New Government But Same Old Politics in Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took office in January following a landslide win by her Awami League over rival Begum Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the elections late last year. The vote ended two years of emergency rule by an army-backed interim authority.

Expectations of less corruption in the layers of bureaucracy rose with the new democratic government but Dhaka has so far failed to prove itself, says Sultana Kamal, a human rights activist.

“Democracy is not in full-swing in Bangladesh. Mainly because we have been under military rule for many years, people do not have the real idea of democracy or how it should work. The party in power thinks it has the mandate over the people and can do anything it wants and the opposition party always claims that there has been rigging in the election,” she explained.

Widening rift between major parties

Despite promises to foster friendlier relations, differences between Bangladesh’s major political parties have actually widened. The relationship between the leaders has now hit a new low over an argument concerning seating arrangements in parliament.

When she first took power in January, Hasina originally said she would set a new example in politics by enlisting BNP support in the decision-making. She also suggested she would give Khaleda, also a former prime minister, a position in the government.

Mahfuz Anam, the editor and publisher of The Daily Star, is disappointed that these promises were not fulfilled. “The ruling party didn’t really live up to expectations. The ruling party promised that there would be a deputy speaker from the opposition party but that promise has not been fulfilled.” He added that the parties always tried to denigrate each other.

Parliamentary boycott by BNP

For its part, the BNP has mostly boycotted parliament since Hasina took office. It has organised various protests against the government, which has sought to move against various BNP leaders over charges of alleged graft and other wrongdoings.

“There lies the problem,” says Taufique Imrose Khalidi, the chief editor of the news website bdnews24.com. “The opposition has to take part in Parliament. They cannot just cave away from Parliament. For example, on foreign policy issues there’s a huge lack of agreement. They don’t seem to agree on anything. That is a problem. Whatever the government does, the opposition has to come up with something denouncing that. That’s a cultural problem and I don’t think we can move away from that very soon.”

Despite the ongoing rivalry between the two parties, 32 new bills were passed in the first session of parliament.

Author: Jaisu Bhullar
Editor: Thomas Bärthlein