Violence and protests may disrupt the looming general elections, fears influential British daily The Guardian in a report.The report run on Tuesday says fears were growing over the parliamentary polls, even though the government insisted that the election will be free and fair.
It said many were worried that Bangladesh would plunge into chaos in the run-up to the balloting following street clashes in May and with the opposition parties planning a campaign of protests.
The Guardian reminded readers about the the rash of violence and strikes in late 2006 which led to general elections being forestalled and the declaration of a state of emergency after which a military-backed caretaker government came into power.
It also brought up the International Crimes Tribunal, set up to investigate and try the crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War, and its recent judgements against several convicted war criminals that triggered a spate of violence.
The report, however, said the Bangladesh government was willing to hold free and fair polls.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s International Affairs Advisor Gowher Rizvi told The Guardian that the “preparations for the forthcoming elections were ‘completely on track’”.
“The government remains committed to elections. Barring some disaster outside its control, elections will be held on time and as per the constitution,” Rizvi said.
But the daily said many issues were still unresolved for a fair election to be held and mentioned the opposition BNP’s demand for the government to reinstate the caretaker government system.
Rizvi told The Guardian that all executive authority would lie with the Election Commission during the elections and that “whatever it takes for free and fair elections” would be done.
But this is ‘unlikely to be enough’ for BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, the report said.
It quoted a BNP leader as saying that the party believed that the ruling Awami League was aiming to force the BNP to boycott the poll, allowing them to stay in power through a ‘one-party election’.
“Incumbents always lose in Bangladesh. The government know they will lose this [election] and are ready to do anything to hold on to power,” the BNP leader was futher quoted as saying.
The Guardian said the BNP was planning to announce fresh programmes between the next week and the beginning of Ramadan in July.
The report said ‘this will give both sides an idea of what kind of muscle the party can deploy’.
The Guardian said the ‘real battle’ could begin in the autumn, between August-September, where three elements will become key issues – the role of Islamist parties, the ongoing trials at the war crimes tribunals and the potential mobilisation of young voters.
The report said voters of Jamaat-e-Islami “can swing the result in dozens of crucial constituencies decided by wafer-thin margins”.
Alongside Jamaat, Hifazat-e Islam has become a new Islamist force, it said.
The report also cited the Hifazat rally on May 5 in Dhaka and the violence that took place after that, saying ‘Hifazat-e Islam organised massive demonstrations last month that ended in ‘police killing an undetermined number of protesters’.
Hifazat will take to the streets again to enforce their demands, the report added.
The Guardian also quoted Ganajagaran Manch spokesperson Imran H Sarker as saying that they would also soon launch a campaign of protests.
The movement at Shahbagh intersection saw hundreds of thousands of youths demonstrate in February and March this year demanding maximum pusnishment for war crimes convicts.
However, it claimed the 29-year-old doctor ‘had effectively sparked the Shahbagh movement with a Facebook post’ and ‘was now in hiding’.
Acoording to the report, Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Abdur Razzaq hinted that his party was also planning new programmes.
He told The Guardian: “Everyone has the right to come to the street and mobilise peaceful demonstrations.”
The influential UK daily has expressed concern over all quarters getting ready with fresh programmes at the end of the government’s tenure.
“It seems there is only one thing on which all are agreed: the struggle, when it comes, will be won or lost on the streets,” the report concluded.
(Source: bdnews24.com)
