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| Bangladesh |
| Bangladesh cracks down on corruption |
| 2007-01-23 |
| Bangladesh’s new interim government began work Monday to crack down on corruption after vowing it would hold credible elections as soon as possible. In his first speech to the nation late Sunday, caretaker government chief Fakhruddin Ahmed did not give any timetable for the polls, originally scheduled for Monday but cancelled amid opposition complaints of rigging. “We are determined to transfer power to an elected government after holding free, fair and meaningful elections as soon as possible,” Ahmed said. Ahmed, a Princeton-educated economist and former governor of Bangladesh’s Central Bank, also pledged tough reforms to rid elections of corruption and links to the underworld. “We will take tough reform measures in the total electoral process and system so that muscle power and ‘black money’ cannot hinder free and fair elections and stand in the way of people’s true verdict,” he said. According to anti-graft watchdog Transparency International, Bangladesh is one of the world’s most corrupt nations. With a population of 144 million, it is a young democracy where many political leaders have been accused of links to mafias and crime bosses. The televised address was Ahmed’s first public statement since the country’s President Iajuddin Ahmed imposed a state of emergency on January 11 in a bid to halt months of unrest over claims that the elections were being rigged. |
| Posted by:Fred |