The New Nation - Internet Edition

Habibullah Mizan and Hasan Shaheed

Major political parties of the country are reportedly under serious pressure in the backdrop of the latest developments, apparent hard line adopted by the Election and Anti Corruption commissions.

This pressure mainly came from the recent revival of many graft cases against the senior political leaders including the two former prime ministers Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, also the bosses of the BNP and AL respectively.

According to many political observers, these pressures stem from a plan to bar the two top leaders of BNP and Awami League along with many politicians from participating in the coming general election on December 15 this year and to reach the current political polarization to a 'controlled goal.'

The charge sheet against Begum Khaleda Zia, and her senior cabinet members including former minister Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami also chief of Jamaat e Islami, Bangladesh, the active partner of four-party alliance and the complexity over the bail of Sheikh Hasina are two clear signs of this increasing pressure on political parties from the government side, a Dhaka University professor, who keeps an eye on political developments in the country, told The New Nation recently. Influential quarters do not want to hold the next election until and unless a final compromise solution between them and the major political parties had been reached.

The country's political actors are also trying to walk a political tight rope. In one hand, they do not want to give the influential quarters any chance to obstruct or even delay the electoral process. On the other hand, they are also alert not to allow any 'blueprint' election to take place in the country. Most of the policymakers in the two major political parties are still opposing any election without the participation of their party chiefs.

According to source close to Sheikh Hasina's family, the AL president is suspecting that few senior leaders in her party are secretly working to hold the election without her to implement the plan made by the influential quarters.

They are arguing that if Hasina will not participate in the next parliamentary election, BNP chairperson must also be barred from the election race. If both Hasina and Khaleda are finally kept away from the election, AL will incur 30 per cent loss but the loss inflicted to the BNP will be at least 60 per cent.

Hasina is considering this political calculation as a conspiracy to kick her out of politics forever and therefore she had decided to return home by the third week of November. She prefers life in the sub jail to giving up politics at least for the time being, sources claimed.

Though BNP leaders are in favour of participating in all the upcoming elections, they are not even thinking of any election without their chairperson, who has been recently been released from incarceration after having tasted jail life for about a year.

Most of the cases, which were filed after the change over of 1/11 against senior politicians have been stayed by the Supreme Court orders and many top leaders are also free on bail. The accused politicians hoped that the government side would not make any obstacles in getting bail for the sake of holding a free, fair and credible general election participated by all parties.

But now they are alleging that the government has changed their previous position after announcing the date of upcoming elections by initiating the cases in a fresh move.

This 'unwanted pressure' on the political parties may influence the holding of next parliamentary election in December this year. However, leaders of the both parties have decided to face the cases in courts and were preparing for the election.

The present caretaker government formed after one eleven had several political agendas, most of those have now either changed or redefined in the face of protest from the political fronts of the country.

They now want to hold the stalled election in the present situation, where parties are in some trouble affected by the anti-corruption drives by the government to achieve their minimum target points.

Government is gearing up their move to bar their 'black listed' politicians from participating in the election. They have already 'suggested' the high ups of the both BNP and AL not to give nominations to these controversial politicians, who were allegedly involved in massive corruption and terrorism. If it really happens, voters will have to see more new faces in the parliament.

Despite these types of complexities, both the BNP and AL want to participate in the election, as they are concerned over any attempts to delay restoration of democracy in the country. AL side is thinking if election is held in the announced date, it will come to power but BNP is giving priority of democratic process rather than returning to state power. Both parties are demanding the lifting of emergency rule before the election.

According to a political analyst, BNP and AL will keep government and Election Commission under immense pressure while government will also try to hold the election keeping the parties under present pressure. Seeing these differences between government and political parties, some parties and NGOs, believed to have played active roles in one eleven change over, are trying to influence the election for their own interest. A big NGO's recent move to float a political party is part of that big political game.

The influential quarters are trying to create a 'third force' so that they can play an active role in forming the next government, sources said adding thus an old but newly organised drama is being played out to have a so called national government or consensus government in the country for two or three years.