The leaders of Bangladesh’s main political parties are likely to lose their positions as a result of an anti-graft crackdown by the country’s emergency government, a minister said Wednesday. “We are filing corruption cases as part of overall reforms. We are not doing it to settle scores,” interim law minister Moinul Hosein told the private ATN television channel. “The legal process we have initiated will not even allow many to stay as leaders because of their involvement in corruption,” Hosein added. The minister’s comments came amid flurry of reports that reformists in Bangladesh’s two main parties have planned sweeping changes that may force out two former prime ministers as rival party heads.
Khaleda Zia, a two-time prime minister and the leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), reportedly faces a rebellion and would be asked to quit as party chief by a reformist group led by her partyÂ’s secretary general. Sheikh Hasina Wajed, who was premier between 1996 and 2001 and the leader of Awami League, also faces similar rebellion, according to reports in newspapers.
The two have dominated the political landscape since 1991 after military dictator Hussain Mohammad Ershad was forced out. Sheikh Hasina has been charged with corruption in at least half a dozen cases by the military-backed government. Her bitter rival, Zia, is also under investigation for corruption. Zia’s elder son and heir apparent, Tareque Rahman, has also been arrested and charged with extortion.Supporters barred from visiting Hasina: The government has barred party colleagues from visiting former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, a spokesman for the politician said on Wednesday. Police have not allowed anyone except Hasina’s close relatives to enter her Dhaka residence since Tuesday evening. “We are not allowed to go in, as if Sheikh Hasina is under house arrest,” press secretary Abul Kalam Azad told Reuters.
A senior police officer said security around the residence of Hasina, top leader of the Awami League, and that of Begum Khaleda Zia, her bitter rival and head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), had been tightened following what he said had been visible commotions in their parties over proposed reforms. Groups of leaders and activists have been meeting separately over proposals for internal party reform in both parties.