NO MORE assets monsters by political power: New Parliament session – New President

NO MORE assets monsters by political power: New Parliament session – New President

As the new Government of Bangladesh lead by Sheak Hasina ( Awami Leaugue) promised to the nation that they will present a new and corruption free governance, the initiative to prevent the corruption from the top level .Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhit yesterday said that Ministers and Members of Parliament will have to unveil their assets to the public.

He supposed the move of making assets accounts of elected representatives available to the public was mentioned in the election manifesto of Awami League.

"We were not capable to take the initiative so far this month, but are enforcing it from February," Muhit told newsmen after his first meeting with National Board of Revenue (NBR) officials.

He said the NBR would gather the wealth financial records to target tax evaders.

"A group of assets monsters have been created in our country, we must see whether they pay their taxes," he said. Muhit said none of the tax evaders will be spared, and to this effect political identity will not be considered. "No matter the evader is in our party or in the government. We are not the government of any one party, we are the government of the country of the people," he said.

The finance minister also pointed out revenue from import duty and VAT might decline due to the current global economic depression. "Under this condition, there is no choice to enhancing internal income."

Muhit hinted price of diesel could be reduced further, and fertilizer may follow soon.

"The price of diesel could be lowered a little more in line with the global trend," he said.

He said that budgetary constraints would be taken into account before such a decision.

"The situation of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) must be considered."

New Parliament session is on 25 th Jan :

Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed has summoned the country's new parliament to embrace its first session on Jan. 25, said an official handout on Thursday.
The country's ninth parliament, shaped through parliamentary elections held on Dec. 29, 2008, will decide on the country's new President, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker in its first session.
Ruling party Awami League led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has already named the party's senior leader Zillur Rahman for the office of the President.
Since Awami League has got 230 seats, more than two-third majority in 300-member parliament, Rahman will be elected the President.
Incumbent President Iajuddin elected by former ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has already completed his five-year period. According to Bangladesh Constitution, Iajuddin will hold the presidency awaiting a new President is elected.
The last parliament was dissolved in October 2006 on completion of its five-year term. The country's ninth parliamentary elections, originally scheduled in January 2007, were postponed following violent disputes over electoral issues between major parties.

Democratic system still brittle in post-election Bangladesh: analysts

PROMIX Management — Won, parliamentary majority, The new prime minister Sheikh Hasina innitiated chance to lead the country away from its paralyzing culture of revenge politics.
But analysts both national and international warn that a still-polarized voters and a deep inheritance of corruption have the potential to unleash the sort of violent altercation that forced the military to step in two years ago.
"To avoid a revisit to the winner-takes-all way of politics, the government will have to reach out to the opposition and try to work with it for the next five years," said Michael Shaikh, a senior forecaster from the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG).
"The challenge for the two main parties is to manage this persuasion for retribution."
This is Hasina's second stint at the premiership after ruling between 1996 and 2001.
Hasina, whose secular Awami League party won 230 out of a possible 300 seats in parliament, has indicated she wants to end the confrontational politics that has crippled the country in the past political culture.
The real test is up till now to come.
Analyst says"There is a threat with any government that has an absolute majority,".
"The option is that it will steamroll the opposition and does whatever it wants to do."
Unlike previous elections, the December 29 polls were largely passive, but police say there have been four election-related deaths since then, with media reporting at least 11 dead.
"If the aggression spins out of control, the military could step in again and it is improbable to do another softly-softly state of emergency. Martial law is more likely next time," Shaikh said.
The last government, which ruled with a state of emergency in place for 23 months, tried but unsuccessful to exile Hasina and her bitter rival, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader and ex-premier Khaleda Zia, instead jailing them for a year on dishonesty charges then releasing them to take part in the elections.
Zia's party won just 29 seats in last month's vote.
Since gaining independence, Bangladeshi politics has been marked by nationwide strikes called by political leaders, boycotts of parliament by opposition parties and widespread corruption.
Shaikh said the BNP's seats in parliament did not accurately reproduce its sustain base, after it won 32 percent of the popular vote, compared to the Awami League's 48 percent.
"The BNP represents a lot of Bangladeshis, about 26 million voters," he said.
"Sheikh Hasina has made the right noises about reaching out to the opposition but that's dissimilar from actually doing it. For all the courteousness we've seen there is still a lot of bitterness."
Zia won the preceding election in 2001 with a two-thirds best part by forming an alliance with the then increasingly popular Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).
But that combination cost her extremely in the latest vote after JI's increasingly conservative voice in the moderate Muslim-majority nation alienated younger voters, according to commentators.
The JI won 17 seats in 2001 but managed just two this time.
Zia, who initially rejected the election results, has said she will work with the new government, but stands by allegations of voter fraud.
"The early statements have been very optimistic but will they carry on being generous? The fact that Sheikh Hasina won by such a big margin, that has gone to politicians' heads before in Bangladesh," Gareth Price, head of the Asia programmed at British-based think-tank Chatham House, said.
"It's just coming up and hoping that lessons have been learnt and that mistakes by the opposition and the government won't be repeated."

From Analyst :www.centralchronicle.com

Democracy & secularism returns :

Bangladesh's first parliamentary election since 2001 has produced a landslide victory for the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League (AL) over the Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies, to re-take power. Awami League, the party that led the country's independence war against Pakistan, won 230 seats independently, as against a paltry 27 by the BNP, in an election that saw around 75 per cent turnout, out of 81 million voters. In total, the Hasina-led Grand Alliance garnered 262 of the 299 parliamentary seats as compared to the BNP-led bloc that managed only 30.
One of the most significant verdicts given by the Bangladeshis this election was a complete disdain for the religious radicalization of politics. This is obvious as the Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami, a key BNP ally, polled only two seats--a good 15 seats less than it had in the last election in 2001. A secular party has clearly emerged as the winner. As expected the losing side is grumbling about irregularities.
"We have reports that BNP supporters were barred from coming to the polls and also were driven away from polling stations in many places," its leader Rizvi Ahmed told local television. But, the Chief Election Commissioner Shamsul Huda said he had complete confidence in the election process and there was "no scope for fraud of vote rigging". He went on to add: "So it will be difficult to reject the election result this time. We expect people will elect a parliament, which even if not a dream parliament, will be a good one."
According to election monitors, an UN-funded digital electoral roll, which has eliminated 12.7 million fake names, appeared to have resolved many of the problems that previous elections suffered. Accordingly, a team of South Asian poll monitors concluded that voting had been "free, fair and transparent." EU observers too said procedures had been correctly followed.
Recall that the baton of power alternated between the BNP and the Awami League between 1991 and 2006, until January 2007 when the army cancelled the elections after months of street protests and battles between gangs of rival party supporters spiraled out of control. But, the unprecedented mandate received by the Awami League seems to indicate a popular desire for change and political stability. The voting on December 29 was also the most peaceful in decades - a stark contrast to the failed elections of 2000. English-language Daily Star described the win as "stunning" proof that the country was "hungry for change." Dhaka University political science professor Ataur Rahman said it represented a "huge backlash" against the last BNP government, which had a reputation of rampant corruption.
Both Zia and Hasina were earlier jailed on corruption charges, which the two dismissed as politically motivated. They were freed on bail and reassumed positions as the heads of their respective parties to contest the elections. The Awami League, which once had socialist economic policies, has moved towards backing private sector expansion. Hasina's call to build a digital Bangladesh and focus on development helped her attract the younger generation. Analysts said first-time voters, who form nearly one-third of the electorate, had overwhelmingly backed her, rejecting Zia's more religious platform. Moreover, women voters too who came out in huge numbers tilted the balance in her favour.
Sheikh Hasina was first elected Prime Minister in 1996 for a five-year term, and was leader of the opposition three times between 1986 and 2006. The years of political rivalry between her and Zia has been blamed for much of the corruption, mismanagement and paralyzing protests that have made Bangladesh virtually ungovernable. Hasina escaped two serious attempts on her life - gunfire at a political rally in 1986 and a grenade attack on a public meeting in 2004 - that left dozens of her supporters dead.
According to many analysts, the challenge of holding a free and fair election - even in Bangladesh, which has a dire history in rigged and violent polls - will pale in comparison with that of governing a county plagued with poverty, corruption and a burgeoning Islamist terror threat. In similar manifestos, each candidate promised to reduce poverty by ensuring at least employment for one member of each family. They also said they would address Bangladesh's shortfall in power production; lower food prices; and tackle terrorism.
A sense of cautious optimism is bound to dominate the mood in South Asia, with the fate of the currently installed democratic governments in Pakistan and Nepal still unraveling. In recent times, the trajectory of Bangladeshi politics has unfortunately paralleled that of Pakistan, with a chaotic spell of democratic rule giving way to military rule in early 2007. In fact, political freedom as an experiment has proved as fragile in Bangladesh as in Pakistan. And if the BNP-led alliance's huge victory in 2001 is taken into account, it is not hard to discern that political majorities in Bangladesh don't necessarily mean lasting democracy or good governance. If the new government is to reverse Bangladesh's trend towards authoritarianism and ideological religiosity, a responsible role-play on the part of the opposition and the military is imminent.
For India and the world, events in Bangladesh are encouraging. The Awami League is credited with favoring inter-community harmony within Bangladesh and a foreign policy based on regional and international cooperation. In fact, Hasina during her premiership won international praise for signing a peace treaty with tribal rebels in south-eastern Bangladesh, ending a 25-year insurgency. It will be an opportunity as well as a challenge to rein in the rise of religious intolerance and terror outfits and lead Bangladesh towards stability and economic progress.
Terrorism being a major concern, especially after the Mumbai attacks, Hasina's victory will bring some comfort to New Delhi as she took tough steps against the anti-India militant groups while in power in the mid 90s. In contrast, there was a sharp spike in militancy and Islamic fundamentalism during Zia's tenure. Zia showed little inclination to deal with terror strikes at India from groups such as Harkad-Ul-Jihad-al-Islami. The country was under a spell of emergency for the past two years. Though India favoured a return to democracy, it nevertheless managed to strike a working relationship with the caretaker government, in an effort to resolve border issues and prevent anti-India activities.
Congratulating Hasina over the phone, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said: "India looks forward to working with the government and the people of Bangladesh in the years ahead for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries." He extended an invitation to the new premier to visit India at her earliest convenience. In the same tone, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said he hoped the new government will deal with terrorism more effectively and see it as a problem that didn't affect India alone. New Delhi is hopeful that Hasina will go one step further and ensure that no anti-India activity is carried out, given her vow that she would not allow Bangladesh's territory to be used for terrorism against its neighbours.

Review & evalution of New Democratic Goverment

Bangladesh come back in democratic governance after two year.

For the last two years there were hot talk time about the general election and the reform of political nature. The nation was full of confused whether the nation will be leading by the military power or there is going to be any general election for the democratic leadership! It was challenging for the Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, Election Commissioner (EC), and the Army Chief General Moin Ahmed to make believe and prove the politicians, individuals, and many other groups that the interim government positively will hold the general election polls as the government promised. Finally,it was done .

In December 29, 2008 a fair, neutral, and peaceful general election polls waived up all the doubts of the election and future democratic government that the interim government shown the nutrality proof. The national and international election observers satisfied on the total election process. The election could be called a "Model Election" in Bangladesh since the nation got its independent in 1971. The hard work of the military backed caretaker government, reformed election regulations by the EC, military active supports, and political party´s cooperation made the ninth general election success and made a milestone democratic process in the South Asia. In the December 29 national election the Awami League-led Grand Alliance won the highest majority as of 263 seats, the opposition party the BNP-four party alliances won only 31 seats, and independent won 4 seats. The entire population wanted a change as never before. The total population were awakening, a mass upsurge in favor of the change promised by Awami League and grand alliance leader Sheikh Hasina. Her election slogan "Charter for Change- Vision 2021" attracted the entire young, men and women voters. The new vision brought an extraordinary hope and victory for Awami League Grand Alliance. Notoriously, BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia claimed an unfair election polls and primarily she has rejected the election. If fair polls held, BNP must win the election, as Khaleda Zia said. She is disappointed over law enforcers and administration role during the election polls.However, in the beginning of the elected party leader Sheikh Hasina formed her cabinet with the new faces that is notable for the absence of most of the old guard and anyone whose name is linked to corruption. The new cabinet is to be very optimistic. People were thinking that the new cabinet could be mixed with the fresh, honest, educated, experienced politicians, and technocrats that may form a balanced-cabinet to bring in coalition partners, and to blood a new generation of untainted leaders. Sheikh Hasina must be credited for her willingness to select such new faces for her cabinet. She introduced a dynamic leadership culture in the parliament that encourages youngsters to be the leader in the future. She honored honesty and educated candidates for her cabinet and she fully rejected corrupted or controversial MPs and/or any family members to be team members in her new cabinet. More interesting is that 15 women elected in the ninth general election and most notable that three women took the very important positions includes the Prime Minister,

More positive sign in the democratic political culture is that BNP members attended in the oath-taking ceremony of the new Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her new cabinet. Indeed, BNP lawmakers-elect MPs decided to take oath and join the first session of the parliament. The party sources said the BNP lawmakers-elect might attend the first day's proceedings of the ninth parliament. "We shall join the first session of the parliament for the sake of democracy, the country's interest, and to continue the democratic process," Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, a senior party leader and an MP-elect, told reporters after a two-hour meeting of the BNP's parliamentary party. "We hope that our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will continue to express the same kind of tolerance that she did in her post-election media conference," he said. In addition, the BNP leader expressed "We are pledging that we will do whatever necessary to keep the government accountable to the parliament." It seems that BNP brings a positive political culture and besides this, the party tries to keep pressure the new government to fulfill the commitments what they promised before the election. Indeed, voters and general public also would have high demands to the new government. All these issues and mentoring the high number of inexperienced ministers in the cabinet could be a big challenge for Sheikh Hasina. But if the new cabinet members would be more accountable and careful of their individual responsibility and know their mandates, of course, they can make a big difference. Only we have to wait and see how they administer their power in their respective position. Indeed, how the government and the opposition party perform their political behavior and attitude in order to create an effective parliament and democratic society in the nation. The voters believed that they selected the right persons to lead the nation to bring a positive change in the nation who can think good, talk good, and do good things. It believes that the new government will enable to create an effective democratic environment through their every activity and actions; and the government will continue its reform process to improve the democracy in the nation.

The whole nation is now awaiting to gain the reformed political attitude and advantages.

12.30 am 30-12-2008 Countdown of a Happy New Year and a New Goverment

New year 2009 is coming ,counting down a new and reformed demoratic political Goverment through the Bangladesh 9th national Election . A "grand alliance" headed by Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina Bangladesh Awami -league" led its rivals by 200+ /25 seats in unofficial results from Monday's parliamentary election,Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was among the early winners and nominees of her Awami League (AL) and allied parties were leading in several seats as counting began immediately after voting ended in the general election on MondayHasina's alliance was leading in many other remaining At stake are all 300 parliamentary seats. There are more than 1,500 candidates from 38 parties. The race, however, boils down to a face-off between two former prime ministers, Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League and Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist.

The vote was to return Bangladesh to democracy after two years of emergency rule imposed by an army-backed government.

,The vote was total fair and free from any pressure -May considered the Model of a Democratic voting ,So after all Bangladeshi is back to the democratic Goverment,

. This is a diffrent election of Banglasdeshi history also in World History.Care taker goverment which was formed at the political crysis at 1-11-2006 and was supported by the emergency rule but the goverment was get the full public support and the support was against the political corruption of Bangldeshi tradition.The care taker government jailed both premiers as part of an anti-corruption campaign but they were released to contest the vote.

Lots of Expectetion have to meet by the Goverment,Since the independence, the Awami League has been in government for two terms, covering approximately eight and a half year. Mujibur ruled the country for three and half years till Aug. 15, 1975 while her daughter Hasina as Prime Minister for five years from 1996 to 2001. Agin in this term people of Bangladesh wants a new taste of governance which is never similar with previous.

Following is the profile of Awami League.
Awami League is a mainstream secular political party in Bangladesh. The party led Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971 under the charismatic leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was the first President of Bangladesh.
The Awami League is now being headed by Sheikh Hasina since 1984, the eldest daughter of Mujib.
Since the independence, the Awami League has been in government for two terms, covering approximately eight and a half year. Mujibur ruled the country for three and half years till Aug. 15, 1975 while her daughter Hasina as Prime Minister for five years from 1996 to 2001.
In the 2001 parliamentary election the Awami League won only 62out of 300 parliamentary seats. Nevertheless, it became the second-largest party in the parliament trailing behind BNP of immediate past Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.
Awami League is from "All Pakistan Awami Muslim League" which was formed in 1949. After independence, the league changed its name to Awami League and formed national government of Bangladesh in 1972 under Sheikh Mujibur.
Mujibur and most of his family members were assassinated on Aug.15, 1975. Only his two daughters Hasina and Rehana who were taking a visit in Germany at that time survived the tragedy.
In 1981, Sheikh Hasina was elected as president of Awami League and has led the party till now.
Awami League emerged as the largest opposition party in Parliament from 1991 to 1996. The party won the election in 1996 with Hasina as the prime minister who ruled the country from 1996 to 2001.
In July 2001, Awami League lost the election and became the biggest opposition in Parliament from 2001 to 2006.