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Bangladesh

Hasina hands ministers portfolios

2009-01-07

Bet she's not as crude as Blago, either ... DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh's new Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina allocated portfolios to her 23 cabinet members, offering the Finance Ministry to economist Abul Maal Abdul Muhit. The Foreign and Home Ministries went, for the first time, to women legislators. Hasina named senior Supreme Court lawyer Sahara Khatun to head the Home (interior) Ministry and the leader of her Awami League women's front, Dipu Moni, to head foreign affairs. Hasina, winner of last month's parliamentary election, was sworn in as prime minister for a second five-year term on Tuesday by President Iajuddin Ahmed, ending two years of rule by an army-backed interim government. Iajuddin also administered the oath to Hasina's ministers, hours before she allocated them ministries.

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Bangladesh

Awami League's senior leader Zillur Rahman to become Bangladesh's next president

2009-01-04

(Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's major party Awami League(AL), who won a landslide victory in Monday's parliamentary elections, Saturday evening endorsed its senior presidium member Zillur Rahman as the country's next president, AL chairperson Sheikh Hasina said. Zillur, around 80, will formally be elected as the President by the new members of the country's ninth parliament. Since AL has more than two-third majority in the 300-member parliament, he will be passed by overwhelming votes. Hasina, expected to be sworn in as Prime Minister on Tuesday, told reporters here that her AL parliamentary party at a meeting Saturday evening endorsed Zillur as the next president. "He is a senior member of our party. It's recognition of his long contribution," Hasina told reporters in the parliament building after the meeting. Zillur is going to be the next President of Bangladesh, replacing incumbent President Iajuddin Ahmed who has already met his five-year term. Zillur was minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives in 1996-2001 under the AL government led by prime minister Hasina. Zillur's election to the office of the President is expected to be held at the first session of the new parliament later this month. Earlier, AL parliamentary party in the meeting elected Hasina as the Leader of the House (parliament) while Zillur was made the Deputy Leader, after the 259 MPs of the AL-led 15-party grand alliance took oath in the afternoon. As per rules, Hasina after being elected as the Leader of the House will request the President Iajuddin Ahmed to swear-in her new cabinet. President Iajuddin Ahmed will administer the oath of office to members of the new cabinet to be headed by Hasina as Prime Minister Tuesday evening, an official of the President House said. Hasina's AL won 230 seats out of all 300 in the country's ninth parliamentary elections held on Monday, more than enough to form anew government. Her arch rival, former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party got only 29 seats.

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Bangladesh

Bangladesh officially announces results of parliamentary elections

2009-01-02

(Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's Election Commission (EC)Thursday evening in a gazette notification officially published the results of the country's ninth parliamentary elections held on Monday. The EC declared 299 contestants, including 4 independent ones, as elected members of the country's ninth National Parliament. Polls for 299 out of all 300 parliament seats were held on Monday while polls for the other one seat were postponed to Jan. 12 after a candidate died earlier. According to the gazette, the major party Awami League (AL) ledby former prime minister Sheikh Hasina won 230 seats out of 299, more than enough to form a new government after ruling the country in 1996-2001. The other major party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won 29seats. BNP was ruling party in 1991-1996 and 2001-2006. Awami League's key ally in the elections Jatiya Party won 27 seats while BNP's key ally Jamaat-e-Islami won 2 seats. Other four small parties share 7 seats while 4 seats were grabbed by independent contestants. Newly elected members of the Bangladesh National Parliament (MP)are likely to be sworn-in on Jan. 4, when the Leader of the House will be elected by MPs, an MP-elect Abdus Shaheed said. President of Awami League Sheikh Hasina obviously will be elected as the Leader of the House, he said. As per rules, Hasina, after being elected as the Leader of the House, will request the President of Bangladesh to swear-in her new cabinet. H T Imam, co-chair of Awami League election steering committee, told reporters Thursday evening that the new cabinet headed by Sheikh Hasina as Prime Minister is likely to be administered oath by President Iajuddin Ahmed on any day between Jan. 5 and 7.

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Bangladesh

Bangladesh national elections delayed to Dec. 29

2008-11-24

DHAKA, Bangladesh - National elections in emergency-ruled Bangladesh will be delayed by 11 more days, the Election Commission said Sunday, following a former prime minister's demands that the polls be postponed as a condition for her party's participation. Chief Election Commissioner A.T.M. Shamsul Huda announced at a news conference that the parliamentary polls would be held on Dec. 29, after consulting with all major parties. The commission also extended the deadline for filing nomination papers by a week to Nov. 30. Last week, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia demanded that the elections, which were scheduled for Dec. 18, be moved back by at least 10 days to allow her Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies to choose and prepare their candidates. She had initially threatened to boycott the vote altogether if the emergency measures, in place since January 2007, were not lifted. Huda made no further comment on whether the measures would be lifted. Earlier he had said that decision was up to the military-backed interim government. President Iajuddin Ahmed instituted the emergency rule, including canceling scheduled elections, after weeks of violent protests demanding electoral reforms. The interim administration has amended electoral laws and cracked down on rampant corruption, arresting dozens of top politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen. But most of those detained, including Zia and Hasina, are now out on bail or parole. There was not immediate word on the new date from Zia, or from her main rival, Sheikh Hasina. Hasina's Awami League and its allies had earlier insisted on holding the polls as originally planned.

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Bangladesh

Bangladesh creates truth commission

2008-07-31

The Bangladesh government has created a truth commission to allow corrupt politicians and business owners to avoid jail if they confess and refund any illegally obtained money. President Iajuddin Ahmed says the three-member Truth and Accountability Commission will be headed by a fomer high court judge and will take submissions for the next five months. It's hoped the new body will clear a massive backlog of cases built up during the anti-graft campaign launched by the interim government when it took power at the start of last year.

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Bangladesh

B'desh president hospitalised

2008-06-25

DHAKA: Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed has been admitted to hospital here with a viral fever, a spokesman said Tuesday. The 77-year-old president fell ill two days ago and was admitted to the Combined Military Hospital in the capital Dhaka late Monday evening as a precaution, press secretary Abdul Awal Hawlader told AFP. “The president has been suffering from fever for two days and he was admitted to hospital because his temperature was very high. Medical reports show it is a viral fever, and his temperature is now improving,” he said. Ahmed was elected president by the parliament in September 2002 after the resignation of AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, who fell out with then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The head of state has had little authority over day-to-day affairs since a change in the constitution in 1991 vested most powers in the prime minister.

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Bangladesh

Khaleda's party on verge of split

2007-09-06

The party of Bangladesh’s jailed former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia is on the verge of spliting after partymen said her decision to sack two top aides was unacceptable, officials said. Khaleda, the chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was arrested on Monday for alleged corruption along with her businessmen son, as part of a campaign launched by country’s army-backed interim administration to root out graft. Hours before her arrest, Khaleda sacked long-time party secretary-general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and his deputy Ashraf Hossain, saying the two men had acted against the party’s interests. The charges referred to the two officials’ attempts in recent months to reform the BNP which had been tightly controlled by Khaleda, the country’s most recent prime minister. The reformers, backed by a large number of partymen, had sought to drastically reduce Khaleda’s powers. “We will take our own stand and make the party fully democratic and its leadership accountable,” Hossain told reporters. Khaleda, who ended a five-year second term last October, is facing various charges of corruption and abuse of power, that is also blamed for the meteoric rise of her son and likely heir Tareque Rahman. Tareque is also in jail, awaiting trial by a special court. President to stay: President Iajuddin Ahmed, whose five-year term expires on Wednesday, will continue as the country’s ceremonial head of state until an elected government replaces the present army-backed interim administration, a senior government official said. “This is quite in line with the constitution which says only an elected parliament can appoint a president,” Mainul Husein, law and information adviser to the caretaker government, told reporters late on Tuesday. “As per the constitution, he has to continue until the election of his successor.” Iajuddin, 76, a former Dhaka University teacher, was appointed president on Sept 5, 2002, by then Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, who ended her five-year tenure in October last year. Although Bangladesh’s presidency is largely a figurehead post, Iajuddin is the constitutional head of the country’s armed forces. After Khaleda stepped down, Iajuddin briefly took over as head of a caretaker government responsible for holding the next election. But he relinquished the job in favour of incumbent caretaker chief Fakhruddin Ahmed, a former central bank governor and the army’s choice. Fakhruddin took charge in January this year. Since then, he has run the country with the army’s backing and under a state of emergency.

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Bangladesh

Military-backed govt to build new brand of democracy in Bangladesh

2007-04-03

Bangladesh’s army chief Moeen U Ahmed said on Monday the military-backed interim government would build a new brand of democracy to overcome the country’s chronic poor governance. “We do not want to go back to an ‘elective democracy’ where corruption becomes all pervasive, governance suffers in terms of insecurity and violation of rights, and where political criminalisation threatens the very survival and integrity of the state,” Lt Gen Moeen said. “My contention is that had corruption not been a persistent factor, the full economic potential of Bangladesh could have been realised at a much faster rate,” he told a regional conference of the International Political Science Association in Dhaka. Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed inaugurated the one-day conference. “Had poor governance not been a conspicuous phenomenon in our democratic politics, the per capita income would not have stagnated to its current level of $482 but reached a more respectable $920 with every possibility of breaking the $1,000 barrier in the coming years,” Moeen said. “I reckon Bangladesh will have to construct its own brand of democracy recognising its social, historical and cultural conditions with religion being one of several components of its national identity,” he said. Bangladesh, now being ruled by an interim government headed by former central bank chief Fakhruddin Ahmed and strongly backed by the military, has been under a state of emergency since Jan 11. Moeen called for a major overhaul of the country’s political landscape, saying previous democratic governments had bred corruption and crime. He defended the emergency, saying it was “consistent with the democratic development” of the country. He also repeated his backing for the current interim government, which is carrying out a major anti-corruption campaign as part of sweeping reforms ahead of new but as yet unscheduled democratic elections. “I believe the current transitional period allows us an opportunity to develop a new concept and find a new sense of direction to the future politics of Bangladesh,” he said. “The country has principles to live by and purpose to strive for, and this needs rethinking so that we can reinvent our system of governance with new leadership at all levels.” Moeen did not elaborate on the new brand of democracy. But he appeared to be sending a message to the political parties that there would be no election before political corruption is eliminated, or drastically curbed. Last week, he said politicians had failed to give the country anything good in its 36 years after independence.

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Bangladesh

Bangla Bhai, Abdur Rahman rendered carbon-neutral

2007-03-30

No more greenhouse gas emissions for you, Bangla! Six Islamic militants convicted of killing two judges during a wave of bomb attacks have been hanged in Bangladesh, officials say. The six included Abdur Rahman, the head of the banned Islamic group Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, and his deputy Siddiqul Islam, known as Bangla Bhai, and four other JMB players to be named later. Police said the men were executed at different jails across the country. Heh. Coppers can do multiple ops at the same time too. The November 2005 attack on the judges was part of a series of bombings for which the JMB was guilty blamed. JMB was responsible. They said so themselves. But Aunty Beeb can't help themselves, it's reflexive. During their trial, the men said they targeted the judiciary because it was run by secular rather than Sharia law. "We dunnit, and we're glad, you sons of monkeys and pigs!" The Supreme Court rejected their appeal late last year and President Iajuddin Ahmed turned them down for clemency earlier this month. "They were hanged in four different jails and their dead bodies were handed over to their families," Inspector General of Prisons Brigadier Zakir Hassan told the French news agency AFP. Hey! Apparently it is possible to capture a 'militant', try them, and hang them. Huzzah! The ululator's in the back of the shed, under the leaf blower and the volleyball net. JMB has claimed responsibility been blamed for a string of bombings across Bangladesh that left almost 30 people dead. In August 2005, some 500 bombs were set off in all but one of Bangladesh's 64 districts in the space of an hour. A number of subsequent bomb attacks targeted judges and court rooms. More than 100 cases in every upazilla have been filed against alleged members of the JMB in connection with the campaign. The government has been concerned about the possibility of retaliation to the hangings by still active JMB supporters, says the BBC's John Sudworth in Bangladesh. This is thought to be why the executions were carried out without warning in various jails across the country. Whatever, Aunty. Bye, Bangla.

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Bangladesh

UN expert blames Bangladeshi police over 'killings'

2007-03-30

A UN human rights expert on Thursday accused Bangladeshi security forces of using murder as a means of law enforcement and warned that the country's reputation was on the line. "The government of Bangladesh must stop the Rapid Action Batallion and other elite security forces from using murder as a policing technique," the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions Philip Alston said in a statement. Alston said in a report that his request for information on 27 deaths that authorities had attributed to "crossfire" in police shootouts had gone unanswered. "The pattern of incidents would suggest that what the police and special forces report as crossfire' deaths are in fact staged extrajudicial executions," the report added. Alston called the Bangladeshi government's "apparent indifference" to the allegations "deeply disturbing." "The involvement of the police in extrajudicial executions is of great concern to the international community, and the reputation of Bangladesh is on the line," he warned. Alston, an Australian academic, underlined that the state of emergency could not justify any violations of the right to life. President Iajuddin Ahmed imposed emergency rule in January and cancelled disputed elections scheduled that month. The new government, headed by former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed, said earlier this month that it would set up a national human rights commission as soon as possible to deal with all rights issues.

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Bangladesh

Bangladesh army chief slams corrupt politicians

2007-03-28

Bangladesh's Chief of the Army Staff has lambasted the country's leaders, and urged the elimination of "corrupt politicians" if the nation wants to improve. Speaking to veterans of the 1971 war of independence in Dhaka, Moeen Ahmed said, "It is time to ... fight against injustice, terrorism and corruption, as well as corrupt politicians." "Through the 36 years after independence, politicians gave us nothing good, not even to give due recognition to the national leaders," Moeen added, referring to the country's first President, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. A military-backed government, headed by former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed, has been ruling the country ever since a state of emergency was declared on January 11. Fakhruddin has vowed to clean up Bangladesh's notoriously corrupt politics in order to hold credible elections. "Politicians divided the country by their feuding while indulging in corrupt practices. Now the time has come to reunite the country and try to deliver the benefits of independence," Moeen said, according to a government press release. As part of a massive crackdown on graft, scores of high-profile politicians, including former ministers from both main parties, and the outgoing Prime Minister's son, have been detained on corruption allegations. After imposing the state of emergency, President Iajuddin Ahmed canceled disputed elections scheduled for January 22. The main opposition Awami League had said it would boycott the ballot, accusing the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of trying to rig the election.

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Bangladesh

Politicians barred from BD independence ceremonies

2007-03-27

Bangladesh staged an impressive military parade on Monday to mark the 36th anniversary of its independence but barred political parties from holding their own ceremonies, witnesses and officials said. President Iajuddin Ahmed and the head of the army-backed interim government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, took the salute at the parade in the capital, Dhaka. They were flanked by the army, navy and air force chiefs. But the politicians who usually occupy front seats at the parade ground were absent, leaving the chairs to advisers of the interim government, bureaucrats and senior military figures. Sheikh Hasina, one of two feuding former prime ministers, was away in the United States but Begum Khaleda Zia was at her home in the capital. Police had told Khaleda, whose five-year term in office ended in October, not to venture out for security reasons. Media said police had told her she could be targeted by militants. “We have had reports of a threat by JMB (Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh) and so to avoid any incident we have deployed 5,500 police in Dhaka city to strengthen security,” Dhaka police commissioner Naim Ahmed told AFP. Hundreds more police were guarding key installations such as power plants, he said. Khaleda was barred from making her regular independence day visit with leaders of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to the national memorial for independence war martyrs at Savar, near the capital and to the Dhaka grave of her husband, the late president Ziaur Rahman. Officials of Hasina’s Awami League were prevented from holding a meeting at the graveside of Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

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