Hasina Govt. completes full term

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA, JUNE 23. Defying tradition, an elected government completes its full five-year tenure in Bangladesh's 30-year political history today.

The credit goes to the Bangladesh Awami League, the party that led the nation to independence in 1971.

The Government led by the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, one of the two surviving daughters of country's slain independence hero, took oath on June 23, 1996, following the Awami League's electoral victory.

To celebrate the occasion through a three-day Janatar Utsab (People's festival) from today, Ms. Hasina inaugurated the festival at the historic Paltan Maidan here in which thousands of party supporters took part.

The Awami League has also made preparations to stage big shows till July 13, as the present government will constitutionally function till then. In 1975, most family members of Ms. Hasina were gunned down. She and her younger daughter, Ms. Rahena survived. The party had to fight a long, arduous struggle for 21 years to come to power.

Marking the occasion, Ms. Hasina addressed the nation over radio and television last night. Urging the people to keep watchful eyes against any conspiracy to undo the right to vote and democracy, she said her government would honour the people's mandate in the coming election. She has ruled out the possibility of declaring martial law to tackle the growing terrorism menace in the country.

Despite sharp criticism that the Awami League had acted `pro- Indian' the world community has acclaimed the government for success in various fields. The allegation has been mainly from the opposition alliance led by Begum Khaleda Zia.

In addition to signing a 30-year Ganges Water Sharing Treaty within six months of assuming office, the Hasina Government brought an end to the vexed insurgency problem in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) by signing a peace accord with the Parbatta Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS) in December 1997.

Bumper harvests for the last five years and better agriculture management have helped her revamp the country's agro- based economy and maintain an average GDP growth of over 5.5 per cent.

But Ms. Hasina was criticised for enacting a new law that ensured lifelong state security and accommodation to the two surviving daughters of the Father of Bangladesh (Hasina and her younger daughter).

The Opposition, which failed to win the people's support for its anti-government movement, has called yet another hartal on June 26.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Fiji's re-entry into C'wealth: India to wait for
           poll outcome
Next     : Nambiar calls on Pak. Minister