Word: hasina
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Clans also prevent fresh political groups from emerging - far more important in developing nations than in stable, two-party political systems. In Bangladesh, Sheik Hasina Wazed and her chief rival, Khaleda Zia, both of whom hail from political dynasties, have swatted down past attempts to form new parties. When Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus tried to launch a party earlier this year, many Bangladeshi politicians, including those from Hasina's party, quickly attacked...
...known big offenders, we will not only earn thanks from the people," the former World Bank official said, "but also send strong signals which will work as deterrents against future corruption." On July 16, Ahmed and his backers netted another big fish when police arrested former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for extortion - a charge she vigorously denies...
...Hasina, who heads the Awami League, the more liberal of Bangladesh's two main political parties, was arrested after a two-and-a-half-hour raid on her Dhaka home by dozens of police and security personnel. An official said that Hasina is being jailed for at least a month on an extortion charge relating to her time in power between 1996 and 2001. The caretaker government has also accused Hasina of involvement in the killings of four political rivals during widespread unrest late last year (an accusation Hasina also denies). It was that violence, which pitted Hasina's supporters...
...Hasina is just one of many former top government officials caught in the net of Ahmed's anti-corruption campaign. More than 150 senior politicians, public servants and businessmen have been charged so far, including former Prime Minister Zia, who government prosecutors have ordered to appear before a court by late August over tax evasion allegations. Both Hasina and Zia, bitter rivals who have alternated in power over the past decade and a half, complain that the charges are designed to permanently sideline them from political life...
Ahmed said today that the arrest of Hasina is proof that no one is above the law. But the arrest and this week's announcement that elections will be held in December 2008, might also be something of an attempt to recapture the honeymoon period the caretaker government enjoyed in its first few months. With a year and a half still to go before the promised elections, there's a lot the caretaker government can do to set Bangladesh on the path to a rosier future. But Bangladeshis now know the country's temporary rulers can also...