The country’s political arena has completed a full circle in seven years, witnessing a déjà vu as the two leading political parties lock horns over who will head the government during elections.
Seven years have passed and the two leading parties have only swapped their roles – it was the Awami League, who were on the opposition on October 28, 2006; the BNP, now in opposition, was then in power.
The row between the parties grew intense on October 28, 2006, as Awami League opposed the idea of immediate past Chief Justice KM Hasan’s taking the charge of the chief of the caretaker government, terming him “partisan.” The then government had raised the retirement age of the Supreme Court judges to ensure Justice KM Hasan’s appointment.
The ensuing deep political crisis ultimately delayed the parliamentary elections by two years.
On October 28, 2006, the then opposition parties led by the AL waged a movement, saying they would not accept KM Hasan as the chief adviser for his affiliation with the then ruling party BNP.
At least, 12 people were killed in violence on that day, including five in the capital, while around 2,000 were injured across the country.
Justice KM Hasan, however, eventually declined to be the chief of the caretaker government and subsequently, the then president Iajuddin Ahmed appointed himself as the chief adviser. The Awami League then announced that they would not participate in national elections under Iajuddin Ahmed.
This year, the characters have shifted while the argument remains almost the same. The opposition party and its alliances said that they would not contest polls if a “non-partisan government” does not oversee the polls.
In response to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s proposal for an all-party interim government to administer polls, opposition leader Khaleda Zia has proposed that the non-partisan government could comprise of 10 advisers from the previous “successful” non-party caretaker governments.
This time around, the BNP-led opposition is waging a movement and enforcing 60 hours of shutdown, saying they will not accept AL leader Sheikh Hasina as the chief of the polls-time government.
The same conflict rooting from the debate over who would head the ad hoc government drove the country straight into “a state of emergency” seven years ago. It also forced the then president Iajuddin Ahmed to step aside for former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed to fit in as the chief of the army-backed caretaker government.
Fakhruddin’s government ruled the country for two years and held the ninth parliamentary elections in December 2008.
On October 28, 2013 the country is experiencing the second day of the 60-hour hartal called by the opposition and already at least 10 people have died in the hartal violence.
On this day seven years ago, Dhaka turned into a fierce battlefield with thousands of Awami League activists and its alliances clashing with Jamaat supporters at Paltan. Five people were killed at Nayapaltan on that day.
An activist of the Workers Party of Bangladesh also died in violence on the day.
Observing October 28, 2006, Jamaat said in a press release that it would hold several programmes, including discussion and offering prayer. The Workers Party will also observe the seventh anniversary of Rasel’s killing on the day.
