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| Bangladesh |
| Prosecuting corrupt politicians bigger concern than elections in BD |
| 2007-02-12 |
| A month after an emergency saw a military-backed interim government take power, Bangladeshis are in no hurry to restore democracy and want notoriously corrupt politicians punished, analysts say. “Convictions of the big politicians would make the common people very happy. They have seen how much wealth they have amassed over the 30 years since independence and they want to get rid of them,” Syed Anwar Hussain, a professor of history at Dhaka University, told AFP. The government has launched a wide-ranging corruption crackdown since the state of emergency was imposed on January 11, winning a level of support that has shocked politicians of all parties, added Dhaka University law professor Asif Nazrul. “There is a slow realisation among some of the more polished leaders that if the caretaker government continues to perform efficiently, people will be permanently disinterested in having these parties back in power,” he said. He added that the interim government was particularly popular with the urban middle class. The emergency followed months of feuding between the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the main opposition Awami League over the latter’s allegations of poll rigging. The dispute brought the impoverished country to the brink of anarchy. Repeated strikes and blockades paralysed daily life and at least 35 people were killed in clashes between supporters of rival parties. Street protests turned the centre of the capital, Dhaka, into a battleground. Opposition activists armed with bombs, guns and rocks fought running battles with riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets. The dispute appeared set to continue indefinitely as the two principal players each refused to give any ground. Commentators said the plundering of state funds by members of successive governments meant neither side could afford to lose the election. Golam Hossain, a professor of government and politics at Dhaka’s Jahangir University, said the conviction of corrupt politicians would be the first sign of significant and lasting changes in the country, one of the poorest and most corrupt in the world. Nearly half the 144-million population still scrapes by on less than a dollar a day, a stark contrast to the lavish lifestyles, funded by graft, of a minority who travel Dhaka’s streets in luxury cars. |
| Posted by:Fred |