BANGLADESHÂ’S former prime ministers, struggling to maintain their political clout, are becoming increasingly isolated as the army-backed interim government pushes harder in its hunt for corrupt politicians. Political analysts and officials say Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia, rivals who between them ruled the country for 15 years, face mounting pressure to quit as heads of their respective parties to make way for new leadership. Hasina, daughter of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Khaleda, widow of general turned president Ziaur Rahman, head the Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) respectively, the countriesÂ’ biggest parties.
Demands for introducing stronger democratic elements in the parties - closer to autocracies now - are also gaining ground, analysts and officials say. “I feel that Hasina and Khaleda have crossed the optimum level of their contribution to the country, for which people have given them sufficient honour,” said Syed Mohammad Ibrahim, a political and defence analyst.
“But now they (Hasina and Khaleda) seem unable to read the writings on the wall,” said Ibrahim, a retired army major-general. “The parties surely deserve changes in their leadership for the better.” Analysts say one concern is the possibility the two leaders could be charged in corruption cases and be barred from contesting elections for at least three years, if convicted.
Both women say they, not the interim government, are the true defenders of democracy in Bangladesh, and deny the accusations against them, saying the charges have been trumped up by critics and opponents. But the repeated reports of widespread corruption and abuse of power by the top leaders and party stalwarts have rocked the parties and strengthened demands for drastic reforms.
More than 170 senior politicians from BNP and the Awami League have been detained by security forces and hundreds more are on the run since the army-backed interim government imposed a state of emergency on January 11, cancelled an election planned for Jan. 22 and banned all political activity.
Better times ahead? The interim authority, headed by former central bank chief Fakhruddin Ahmed, says it plans to hold the election before the end of 2008, after erasing political corruption and completing reforms to make the election free, fair and credible. Analysts say most Bangladeshis support the government and hope it can usher cleaner politics and broader democracy into the impoverished south Asian country of more than 140 million people.
The view that changes were needed was reinforced after some of the detained leaders, including Awami general secretary Abdul Jalil, reportedly made allegations to interrogators of serious wrongdoings by Hasina. KhaledaÂ’s junior home minister Lutfuzzaman Babar also revealed startling accounts of corruption and abuse of power which pointed a finger at Khaleda.
The reports related to the two leaders have been widely published in Bangladesh media, dominating front pages. KhaledaÂ’s elder son and political heir Tareque Rahman has been in jail since March facing charges of extortion, while her younger son Arafat Rahman - though not arrested yet - faces similar charges, police have said. Hasina faces charges of extortion, murders linked to political violence and graft in deals made to buy MiG-29 planes and a frigate while in power.
Political science professor Ataur Rahman of the Dhaka University, said: “They are getting isolated because they have failed to show their commitment to political reform that is necessary at this point of transition to a new democracy.” “If Bangladesh has to evolve a new democratic order, this old top leadership must step down making way for a new generation of dynamic and responsible leadership,” said Rahman, who also heads the Bangladesh Political Science Association.
Hasina’s parliamentary affairs adviser Suranjit Sen Gupta, a former lawmaker, said: “Things have taken a new turn and we are observing closely.” He declined to elaborate.