Bangladesh's 'Begums' face exile

An anticorruption drive, led by Bangladesh's military leaders, last week reached the highest levels of the country's political machine.

By Mahtab Haider | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

from the April 24, 2007 edition

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Dhaka, Bangladesh - Bangladesh could be witnessing the end of an era as the two rival "Begums," the undeclared royalty of the country's dynastic politics, are forced into exile by the military-backed interim regime that now rules the country.

In the past several weeks, the regime has gradually increased its pressure on Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, the leaders of the country's two main political parties, to leave active politics and seek exile.

But with the leaders facing forced expulsion, the future of Bangladesh's notoriously volatile democracy now looks more uncertain than ever before.

As the military-backed regime's state of emergency enters its fourth month, many Bangladeshis are beginning to see an ominous air of permanence in the Army's once-popular anticorruption campaign.

This month, the regime's civilian leader, Fakhruddin Ahmed, deferred elections until at least the end of 2008

"In spite of all the corruption and abuses of power that they might have allowed party members to carry out, Hasina and Khaleda have a legitimacy in the eyes of the people that must be taken into account," says political analyst and journalist Ataus Samad. "If they use force to exile the two leaders, however, they will run themselves into an even deeper crisis than the one they currently face."

The two Begums, who served alternately as prime ministers since 1991, are blamed by Dhaka's educated classes for Bangladesh's violent and corrupt political culture. Pitched street battles between Ms. Hasina's Awami League and Mrs. Zia's Bangladesh National Party (BNP) have resulted in more than 30 deaths since last October.

In January this year, as the League and the BNP prepared to face off on the streets over controversial national elections scheduled for later that month, Bangladesh's Army chief stepped in to appoint an interim cabinet that would "clean up" politics under a state of emergency.

Since then, the regime has mounted a massive anticorruption crackdown, arresting over 160 senior politicians and businessmen who have pledged allegiance to either of the two major political parties, at least 16 of whom are former ministers. Last month, the government froze 53 bank accounts reportedly worth a staggering $377 million in illegal funds.

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