DHAKA, 5 March 2007 — Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina Wajed asked the army-backed interim administration yesterday not to harass political leaders in the name of fighting corruption.
“The corrupt must be arrested and punished, but no genuine politician should be harassed in the drive to eliminate corruption,” Hasina told a meeting of her Awami League.
She made the remarks after Fakhruddin Ahmed, head of the interim administration, said the fight against corruption would continue in an attempt to set the stage for a free and fair elections at a date to be determined.
Talking to officials in the southern coastal district of Barisal yesterday, Fakhruddin asked security officials and state employees to work without fear or favor.
But Hasina said “genuine politicians are not corrupt and those indulge in corruption are not politicians.”
“Corruption has spread through every sector and now we must eradicate it forever to bring back the prestige of the nation and the administration,” Fakhruddin said.
More than 150 senior politicians from all sides of Bangladesh’s political spectrum — including former ministers — have been arrested since President Iajuddin Ahmed declared a state of emergency on Jan. 11.
The authorities have seized property and frozen bank accounts of many of those detained politicians.
Another major party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has said the state of emergency imposed by the caretaker government, should not continue for more than 120 days.
Both Awami League and BNP called upon the caretaker government to announce a specific time frame for holding the elections as early as possible. BNP central committee member and former Commerce Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and Awami League Presidium member Kazi Zafarullah at a discussion, titled “Bangladesh Sanglap,” at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center in Dhaka said the caretaker setup should take steps to hold the elections within 90 days.
The discussion was jointly organized by the BBC Bangla Service and BBC World Service Trust and moderated by senior producer of the BBC Bangla Service Kamal Ahmed.
Khosru said, “No government can continue for an indefinite period and the election is a must for democracy.”
Former caretaker adviser Sultana Kamal, who also took part in the discussion, said the interim government has no policymaking authority. “The government should make it public what it wants to do,” she said.
