"The shape of post-military politics begins to emerge (in Bangladesh)", The Economist reported in its Aug 9 issue.
In an article, titled 'Sheikh Hasina's happy day', the British news weekly said of the Aug 4 city and municipal elections: "It hardly seemed like a significant event … The vote was held under a state of emergency. Candidates could not compete under party labels. One party leader was in jail, another in exile."
"But these were also the first polls held since the army installed a civilian government in January 2007."
"Fears that the military would rig the result proved unfounded," the report went on to say.
"For the first time, Bangladeshis saw a voting system that seemed to deliver a fair and credible outcome."
Mentioning that the outcome was a decisive victory for candidates backed by the Awami League, who won 12 of 13 mayoral races, The Economist claimed: "The vote made clear that the army has lost, or given up, the ability to influence the parliamentary election scheduled for December."
The report pointed out the government's refusal so far to set an election date and the Election Commission's recent turnabout on the need to lift the state of emergency.
It also mentioned "[t]alk of setting up a national security council, to formalise the army's role in politics after the vote."
But, it said: "[T]hree things make a return to civilian rule more likely. One is the confidence of the Awami League itself."
"The next is a split in the League's main rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) … At least one faction, no less desperate to return to power than the Awami League, is likely to defy her call to boycott the general election, too."
"Third, the interim administration is running into problems," the report claimed.
"The army-backed technocrats who run the country are drifting, unable to take big decisions."
Mentioning Tata's recent pull-out from a proposed $3 billion investment, The Economist concluded: "The costs of uncertainty are speeding up the return of an elected government."
Subject: The shape of things to come ........................... 
Sat Aug 09, 2008 12:22 pm
