DHAKA: The leaders of Bangladesh’s two main political parties, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed, are under pressure again with the prospect of being ousted by party rebels, analysts said.
Just weeks after the country’s military-backed emergency government appeared to have failed in an apparent attempt to force the so-called “battling begums” into exile, the bitter rivals have again been put on the back foot.
The two women alternated in holding power over the impoverished country from 1991 to 2006, but have been accused by authorities of blatant corruption and pushing Bangladesh’s fragile democracy to the brink of collapse.
Last week, members of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said she could be asked to step down as leader under new proposals to make the party more democratic.
A group of Awami League members, meanwhile, are reported to have held secret meetings to discuss dropping Sheikh Hasina as Awami League president.
Both have a string of criminal cases pending against them.
Former military dictator Hossain Muhammad Ershad, who ruled Bangladesh for eight years until 1990, also faces a challenge to his leadership of the smaller Jatiya party from his own wife.
The would-be reformers have denied that the proposed changes are the result of pressure from the temporary government which has launched a massive corruption crackdown since coming to power in January.
But analysts are sceptical.
Harun Ur Rashid, who teaches politics at Dhaka University, said the reformers were being manipulated by the administration to enforce internal party reform as part of its plan to clean up politics before holding elections by late 2008.
“They are being used to reform the parties. The reform idea is a continuation of the government’s plan to get rid of the two of them,” he said.
“Reform is needed but changes that are imposed are not sustainable in the long run,” he added.
“The reformers did this out of fear they would be arrested for corruption by the present government,” said Mostafa Chowdhury, a commentator and professor of politics at Dhaka University.
The government came to power after President Iajuddin Ahmed cancelled polls and declared an emergency on Jan 11 following months of unrest over Awami League claims that the BNP had sought to rig planned national elections.
It has since arrested more than 150 prominent politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats on corruption allegations including Zia’s once all-powerful elder son Tareque Rahman.
Special fast-track courts have been set up to hear the cases against them.
One former minister was sentenced to 13 years earlier this month.
Zia and Hasina are powerful figureheads at the helm of parties that are strongly identified with their families — two rival political dynasties dear to the hearts of many ordinary voters.
Zia is the widow of assassinated former president Ziaur Rahman while Sheikh Hasina is the daughter of the country’s independence leader and first Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
They have ruled their own parties unchallenged for many years.
Some commentators say they will resist any attempts to make their parties more democratic.—AFP