If BNP Wins Bangladesh Elections Tarique Rahman Will Improve Relations With India

5 months ago 61

If BNP wins Bangladesh elections Tarique Rahman will improve relations with India: Shafqat Munir, Senior Fellow, Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, to Karan Thapar for The Wire. ......................................... In exactly a week on the 12th of February Bangladesh will hold what The Economist calls its first proper elections since 2008 and one of the country’s most highly regarded foreign policy experts, Shafqat Munir, a Senior Fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, says that if the Bangladesh Nationalist Party wins, as is widely expected, it’s 60-year old leader, Tarique Rahman, will seek to reset and improve the relations with India. If you want to understand the forthcoming elections and, in particular, the nature and character of the two mains parties contending, Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, this is an interview you should see. The interview will also help you understand how the Bangladeshi people view the fact that Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League is banned and cannot participate in the elections. To help you understand the interview I give below the main questions put to Shafqat Munir. Here they are: 1) In exactly a week on the 12th Bangladesh will hold what The Economist calls its first proper elections since 2008. As the magazine says 40% of the country’s 128 million voters have never cast a real ballot. How well prepared is Bangladesh for this exercise? 2) The former ruling party, Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, is banned and cannot participate in the election. Doesn’t that vitiate the exercise? 3) What percentage of the country still supports the Awami League? And how do they view the ban on the party they support? 4) The Jamaat-e-Islami is one of the two big parties that is able to participate in the elections. It’s an Islamist party but Thomas Kean of the International Crisis Group says its support is despite that fact not because of it. Would you agree? And from what section of the population does it draw support? 5) The Jamaat has not fielded a single woman candidate and it’s suggested that it could limit the number of hours Bangladeshi women can work. How is that viewed? 6) The party that forms the next government will have a huge challenge on its hands. Does the Jamaat have the experience to run Bangladesh? 7) The second big party is the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its 60 year old leader Tarique Rahman is said to be the front runner to become Prime Minister. Is the BNP the most likely to win? 8) Tarique Rahman has only just returned to Bangladesh after 17 years of exile in London. Does that mean he’s not well-known to the people of the country? 9) American diplomatic cables dating back to 2008-2009 allege that he “was widely considered one of the most corrupt individuals in Bangladesh” and was “notorious for flagrantly and frequently demanding bribes”. Is that true? And is that held against him? 10) What do we know about the sort of policies Tarique Rahman would follow if he becomes prime minister? The Economist says he’s promised to dig 20,000 kms of canals and plant 50 million trees a year. What does he plan to do about creating jobs? 11) If he’s elected what sort of relations would Tarique Rahman seek with India? Will it be as tense and fraught as it is just now? Or might he look for some sort of rapprochement? 12) To what extent does the outcome of the forthcoming elections depend upon how Awami League supporters vote? And will they be guided by what Sheikh Hasina says from Delhi? 13) Finally, how confident are you the election will pass off reasonably peacefully or is there a real potential for disturbance and violence? Join The Wire's Youtube Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire's founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWtJey46brNr7qHQpN6KLQ/join

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