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| Bangladesh |
| 'Bangladesh not ready to lift ban on politics' |
| 2007-06-16 |
| Bangladesh’s emergency government needs more time to implement reforms to strengthen democracy before lifting the ban on political activity, the official BSS news agency Friday quoted a minister as saying. The military-backed government’s law minister, Mainul Husein, said years of political corruption meant the country needed to “give some time to those who are working for bringing about reforms in politics,” BSS reported. “We understand what to do and it will be done by us,” he said in response to calls by outgoing US ambassador Patricia A Butenis for the interim government to lift a ban on political activity. The emergency government declared all political activity, including “indoor” meetings, illegal when it came to power on January 12 after the president imposed a state of emergency and cancelled elections planned for later that month. Husein said the government had prioritised its work on an “election roadmap”. New polls have been promised by the end of 2008. Meanwhile, former prime minster Sheikh Hasina Wajed on Friday accused the military-backed emergency government of trying to push her out of politics by having criminal cases filed against her. The leader of the Awami League party which held power from 1996-2001 was speaking after a court investigating corruption allegations barred her from travelling to the United States later Friday. “The government does not want me to compete in the elections. That is why they are filing cases against me,” Sheikh Hasina told reporters. “Police are investigating the cases filed against me. If I am found guilty, punish me but why should I not be allowed to go abroad,” she added. Sheikh Hasina faces a string of cases including accusations of murder and extortion that were filed against her while she was visiting relatives in the US in April. Two more extortion cases were filed earlier this week. She has denied all the allegations and vowed to prove her innocence. A Dhaka court on Thursday issued an order preventing her from leaving the country, a report by the official BSS news agency said. Sheikh Hasina’s personal secretary Hasan Mahmud and a senior immigration official, however, said that they had not yet received any formal notification of the court order. “We did not get any instructions from any government authority about whether Sheikh Hasina will be allowed to pass the immigration or be barred,” the immigration official told AFP on condition of anonymity. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Someone should start a Rapid Action Party. Then the RAB can be "the militant wing." |
| Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds 2007-06-16 11:33 |