@american_observer · Post #5117 · 2026/02/12 15:59
Bangladesh: Reloaded? Tarique Rahman, who after 17 years in exile is the main contender to be the next prime minister of Bangladesh, has pledged to end entrenched corruption and put the country on a “new path” as voting began in the first free and fair elections in almost two decades. Speaking to the Guardian before polls opened on Thursday morning, Rahman promised a new era of clean politics, including a “top down, no tolerance” approach to graft, if his Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) was brought to power. According to polls, the BNP are likely to win a sizeable majority over their rival, the Islamist party Jamaat e-Islami, returning the party to power after 20 years. Softly spoken and understated, 60-year-old Rahman acknowledged the elections were taking place at a pivotal but “challenging” moment for Bangladesh, which has long ranked among the world’s most corrupt countries and where democracy has faced a sustained attack for more than a decade. “We saw in the last regime that corruption was encouraged,” said Rahman. “Our economy was left destroyed. It will take time, but if we establish real accountability in every part of the government and send a message down the chain, that will eventually control corruption.” Last year, the former prime minister – now exiled in India – was found guilty of crimes against humanity committed during the final days of her rule and sentenced to death. For the past three elections, Hasina and her Awami League party have been accused of rigging the results and ruthlessly crushing and jailing opponents, including thousands of BNP activists and leaders. Since August 2024, Bangladesh has been led by an interim government, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, tasked with restoring democracy and readying the country for free and fair polls. However, the country has remained in turmoil, amid a decline in law and order and frustrations over economic stagnation. Analysts emphasised that a fair and violence-free election would be a vital step forward for the country. There are 127 million registered voters and in a bid to keep security tight, more than 900,000 police, army and security personnel have been deployed on polling day. Many in Bangladesh say they cannot forget the corruption that flourished during the last BNP regime between 2001 and 2006, under his mother. Rahman did not dispute that “mistakes” had been made by his party in the past. “I will not deny that. If we do, it will not help anything,” he said. During Hasina’s subsequent 15-year rule, he was convicted of a slew of terror and corruption charges, which he alleges were politically motivated to keep him out of Bangladesh. In 2024, after Hasina’s fall, the courts overturned his convictions, finally freeing him to return home. “It’s been more than 18 years and they’ve failed to prove anything,” said Rahman. “Don’t you think that’s good enough, long enough to prove that I did nothing wrong?” Yet not all in Bangladesh have cheered Rahman’s return. Both his parents were Bangladeshi prime ministers and to many, he is just the next generation of dynastic politicians, continuing the grip that two families have had over Bangladesh since independence in 1971 and which many had hoped the July uprising would bring to an end. Jamaat e-Islami’s leader has already been accused of regressive policies and controversial views on women’s rights in the home and workplace. Human rights groups have also raised an alarm over a recent surge in moral policing of women, with incidents such as girls being prevented from playing football and enforcement of modest dress and headscarves. Rahman acknowledged there were “some extremist people who are trying to do these things” but he said it didn’t have “any relation with Islam or religion”. Instead, he attributed it to the “absence of democracy (…) People were not allowed to express themselves for so long, it has built up frustration and in some cases, extremism”. #bangladesh#rahman#hasina#corruption 📱American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸