Bangladesh nears political crisis after the floods
Bangladesh nears political crisis after the floods
By Anis Ahmed
DHAKA (Reuters): Bangladesh is approaching political crisis only six months after devastating floods brought the nation to its knees, diplomats said on Wednesday.
Still rebuilding from the floods, Bangladesh's sputtering economy is in the familiar, choking grip of political strikes and faces the prospect of yet more unrest.
"We fear the country is again heading into a serious political chaos as both the opposition and government seem in no mood to compromise," said one Asian diplomat in Dhaka.
"Political chaos has put the wheel of economic development and social progress back every time the country looked ready to enter a phase of development," he told Reuters.
The latest strike, staged by the opposition to protest against alleged bias of electoral authorities, has shut down the country's biggest port, most banks, businesses and schools.
The three-day stoppage began at dawn on Tuesday and turned violent in the capital as opposition and government supporters clashed on the streets, killing at least one person.
Analysts said the strike campaign, though primarily aimed at deposing Chief Election Commissioner Abu Hena, was part of a broader opposition plan to oust Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and force an early parliamentary election, not due until 2001.
If the situation worsens, and opposition legislators boycott or resign from parliament en masse, Hasina may have little choice but to step down and call for early elections, they said.
The leading opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is already contemplating a lengthy boycott of parliament, as well as more strikes, party sources said.
The prospect of fresh political crisis led Western diplomats on Wednesday to despair at Bangladesh's cruel, brief history.
Born out of a war of independence from Pakistan 27 years ago, the country has seen a long spell of military rule and two of its presidents have been killed by power-hungry army officers.
The nation's economy has never really taken off, its ascent often foiled by political rivalries and lapses in law and order.
But the real stone around Bangladesh's neck has been its politicians, who hardly allow the country and its people to live in peace and prosper, diplomats said.
"Over the last two years we thought politicians would at least agree not to destroy the hopes of this nation. But they appear simply incapable of changing," a Western diplomat said.
The current strike has been called by the BNP and two opposition allies. The crisis has been brewing for months, but the ruling Awami League has sat on its hands, diplomats said.
Diplomats, headed by U.S. ambassador John Holzman, have urged the opposition to call off the strike, but to no avail.
"We have always discouraged the use of strike (as a political tool) and believed political disputes should be resolved through dialogue," Holzman said in remarks published in newspapers.
A British High Commission spokesman said "political differences should be settled in parliament, not on the street".
Bangladesh's economy is limping along and is unlikely to meet its target growth of seven percent for the year ending next June, said H.Z. Chowdhury, a political scientist at Dhaka University.
"There is hardly any positive sign the politicians have been able to offer the people," he told Reuters.
"They have not been able to break out of a vicious circle of vengeance, bad faith and personal enmity."
BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia has clearly set her goals -- to cut Hasina's rule short and force an early general election.
"The country must be freed from undemocratic and autocratic rule (of Hasina)," Khaleda told her followers this week.