the elections.

The military backed caretaker government came to power in Bangladesh in January 2007 following months of political violence. It imposed emergency and arrested scores of top politicians, including two former premiers and dozens of ex-ministers and lawmakers. It said the crackdown was aimed at cleaning up graft-ridden politics in Bangladesh, ranked the world's most corrupt nation by Berlin-based Transparency International.

This anti-corruption drive however seems to be falling apart due to sloppy legal work and lack of expertise. Most of the arrested leaders are now free on bail raising questions about the judicial process. The adviser for Home Affairs MA Matin has stated that the military-backed administration has slowed down in its efforts against corruption. It will not be able to reach its target to have the “maximum number of cases” resolved before December. Matin, also chairman of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Serious Crimes and Corruption informed the media that out of 512 cases, only 152 have so far been tried. Shortage of time, according to him was one of the reasons for this.

The Caretaker government is aware that the political reform process has not reached its logical end. Hence it wants to encourage both the leaders to engage in a dialogue so that the process could be taken forward and the culture of political hostility and mudslinging is not revived. They also hope that this will bring political stability to the country in a post-election scenario.

To facilitate this talk the interim government has requested barrister Rafiqul Haque, a former attorney general, who is defending both Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia, in court. He has independently advised both the leaders to put aside their mutual acrimony and mistrust for the good of the country.

Khaleda has agreed for talks, but the close associates of Hasina are insisting that Khaleda must first apologise for “trying to kill her” and also to the nation for years of misrule. They are referring to a 2004 grenade attack on Hasina’s rally in Dhaka which killed 23 people and wounded over 150. Khaleda was prime minister at the time. This is a tricky condition. If Khaleda apologises, this will also make her guilty for the offence.

Another major problem in reconciliation between the two ladies is the presence of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) in the four-party coalition. Though Awami League had tied up with Khilafat Mazlis, an Islamic party earlier, its politics has shifted dramatically during the emergency rule of the military backed second caretaker government. Now it is demanding action against the war criminals. Awami League Presidium Member Abdur Razzak has already stated that BNP should first make its position clear about militancy, anti-liberation war forces, war criminals and fundamentalist forces before a meeting with Hasina.

These war criminals were Islamic groups like Jamaat and IOJ who had supported Pakistan during the Bangladesh War of Liberation. The demand of Awami League for action against war criminals is bound to result into political hostility with the BNP. BNP critically depends on Jamaat support. An analysis conducted by National Democratic Institute of Bangaldesh (NDI) shows that in the last elections BNP managed to increase its seats by nearly 54 percent by a small transfer of Jamaat votes whereas there was a decline of about 40 percent in Awami League seats because of this. Hence BNP will resist any move to take action against Jamaat.

The caretaker government is also insisting that all political parties should register with the Election Commission before participating in the parliamentary elections. Though generally all political parties are reluctant to go for the registration, the Islamic parties are facing special problems. The Special Powers Act (SPA) 1974 strictly restricts formation of political parties on the basis of religion. In addition to this, new provisions of the Representation of the People Order (RPO) now stand against registration of the Islamist political parties. These laws will create problems for Jamaat in getting registered.

BNP is likely to support Jamaat on this issue. In the ongoing political dialogue with the caretaker government BNP-led four-party alliance has requested the Election Commission (EC) to invite all of its components to the proposed dialogue. This indicated that it is against keeping Jamaat out of politics.

These are some of the sticky issues of Bangladesh politics which are likely to emerge once the election process is set in motion. Neither BNP nor Awami League may revert back to old corrupt ways immediately, but there are many thorny issues which still remain. Both the ladies remain in full control of their respective political parties. The intra-party democracy is still a distant dream. Presently, political parties are agreeing to several conditions just to facilitate transfer of power to an elected government. But whether this election will change the political culture of Bangladesh or bring a qualitative change in its politics remains doubtful. Even if the battling Begums come to a compromise, this may not last.

( The author can be reached at e-mail: anandkrai@yahoo.com)