BANGLADESH 29 December 2008 Army-backed government plans parliamentary election 

Elections for the Jatiya Sangsad, the parliament, originally set for 22 Jan 2007, will be held on Dec 29 (CORRECTED DATE). The military-backed interim government will lift its nearly two years of emergency rule on Dec 17 ahead of polls so candidates can campaign. The government set up a Truth and Accountability Commission in May, a move it presents as an anti-corruption measure, but some see it as a ploy to rig the election.

Politicians charged with corruption, who include two former prime ministers, will be offered a TAC plea bargain. The price of amnesty is a ban of standing for election and holding public office for five years. Opposition parties see the TAC as a government attempt to silence, marginalize and eventually remove the present political leaders from the scene.

The accused can escape prosecution and prison by admitting guilt and returning "ill-gotten" wealth to the state.

Khaleda Zia, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and rival Sheikh Hasina, leader of the Awami League, have dominated Bangladeshi politics for many years. Many analysts say the government is determined to destroy the political power of the two women as part of its drive for political reform. Motiur Rahman Nizami, the head of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, the largest Islamic political party in Bangladesh, has also been charged.

The two women have told separate courts the charges against them were "false and politically motivated" and designed to stop them from contesting the election. They also said the caretaker government was trying to perpetuate its power by delaying the election or electing hand-picked people to parliament through a farcical vote. There have been rumors that the government is propping up Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to form a new political party.

The interim government, led by Fakhruddin Ahmed, has been able to capitalize on popular discontent with corruption. From 2001 to 2005, anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International ranked Bangladesh as the fifth most corrupt country in the world. In 2006 it rose to third, grouped with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Sudan and Guinea.

Other changes announced in May include the separation of the judiciary from the administrative control of the executive; electoral reforms and the wholesale revision of electoral lists.

In June, human rights groups complained that police have arrested at least 10,000 people over a period of days in what was said to be a major drive against criminal activity. The number includes politicians and political activists. The regime says the arrests are aimed at making Bangladesh more secure in the run-up to the elections, when the regime has promised to restore democracy.

Parliament has not sat since the caretaker government took power.

RELATED READING:

Bangladesh Election Commission
http://www.ecs.gov.bd/English/index.php

Q & A: Bangladesh crisis (BBC 3 Sep 2007)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6255773.stm

Human Rights Watch slams mass arrests (AFP 6 Jun 2008)
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIC1g4CRBqsBT6MVr8b4zeooABrQ