Word: bangladesh
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...Bangladesh's interim leaders are serious about cleaning up government before holding new elections, voters may be in for a long wait: the country is consistently ranked one of the most corrupt in the world by Berlin-based NGO Transparency International, and Bangladeshis have long complained that many public officials are on the take. So, the arrests of at least 20 senior politicians in recent days were greeted with a good deal of glee; one government adviser hailed the move as "jihad against crime and corruption...
...postponed elections, the interim government has rounded up thousands of lower level officials. But as government communications adviser Major General M.A. Matin told reporters, "Our business at the moment is netting big fish." Among them: senior politicians and former ministers from both the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its archrival, the Awami League (AL). The detainees, who maintain their innocence, have been imprisoned for 30 days without bail on suspicion of "antistate activities, sabotage and corruption." They have not yet been charged with specific crimes...
...likely to be long and sensational, and the military-backed caretaker body says it wants to go after dozens of other pols as well-a potential disruption that could delay elections further. No wonder this week's other big news-the appointment of a respected ex-bureaucrat to head Bangladesh's electoral commission-was greeted with only muted applause. It may be a while until he gets to work...
...Though the army may have backed Iajuddin's decision to delay the election, a complete military takeover, while hardly impossible, seems unlikely. Since the country's return to democracy a decade and a half ago, the army has become far more professional. Bangladesh is now one of the biggest providers of troops to U.N. peacekeeping missions, which not only helps the country's international standing but allows thousands of soldiers to earn enough for early retirement. A coup, with soldiers taking the reigns of power, would end that because the U.N. doesn't like to use troops from a military...
...With the election now delayed indefinitely, there is some hope that the standoff can be resolved. A new electoral commission and voter roll should placate the Awami League and, so long as the BNP does not in turn boycott a fresh ballot, fair elections are a real possibility. But Bangladesh's citizens aren't holding their breath. People "are hostage to the power struggle and who will be sharing the booty," says editor Chowdhury. "Politics has been polluted." A group of students from a private university in a Dhaka suburb concurs. Tauhid Jalil, 21, who is in his fourth year...