Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Back to chaos?

June 18, 2008

Back to chaos?

It is disturbing to take note of signs that Bangladesh's self-styled military-backed "interim government" is easing up its campaign to clean up the country' politics. When the interim government, headed by former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed, took power in January 2007 and launched a crackdown against government and political corruption, Bangladeshis welcomed it with jubiliance. Since then, the interim government was able to restore some stability to the country but faces a long way ahead.
However, the government has not been able to do much to control rising prices food and other basic ccommodities and alleviate the suffering of the poor. But that has been the case with most Third World governments grappling with the record increase in international oil prices in the last 18 months.
It is against this backdrop that the interim government in Dhaka opted to release former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on parole and possibily offer a possible similar step for her rival Begum Khaleda Zia.
According to offcials, the government is reviewing the Emergency Power Rules (EPR) to allow people held on corruption charges to be given bail, and that even those convicted could be allowed to appeal and contest the election.
That is not very good news because it is widely held that Bangladeshi politics could not be cleaned up without removing corrupt and incompetent politicians from the scene and there could be no compromise whatsoever in this context.
It is known that many of the problems of Bangladesh owe their origins to the inefficiency and political acrobatics of Hasina and Khaleda, both former prime ministers, and their one-track mind to serve their party loyalists at the expense of national interests.
Neither of them, who head the two largest parties in the country, is known for focusing attention on issues of national development except to slam each other at every given opportunity. The 15 years during which they alternated power were marked by political unrest and rising corruption at every level.
Many Bangladeshis heaved a sigh of relief when they saw the interim government cracking down on the two former prime ministers and hordes of politicians and bureaucrats.
And now they are implictly told that the politicians are being allowed to stage a comeback if only to ensure participation of political parties in general elections scheduled to be held in December. The government seems to reckon that releasing the detained politicians — some 50 of the 170 political held in the crackdown have been convicted of corruption charges — and allowing them to move around freely could entice their parties to the elections.
That might indeed be the case, but that would also allow corrupt and incompetent politicians to re-enter the scene and regain their grip on the country. If that happens, then there is no hope of rescue for the people of Bangladesh, particularly that the politicians returning to power would carry with them a sword of vengeance against anyone and everyone they saw as challenging their vested interests.