DHAKA: Bangladesh’s army-backed interim government says it hopes to bring together the country’s perennially feuding political matriarchs to open a dialogue as it battles to stage a free and fair election in December.
They have not been on speaking terms for more than a decade. But now the “unthinkable” in Bangladesh’s fractious politics may happen — former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia has agreed to sit and talk with archrival Hasina Wajed “in national interest.”
The ball is now in the court of Hasina, also a former prime minister who is abroad for medical treatment and expected to return later this month. Hasina’s Awami League has cautiously reacted to this by laying a precondition that Hasina, now on parole and facing several corruption cases, be “released permanently” before such a meeting takes place.
Khaleda’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) too made an identical demand that the government release Khaleda and her sons to facilitate the dialogue.
Khaleda, released on bail on Thursday after a year behind bars on corruption charges, told four government ministers late on Friday she would cooperate in efforts to restore a credible democracy after nearly two years of emergency rule.
“She also agreed in principle to our proposal for a tripartite dialogue with the government and Hasina Wajed, another former premier,” government adviser (minister) Hossain Zillur Rahman told reporters after the meeting.
Khaleda and Hasina alternated as prime minister over 15 years, most of the time barely speaking to each other. The formidable pair, both heirs to political dynasties, came to be known as the “Battling Begums,” a reference to their honorifics as Muslim women of rank.
Both the present government and political analysts believe Bangladesh’s decades of never-ending unrest can be blamed in large part on their refusal to compromise on any national issue.
After the army-backed administration suspended democracy in early 2007 to end months of political street violence, both women were arrested for alleged corruption while in government.
Both have now been released from custody, apparently to make sure their parties take part in the December polls and help ensure a peaceful vote and smooth transition to democracy.
Hasina was paroled in June to travel to the United States for medical treatment, but officials of her Awami League have said she would return home in early October. Khaleda heads the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The interim government has said all major parties must take part in the coming election so that a strong democratic administration can take charge in January 2009.
Friday night’s ministerial meeting with Khaleda was similar to one the government held with Hasina before she left for the United States in June, a day after she was paroled. On each occasion, Fakhruddin Ahmed, head of the interim authority, spoke with the ex-premier by telephone while his ministers sat face to face with her.
“We are confident that the country is heading in the right direction for a credible and acceptable election, as the key players seem equally eager to achieve that goal,” government adviser Zillur Rahman said.
The two represent rival political legacies that emanated from the freedom movement in 1971. Hasina is the daughter of the country’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Khaleda the widow of Ziaur Rahman, who played a key role in the movement and later became the president.
Khaleda and Hasina had cooperated only once in 1990, to oust military ruler H.M. Ershad. They fell out thereafter. The heads of BNP and Awami League have not met and spoken to each other for more than a decade. “Many consider the bitter relations between the two as the main obstacle to political stability in the country,” said The Daily Star.
