DHAKA -- Opposition parties in Bangladesh issued a
call for countrywide general strike again – third in three straight weeks and
this time for 96 hours from April 23 – demanding government’s resignation,
transfer of power to a non-party caretaker government, and general elections
for the nation’s eighth parliament. The opposition program comes amid firm declaration
by the ruling party that it would complete its term and retraction of its offer
to hold early election provided the opposition parties sit with it to sort out
their differences.
The government-opposition showdown put the nation
once again in an uncertainty. Meanwhile, two powerful bomb explosions at a
function of Chhayanaut – a popular pro-Communist cultural outfit -- on the
first day of Bengali New Year at the city center killing nine persons and
injuring scores more only further complicated the already volatile political
situation in Bangladesh. Now the looming question is whether there will be an
election or a proclamation of emergency in the country in view of the
opposition’s consecutive nationwide shutdown programs vis-à-vis government’s
tough response.
In the first fortnight of April, the country
witnessed two general strikes when four persons were killed and hundreds were
hurt. Police rounded up thousands of
opposition activists but a few hundreds were finally detained. In a rare
instance, the nation’s premier mosque, Baitul Mukarram, came under police
action when the members of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islam party brought out a
procession in the capital city of Dhaka in protest against the arrest of their
general secretary under a draconian law called Public Safety Act.
The current political turmoil in Bangladesh began
with an offer by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that she would give general
election on the very day as demanded by the opposition leader but with one
condition; the demand has to be made on the floor of the parliament. When the
opposition refused to accept the condition, she withdrew her offer. However,
Begum Khaleda Zia, the opposition leader and former prime minister of
Bangladesh took the offer seriously and met with the president of Bangladesh
and demanded elections by May 30. Then Prime Minister Hasina declared from the
holy city of Madina after performing Hajj that her government was prepared for
early election by June 12. It meant that she would have to resign immediately
on her return from the Hajj because the caretaker government was supposed to be
given 90 days to hold the elections.
At that time Begum Zia, who was visiting China at an
invitation from the Chinese government, said that it fell short of the prime
minister’s promise and therefore she rejected it and issued an ultimatum that
if the government did not resign by March 31 she would call for a two-day
general strike in the country. The prime minister met with the president and
asked him to contact the opposition and tell them that the government would
resign any day after April 18. Opposition then demanded a firm date and asked
the ruling party to announce that they would resign any day in the first week
of April and offered to reciprocate by withdrawing their general strike
program. Meanwhile, the ruling party organized a massive rally of freedom
fighters and a huge public meeting at the National Parade ground on March 30
where Prime Minister Hasina retracted her promise and instead threw an open
challenge to the opposition: "Throw me out (of power by your movement) if
you can." So, the program of two-day nationwide general strike went ahead
and Chhatra Dal, the student wing of rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
added another day to protest government's crack down on opposition activists
especially students.
President Shahabuddin's initial effort to bring the
two warring sides together failed. Newspaper columnists and commentators have
been urging the president to take initiative on the basis of talks he had with
the prime minister and the opposition leader in order to bring peace to the
country. Under the constitution, the president can dissolve parliament only on
advice of the prime minister. Since the prime minister told him that her
government would resign any time after April 18, only then the president can
initiate the process of dissolution of parliament. Opposition leader Khaleda
Zia warned that the delay in government's resignation meant the ruling party
wanted to hold the election in the rainy season to rig it. The prime minister
then shot back at the opposition saying they did not want elections. The
opposition leader then quickly responded with a fresh statement that her party
was ready to take part in election at any time. Recently, the prime minister
said she did not have objection to holding elections during the rainy season
meaning July-August.
Commenting on the political situation, Mr. Sadeque
Hossain Khoka, former minister and influential BNP leader said that the ruling
party was not sincere in its offer of early polls. The ruling party’s offer was
a ploy to ensure that the administration it set up would remain undisturbed and
the caretaker government did not get even 90 days to hold the election. How can
the caretaker government hold free and fair elections without preparations? The
government has to create conducive atmosphere. It cannot use an administration,
which is responsive only to ruling Awami League, Mr Khoka said. In response to
queries by newsmen, Mr Tofail Ahmed, a senior minister and top ruling party
leader denied that the government was engineering chaos to fish in troubled
waters. He said ruling party could not resign under threat and asked the
opposition to develop mentality to accept defeat. He also denied that the
ruling party coerced Ershad, leader of Jatiya Party (JP), Bangladesh’s third
largest political organization, to break away from the opposition alliance.
There is a general allegation that Awami League had
been intensely working on a program to break up the four-party opposition
alliance consisting of BNP, JP, Islami Oki Jote (IOJ) and Jamaat-e-Islam.
Ershad came under tremendous pressure and went back to prison under unspecified
charges and finally bent down to the ruling party's alleged demand to break up
the opposition alliance. Apparently, the ruling party was successful as Ershad
declared that he was leaving the alliance. But Ershad’s Jatiya Party is now
divided into three factions and the hardliners are sticking with the BNP-led
alliance. Ershad has already declared that he wanted to form a third alliance.
IOJ chief venerable 81-year-old Islamic leader Maulana Azizul Huq and majority
of his top leaders are now in jail on charge of murdering a cop in a mosque, a
charge IOJ vehemently denies. The entire party is now on the run. The
government then zeroed in on ultra rightist Jamaat-e-Islam party. Its general
secretary is interned as thousands of his workers. Police does not allow any
rally or procession by the workers of this party.
Awami League leader Tofael Ahmed said if the
opposition wants early election there has to be an understanding on all these
issues or else his party will complete its term that ends on July 13, 2001.
"Look, the opposition might demand electoral reform or some other demands
which needed a clarification. In that case the election will be held in October
next, which is likely to be certain.” Asked to comment whether the opposition
would make the same demands to the caretaker government, which will take over
the power automatically after the expiry of their term, Tofael said the
question would then be tackled by the caretaker government. "If there is
any complication in holding elections because of these demands, the
responsibility will rest with the caretaker government and the BNP, not Awami League,"
he said. BNP stalwart Khoka has already
said that the caretaker government could not hold elections with an
administration set up by Awami League.
An already divided nation on a host of political issues is further split
over the upcoming general elections.