Differences between Bangladesh's major political parties have widened and relations between their top leaders have hit a low after six months of a new government, despite early promises of friendlier times. That is eroding hopes for reconciliation and understanding in the impoverished South Asian country of nearly 150 million, where foreign investors and aid groups say stability and calm are crucial for encouraging business and development. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took office in January following a landslide win by her Awami League over rival Begum Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in late December elections, an impressive show of democracy ending two years of emergency rule by an army-backed “interim authority”. Hasina said she would set a new example in politics in line with her promised “charter of change” by enlisting BNP support in decision-making and even giving Khaleda, a former prime minister, a position in the government. Khaleda responded by saying she was ready to cooperate with the new government, should it really want her support. Had those pledges materialized, it would have been a welcome development for a nation with a history of bitter and often violent party rivalry interrupted by periods of authoritarian military rule, turbulence that has kept Bangladesh lagging behind the economic growth pace seen elsewhere in Asia. Nearly half its people live on less than $1 a day. But despite the initial friendly rhetoric, as the weeks passed the leaders and their parties “showed no sign of changing,” said political analyst Serajul Islam Chowdhury, a retired Dhaka University professor. “Rather they have been (even) more driven by self interest and craving for power.” No government positions were taken by Khaleda and bickering broke out over everything from where BNP members should sit in parliament to a government move to force Khaleda out of her long-term home on a military base. Khaleda was widowed in 1981 when her husband, general-turned-president Ziaur Rahman, died in an army uprising. Hasina lost her father, the country's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in a 1975 army mutiny. Analysts and diplomats said that if after the election the parties could avoid the acrimony seen in the past it would help restore the tattered image of Bangladesh, especially if they worked together in tackling its endemic poverty and corruption. “It was a common feeling that Khaleda and Hasina would learn to share and cooperate in addressing national issues, based on experiences they had during the interim regime,” Chowdhury told Reuters. “But that has not been the case.” Both leaders were imprisoned during the 2007-08 interim rule for alleged graft. “Instead of healing, the wounds in our politics are now spreading,” said Munirul Islam, a university student. “(Hasina and Khaleda) never struck any understanding, not to speak of a deal, to work together to tackle any national issue.” While the enmity has not yet erupted in serious violence between party supporters or the opposition and government, some fear the stage may be set for a repeat of the political chaos Bangladesh has experienced in the past, blocking progress. “Peaceful relations between the two major political parties are a must to implement economic projects as well as to attract both local and foreign investments,” said Mahabub Hossain, executive director of BRAC, Bangladesh's biggest NGO specialising in micro-financing. Matlub Ahmed, chairman of the Nitol-Niloy group of industries, told Reuters: “... if the continuing political confrontations lead law and order (from) bad to worse, then there will be obstacles to trade and investment.” Hasina and Khaleda have spoken to each other only once in decades, at a military reception at Dhaka's main army garrison after their release from jail last year. The BNP has mostly boycotted parliament since Hasina took office, and has tried to organize various protests against the government, while the latter has sought to move against various BNP leaders over charges of graft and other wrongdoing. “Unless they change at heart and in action to give democracy a chance ... I am afraid unconstitutional forces may step in again,” said Tareque S. Rahman, political analyst and professor of international relations at Jahangir Nagar University. Army generals ruled Bangladesh for 15 years through 1990 and more recently supported the interim authority and its emergency rule, when many rights were suspended.
