 Bangladeshis pinned their hopes on Begum Zia. |
 Her arch rival Sheikh Hasina is expected to fade away from the scene temporarily |
by Zanita Careem
All eyes are on Begum Khalida Zia after she won power at the recently concluded
general elections in Bangladesh.
Begum Khalida Zia‘s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) scored a stunning victory, capitalising on the still popular public image of her late husband General Zia ur Rahman.
Begum Zia is not influenced by the past as her arch rival Sheikh Hasina whose campaign rested largely on the memory of her father Sheikh Mujibbur Rahman, "Father of Bangladesh".
Like Zia, Mujib was murdered by renegade army officers. To Sheikh Hasina he remains Bangobandhu, Friend of the nation.
Even when her husband became President after seizing power in an military coup, Begum Zia was hardly visible and almost showed no interest in state affairs being more comfortable as a wife and mother than a first lady.
As soon as Zia was assassinated the BNP he founded after he came to power, a moteley crowd united more by Zia’s presence than by anything else — began teetering towards collapse — as Zia had not marked a successor. Sheikh Hasina can claim to have had some political initiation though being born to a political family.
To millions of voters Sheikh Hasina’s glowing tributes to her father was not attractive enough to woo the voters. They needed a change and Khalida Zia won with a thumping majority.
Both Hasina and Khalida are two women who have broken the conservative gender roles in their country and made it to the top in politics.
Politics in the Asian region has proved that women who rock the crade can rock the world too. Both of them have stamped their personalities indelibly on Bangladesh politics by their resolute nature in joining hands to oust military dictator Hussain Mohammed Ershad giving hopes to a battered population that freedom and prosperity would dawn.
I recall meeting both women leaders Sheikh Hasina and Begum Zia. The former I met last year when she was the prime minister displaying effective leadership capabilities and statesmanship qualities. The meeting with Begum Zia when she was also once the prime minister was noteworthy. An epitome of elegance always draped in crispi cottons and Bengali silks, Khalida Zia a deep understanding of political and international affairs. Sri Lankans will always remember her smiling and cherubic face.
Now with Khalida Zia at the helm, Bangladeshis will pin all their hopes on the BNP to lead them. The Awami League lost and Sheikh Hasina‘s immediate response to the dismay of many was to cry foul. Among the political classes of Dhaka Sheikh Hasina is now expected to fade away from the scene literally at least temporarily.
Begum Zia, Bangladesh‘s first woman prime minister in 1991 is born to a middle class family, she was married off early to an Army captain chosen by her parents, just after she finished school. Her political career began after Zia‘s assassination. She took up the challenge not so much out of political conviction but to avenge the killing of her husband.
The victory notwithstanding it is not going to be smooth sailing for the BNP. She will have a daunting task to surmount the many pressing problems faced by the common people of the country.
The key factor is how the BNP tackles the problem of poverty. Right now Zia whose coalition took a record of 191 seats in the 300-member parliament faces a challenge, addressing lawlessness, corruption and the economy, political analyst has warned.
The past year has been stormy enough for Bangladesh but for a nation which has seen the assassinations of two leaders, 19 coup attempts and two military take overs after independence and where political differences usually turn out to be ireconcilable this year is already clouded with the intimation of political turmoil.
Begum Zia has just taken over the mantle of leadership. So it is soon to predict her political future. Imponderables will continue to be a disconcertingly crucial in deciding the fate of Bangladesh’s bumpy journey into democratic politics.