Moving ahead in the dark

8226;What led to the current crisis?

Bangladesh has an unusual electoral setup, where the ruling government has to be replaced by a caretaker administration before general elections can be held. The run-up to the elections scheduled for January 22, 2007, however, saw large-scale violence on the streets, prompting AL chief Sheikh Hasina to decry the 8216;partisan8217; attitude of Iajuddin Ahmed8217;s caretaker government and announce an election boycott. Elections were postponed indefinitely, with the caretaker government setting a lofty aim of weeding out corruption and ensuring a level playing field before the normal democratic process is revived.

In May 2008, the government announced that general elections were to be held in the third week of December, without specifying a date. It has launched electoral dialogue to restore democracy in the country, and announced plans to hold local council elections for four city corporations and nine municipalities on August 4, a move criticised by the political parties as unconstitutional, though they are said to fear an erosion of support base in the local polls.

8226;How did people react to the military intervention, given Bangladesh8217;s experience with military dictatorships?

Having suffered inefficient governance for a long time, Bangladeshis, in general have been quite content with the repressive measures to battle corruption, seeing it as fitting retribution for the excesses of the last 15 years. The country is already battling rising food and fuel prices 8212; made worse by the devastation caused by Cyclone Sidr in 2007 8212; and has resorted to banning its rice exports and taking loans worth 200 million from the Asian Development Bank in June.

8226;What steps have been taken to tackle corruption?

A beefed-up Anti-Corruption Commission acted determinedly, going after the old political class and cracking down on 8216;corrupt politicians8217; and their business and bureaucratic beneficiaries. BNP chief Khaleda Zia was detained in September 2007, as well as her two sons Tareque and Arafat and other functionaries believed to have amassed enormous wealth during the party8217;s 2001-2006 rule. Hasina herself was arrested for graft in July 2007 after her return from a trip abroad. She was, however, released on an eight-week-parole in June 2008 on medical grounds and went to the United States to seek treatment. Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rehman Nizami was arrested in May 2008 on charges of illegal awarding of business contracts. In all, jail terms were handed down to 122 high-profile public figures, mostly in absentia.

The interim government also set up a Truth and Accountability Commission, which would allow people to disclose details of ill-gotten wealth, without being prosecuted. It would also reduce the judicial overload through a quick adjudication within 30 days. The parties have also been asked to change their functioning, to open up their accounts to independent auditors and agree to a code of conduct.In spite of such draconian measures, corruption continues to thrive, according to Transparency International.

8226;What is the fallout of adopting such measures?

With public meetings, rallies and trade union activities banned during the Emergency and the authorities empowered to indefinitely detain anybody without charge, the immediate casualty is civil liberty. Odhikar, a human rights group says that 68 people died in extra-judicial killings during the first half of 2008.

The 68 prisons designed to hold 27,368 people are now crammed with more than 87,000 people.

The insistence on ridding the country of the leaders of the two main political parties is likely to backfire, as the parties will not participate in electoral dialogues with the government unless their leaders are exonerated. As most of the second rung leaders are also imprisoned, in hiding or have become 8216;inoperative8217; implies an uncritical stance, there is a danger of a political and leadership vacuum.

8226;Does Hasina8217;s parole imply a capitulation on the part of the administration? Where is the country headed?

Despite repeated efforts to tame the 8216;battling begums8217;, it is clearly not possible to factor them out of the political scene. Top-down political reform is not working; Hasina8217;s release and her party8217;s subsequent readiness to talk are the best bet towards a participatory electoral process. It also makes the BNP hopeful that a similar fate awaits its leader. No mechanism has yet evolved to address the rampant corruption in the army, or to check its powers and lack of accountability. The targeting of top and middle level politicians might also indicate greater political ambition, though most people seem to be wary of the military8217;s designs. Restoration of democracy, to regain donors8217; confidence as well as to fight radical forces trying to impose Sharia-based laws, and a less-flawed elected government is the best that the future can deliver.