DHAKA, 13 April 2007 — Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina Wajed will extend her stay in the United States indefinitely over concerns about murder charges brought against her, party officials said yesterday. But an influential member of the caretaker government scotched rumors she and her archrival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Khaleda Zia will be exiled. The chief of the military-backed interim government meanwhile assured the nation that it has no wish to stay in power and that elections would be held before the end of 2008.
Police charged Hasina and more than 50 others with murder on Wednesday, as the government’s clampdown on corruption in politics entered its fourth month.
“We have requested our leader to delay her return in the wake of a fictitious murder charge filed against her,” Abdul Jalil, general secretary of Hasina’s Awami League, said.
The request was made after senior party leaders met late Wednesday to assess the situation, Jalil said.
“An adviser to the interim government had also contacted me and Hasina, and assured both of us that the administration would take care that her image was not tarnished,” Jalil said.
He declined to name the adviser or give details.
Government adviser M.A. Matin, who also heads a national task force dealing with corruption cases involving VIPs, confirmed he had “contacted Jalil to convey the government’s assurance to Hasina.”
The murder charges were mostly brought against members of the Awami League, including Jalil, and several leaders of the rival Jamaat-e-Islami party.
About 160 senior politicians have been detained in a crackdown on graft launched by the government after it took charge on Jan. 11 and imposed a state of emergency amid widespread factional violence.
Newspapers reported that the government was planning to send Hasina and Khaleda into exile. Khaleda’s party declined to confirm the reports and Matin denied such a plan. “This government has no plans to send the two leaders (Khaleda and Hasina) abroad,” Matin said.
Asked about media reports that only four visitors are allowed to meet Khaleda and she is under virtual house arrest, Matin said he is not aware of this. Khaleda ended a five-year term as prime minister last October.
The head of the government said yesterday he expected to hold elections by the end of 2008 and hand over power later. “I firmly believe the much awaited parliamentary elections can be held before the end of 2008,” Fakhruddin Ahmed said in a nationwide televised address. “We are determined to hand over power to an elected government after holding free and fair elections through carrying out necessary programs and administrative reforms as soon as possible,” he said.
“In this respect I want to say in clear language that we won’t stay in power a day longer than necessary,” he added in the speech which marked the completion of his third month as head of the government.
