Bangladesh in 2007

Bangladesh in 2007

Area: 147,570 sq km (56,977 sq mi)
Population (2007 est.): 140,661,000
Capital: Dhaka
Chief of state: President Iajuddin Ahmed
Head of government: Chief Advisers Iajuddin Ahmed (interim), Fazlul Haque (acting January 11–12), and, from January 12, Fakhruddin Ahmed

As Bangladesh prepared for elections on Jan. 22, 2007, apprehension mounted, and many feared that the outcome would be marred by bloodshed. The opposition Awami League (AL) and its allies were poised to boycott the event because the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its coalition allies had selected the head of the caretaker government entrusted to run the election and effectively controlled the election commission. Prior to the balloting, however, the head of the caretaker government, Iajuddin Ahmed (who simultaneously served as president), resigned and implanted a new caretaker government. The election was canceled; a state of emergency was declared; and basic human rights were withheld. For the first time in its history, Bangladesh saw two successive caretaker governments (a neutral administration created to oversee elections) formed without elections’ being held.

Backed by the military, the new caretaker government, under Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, launched a purge to free the country from corruption. The first to be arrested were the most recent government ministers and lawmakers who were perceived by many as untouchable. The dragnet also fell on AL bigwigs who ruled from 1996 to 2001. Most of the influential politicians from both parties were behind bars—either convicted of corruption or awaiting trial. One of the most prominent to be charged with graft was Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of former BNP prime minister Khaleda Zia.

The caretaker government embarked on another mission, popularly known as the “Minus Two Formula,” to rid the country of the battling begums—Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wazed (president of the AL). Though the government initially tried to exile both of them, it lifted a ban on Hasina’s returning home from a tour outside the country and rescinded an order that Zia seek exile in Saudi Arabia. Both were later arrested (Zia on corruption charges and Hasina on extortion charges). Meanwhile, election and political reforms were being put in place prior to elections to be held by December 2008.

The volatility of the situation in Bangladesh was highlighted in August when a brawl between a few university students and some soldiers on a petty issue turned into countrywide violence. Students and other civilians (mostly small traders and hawkers who had been evicted from footpaths earlier in the year) bashed scores of cars and vandalized shopping malls. To quell the violence, the government imposed a curfew and made numerous arrests, including those of top academicians.

Fakhruddin Ahmed’s government faced perhaps its biggest challenge in soothing widespread public discontent over rising prices for essential products. Officially, in June inflation stood at 9.2%, but steeper price hikes were reported for food items. Other worrying signs surfaced on the economic front. Exports dipped year-on-year in June (from 27.84% to 9.52%); the ready-made-garment sector (which accounted for 75% of export earnings) faced an order dearth; knitwear exports decreased; and woven exports barely made the target. Banks complained of a slowdown in credit applications; investments were low; and the real-estate sector reported a 70% dip in sales. In addition, two back-to-back floods caused more than 1,000 fatalities, along with huge losses to infrastructure and crops. Thousands more deaths were caused by a cyclone that struck southern Bangladesh in mid-November.

by: Inam Ahmed