[The election quite significantly saw heavy turn out,
maybe around 70%, reflecting strong popular
aspirations to see an end to the military-bureaucratic
rule, ostensibly meant to do away with "political"
corruptions, enjoying supports from both the local
elite and Western powers.
An ill-disguised attempt by the military backed by its
local and international backers to put Md. Yunus, the
lone Nobel Laureate from Bangladesh, in the driver's
seat through some sort of "controlled" democracy has
fallen flat on its face.
Even though the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina has
quite a bit reneged on its initial promise, on the
morrow of the Liberation, of a "secular" regime; its
victory denotes a defeat for the menacing radical
Islamist forces.
Apart from tackling the issue of poverty and corrupt
misgovernance, there would be a strong demand to
reverse the Islamist constitutional amendments made
during late Zia's military regime and also a public
trial of the murderous "collaborators" (with the
genocidal Pak regime led by the military dictator
Yahya Khan) in the Liberation War of 71.
It is rather unlikely that any of these expectations
would be fulfilled without strong grassroots pressure.
The BNP led by Ms. Khaleda Zia - widow of the military
dictator Zia-ur Rahman, also would expectedly hurl
charges of "rigging". The Jatiyo Party led by another
military dictator Ershad may also join hands. But it
remains to be seen whether they resort to the boycott
of the Parliament, as the losers almost invariably did
in the recent decades.
The military would also try to maintain its dominance
through behind-the-scene manipulations.
Despite all these, this is a welcome development
opening up at least some, even if uncertain,
opportunities for a move forward.
One would like to hope against hope that Big Brother
India would respond in a matured manner.]
I/III.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=addAivXXjgVw&refer=asia
Ex-Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina Wins Election
By Ed Johnson
Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Former Bangladesh Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed's political alliance was
swept back to power in national elections that ended
two years of military-backed emergency rule in the
South Asian country.
With 267 of 300 seats declared, Hasina's Awami League
has a parliamentary majority, S.M. Asadujan, the
Election Commission's public relations officer, said
by telephone today from the capital, Dhaka. The
commission hasn't released final results.
With ballot papers still being counted, the Awami
League had 175 seats, winning a landslide victory over
the Bangladesh Nationalist Party that took 23, the
English-language Daily Star newspaper reported on its
Web site.
The ballot comes after a military-backed interim
government declared emergency rule in January 2007,
pledging to stamp out graft and end clashes between
the two main parties. Telephone calls to Awami League
and BNP officials weren't immediately answered. Final
results are expected to be declared at about 7 a.m.
local time, Asadujan said.
Yesterday's ballot is the first national election in
Bangladesh since 2001, when the BNP won by a
landslide.
Hasina and her main rival, BNP leader Khaleda Zia,
have dominated the country's politics for the past
decade.
Street Fighting
Street fighting between their supporters left dozens
of people dead as the parties campaigned for elections
scheduled for January 2007.
An interim government, backed by the army, canceled
the ballot, declared a state of emergency and arrested
hundreds of politicians for alleged graft. Zia and
Hasina, who were among those detained, say the
corruption allegations were politically motivated.
The BNP yesterday complained of irregularities at 220
polling centers, the Star reported, citing party
official Rizi Ahmed.
A "smooth" transition between governments is needed
for Bangladesh's $72 billion economy to grow at the
forecast rate of 6.5 percent in the year to June 2009,
according to the Asian Development Bank.
A return to a democratically elected civilian
government and an end to confrontation between the
Awami League and BNP are essential to stop increasing
Islamic radicalization in the Muslim-majority nation,
according to the International Crisis Group.
Bangladesh has had at least five military coups since
the country's creation in 1971 and "only Islamist
forces stand to gain from another military
government," the Brussels-based group said in a report
this month.
Security forces say they have arrested more than 1,000
suspected militants since a nationwide bombing
campaign by the banned group Jamaatul Mujahedeen
Bangladesh more than three years ago.
The group remains active, posing a threat to
Bangladesh and the region, according to the ICG.
India earlier this month asked the interim government
to stop militants using Bangladeshi territory to stage
attacks across the border.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in
Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: December 29, 2008 19:40 EST
II.
www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iJs0Rw_hlEuwM70jKPi9S6-PhUGg
Bangladesh eunuchs to vote in first elections
1 day ago
DHAKA (AFP) — Among the millions of new voters in
Monday's Bangladeshi elections will be some 100,000
hijras -- cross-dressing, pre- and post-operative
transsexuals -- allowed to cast ballots for the first
time.
The male-to-female transsexuals are among 32 percent
of the impoverished nation's 81 million voters for
whom participating in the elections, the first since
2001, will be a new experience.
Hijra social worker Joya Shikder, herself a
transsexual, said the move spelled a positive change
for the conservative Muslim country.
"We've always been overlooked in previous elections,"
Shikder said. "It's exciting to be given this
recognition but the authorities have stopped short of
acknowledging us as a third gender."
The move to give hijras the vote has been applauded by
human rights activists but has caused a headache for
Election Commission officials who create separate
lines for male and female voters at every polling
booth.
"You just cannot just class us into men and women by
looking at our faces, bodies and expressions," Shikder
said.
Election Commission spokesman S.M. Asaduzzaman said
officials were still trying to figure out exactly how
hijras would cast their votes on Monday.
"It's a difficult one for us. We have only two queues,
one for men and another for women," he said.
"We thought long and hard about it but eventually
decided that hijras must go to the line that we think
suits them best. The more feminine ones will be in the
ladies' line while the ones who seem more manly will
be in with the men."
Monday's election will end a two-year rule by an
army-backed government.
The current regime has pushed through electoral reform
during its tenure, including creating a photo
identification voter list which has eliminated some
12.7 million fake "ghost" voters.
Commentators say the election will be the fairest in
the notoriously corrupt, impoverished South Asian
nation. Around 200,000 observers, including 2,500 from
overseas, will be watching Monday's vote.
Among those who will also be voting for the first time
are more than 40,000 Urdu-speaking Muslims who
migrated to Bangladesh from the majority-Hindu Indian
state of Bihar after the subcontinent was partitioned
in 1947 but before Bangladesh -- then East Pakistan --
gained independence in 1971.
A Bangladesh court ruled in May that the Biharis, long
considered refugees but never welcomed by either India
or Pakistan, were full-fledged citizens.
Tens of thousands of floating gypsies and more than
50,000 prisoners have also been given voting rights
for the first time in this election.
III.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j_Yffs19ictRZn6y6NZTIPMAGCBQD95CNQ500
Bangladeshis vote for 1st time in 7 years
By JULHAS ALAM – 20 minutes ago
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Former Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina's political alliance took the lead early
Tuesday in elections aimed at restoring democracy to
the troubled South Asian nation, officials and media
reports said.
The English-language Daily Star newspaper reported
early Tuesday that the alliance led by Hasina's
Bangladesh Awami League party won 153 seats in the
300-seat parliament.
The main opponent led by Hasina's archrival Khaleda
Zia, also a former prime minister, has won 18 seats in
the parliament, the newspaper said.
Television stations ATN Bangla and Ekushey TV also
reported that Hasina's alliance was well ahead. The
media organizations say they obtain early results from
election officials at vote counting stations.
The Election Commission indicated that Hasina's party
and allies had taken a lead, but it didn't provide any
other details.
The two women have traded power before. Zia was
elected prime minister in 1991, Hasina in 1996, and
Zia again in 2001.
H.T. Imam, an aide to Hasina, welcomed the reports,
saying he expected the alliance would form the next
government.
"We are happy with the latest news we have in hand,"
Imam told the Associated Press. "It's the people's
victory."
Zia's party late Monday alleged there were
irregularities and forgery in the voting processes but
would not comment on the initial results.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, a close aide to Zia, said at
a news briefing that Zia would formally react to the
outcome of the results later Tuesday when a final
result is expected.
Tens of millions of voters cast their votes Monday as
the country held the first election in seven years
after two years of emergency rule.
Security was tight and voting was the most peaceful in
decades — a stark contrast to the failed elections of
2007, which dissolved into street riots and prompted a
military-backed interim government to take over.
Voter turnout was high, with about 70 percent of the
81 million eligible voters casting ballots, said
election official Humayun Kabir.
"I'm here to choose the right person to lead our
country," said S.A. Quader, a 57-year-old businessman
who voted in Dhaka. "I'm confident the election will
be free and fair."
But with no fresh faces in the contest, many fear the
vote will just mean a return to the corruption,
mismanagement and paralyzing protests of previous
attempts at democracy.
Both of the leading candidates, Zia and Hasina, face
corruption charges. The two, both heirs to Bangladeshi
political dynasties, have traded power back and forth
for 15 years in successive governments.
"Apparently parliamentary democracy is on the march
again," said Mizanur Rahman Shelley, a political
analyst and head of Center for Development Research of
Bangladesh. "But doubt remains whether it solves the
old problems."
Both leading parties campaigned on similar platforms
of reducing corruption and controlling inflation. One
of the few policy differences is that Hasina's party
is seen as relatively secular and liberal, while Zia
has allies among Islamic fundamentalists.
During the back and forth between Zia and Hasina, a
well-worn pattern emerged: One party wins the
election, and the other spends the term leading
strikes and protests to make impoverished nation of
150 million ungovernable.
More than 650,000 police officers and soldiers had
been deployed across the country in a bid to prevent
voter fraud and the violence that marred the last
attempt at a national vote.
To prevent cheating this time around, the interim
government compiled a new electoral roll including
voters' photographs. Some 200,000 election observers,
including more than 2,000 foreign ones, monitored
voting nationwide.
Last year, both Zia and Hasina were jailed on
corruption charges, which they dismissed as
politically motivated. They were freed on bail and
reassumed positions as the heads of their respective
parties, the two largest in the country.
------------------------------------
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