By IANS
Dhaka : Pressures from political reformists in Bangladesh are causing cracks within the parties. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jatiya Party have already faced splits, while the Awami League leadership is faced with a strong revolt.
Bangladesh's third largest political party Jatiya Party is divided between into husband-wife factions. Former first lady Rawshan Tuesday declared herself as the party's "acting chief", ousting husband H.M. Ershad, a former military ruler.
The pressures on political parties were triggered by a call for "political reforms" by the interim government that has banned all political activities since January under a spell of national emergency.
BNP too faced outright rebellion against its chief Begum Khaleda Zia. A hundred former ministers and lawmakers defied Zia, who has been the country's prime minister twice. The rebels openly declared their support for the party's secretary general, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, The Daily Star said Wednesday.
Awami League, the country's oldest party, has fared relatively better. Its chief, Sheikh Hasina, also a former prime minister, has staved off rebellion by taking up a position more radical than the reformists.
She pre-empted the rebels by appointing committees to review the party's constitution and the organisational framework.
In a well-publicised move, she authorised the committee to get inputs about constitutions of political parties from the US, the UK, India and some other countries.
But she too is not without criticism from some old timers who were with her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Tofael Ahmed and Suranjit Sengupta are among those who have been openly critical of the working style of the "supreme leader", as Hasina is known by the party's rank and file.
Hasina has been criticised for signing a poll pact with an Islamist militant organisation, Bangladesh Khelafat Movement, without consulting her colleagues. However, she justified her move by saying that defeating "communal" forces – Jamaat-e-Islami, once a part of the BNP-led coalition – was more important.
Political analysts say things could worsen for the incumbent leaderships of all parties once the government lifts the ban on overt political activities.
The reforms could end the domination of the political arena by the two women leaders Zia and Hasina, the analysts say.
The government's call for reforms has been viewed with suspicion in some quarters because it made abortive attempts to oust Zia and Hasina from the political scene.
Hasina, virtually under house arrest these days, had to fight hard to return home after a foreign visit in April. Last week, she was not allowed to go to the US.
Zia quit the country for Saudi Arabia under a "deal". She was reportedly under a lot of pressure from the interim government.
There is now a move by former BNP lawmaker Firoze Ahmed to float a new political party, allegedly under official patronage.
Ahmed has been trying to gather second and third rank leaders and workers from other parties, a move that has raised the heckles of the established parties.
"What is the guarantee that leaders of these parties are above corruption?" Hasina asked last week.