The basic global principle of rule, according to poet Nazrul: Tomra Bhoi Dekhiye Korcho Shashon, Joy Dekhiye Noi. So how do they do it? There are 10 strategies that they employ:
1. They invoke an external and internal threat in order to convince the population to grant their rulers extraordinary powers.
2. They establish secret prisons that practice torture
3. They develop a extra-security force that operates without legal restraint.
4. They set up a system of intense domestic surveillance that gathers information for the purposes of intimidating and blackmailing citizens.
5. They infiltrate, monitor, and disorganize citizens' groups.
6. They arbitrarily detain and release citizens.
7. They target key individuals in order to ensure their complicity or silence.
8. They take control of the press.
9. They publicly equate dissent with treason.
10. Finally, they suspend the rule of law.
Use this checklist to find out status of your country.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Economist Intelligence Unit on Bangladesh's Political Outlook
Country Report - Main report: December 1st 2007
Outlook for 2008-09: Domestic politics
The political scene will remain unsettled for much of the forecast period. Preparations for the next parliamentary election are under way, overseen by the Election Commission and the military. The commission faces a busy timetable in 2008: it hopes to hold civic elections in five cities by March, and to finalise the electoral register in July before setting a date for the parliamentary poll, probably in October. The immediate task for the Election Commission is to ensure that the electoral register is ready for all five city corporation polls by January. The logistics of holding a parliamentary election in October could be complicated by inclement weather. This year, heavier than normal monsoon rains killed hundreds of people and displaced 10m during July-September, while in November thousands more were killed by Cyclone Sidr. Bangladesh is vulnerable to cyclones, which occur during March-May and September-December. A repeat of such weather patterns in 2008 could force millions of voters to seek temporary accommodation, making it difficult for the Election Commission to maintain accurate records.
It is not clear whether the government will lift the state of emergency before the civic polls, but the Economist Intelligence Unit expects emergency rule to continue until the parliamentary election. This is primarily because of the caretaker government's determination to implement sweeping reforms to the electoral process before the poll. The government is currently drafting a proposal for amendments to the existing city corporation and municipality laws to bar the same person from becoming a representative in parliament as well as on a local government body. It has already taken steps to ban politicians convicted of a criminal offence from taking part in the forthcoming parliamentary poll. The next task is to persuade the main political parties to hold leadership elections—for the first time for decades—and to introduce a new electoral register. However, the government's reluctance to lift the state of emergency, and the growing influence of the army (particularly in roles usually reserved for civilians), will heighten fears of a return to full military rule. Besides maintaining law and order, military officials are also responsible for vital administrative tasks, such as the preparation of voter identity cards.
Once preparations for the next election and the associated electoral reforms have been completed, the caretaker government will be able to claim that is has reinforced the electoral process. What it will not be able to do, however, is to move the country away from a two-party political system. Political opinion is so strongly polarised in Bangladesh that the parliamentary contest will again pit the Awami League against the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Mohammad Yunus, a Nobel peace prize winner and the founder of a microcredit provider, Grameen Bank, tried to offer a credible alternative to the two main political parties by forming his own party in February 2007. However, citing the lack of a support base for the new party, he abandoned his plan in April. The lifting of a ban on indoor political meetings is unlikely to tempt Professor Yunus back into politics, partly because of his reluctance to make the compromises required in order to obtain the necessary support from the army.
END/
Outlook for 2008-09: Domestic politics
The political scene will remain unsettled for much of the forecast period. Preparations for the next parliamentary election are under way, overseen by the Election Commission and the military. The commission faces a busy timetable in 2008: it hopes to hold civic elections in five cities by March, and to finalise the electoral register in July before setting a date for the parliamentary poll, probably in October. The immediate task for the Election Commission is to ensure that the electoral register is ready for all five city corporation polls by January. The logistics of holding a parliamentary election in October could be complicated by inclement weather. This year, heavier than normal monsoon rains killed hundreds of people and displaced 10m during July-September, while in November thousands more were killed by Cyclone Sidr. Bangladesh is vulnerable to cyclones, which occur during March-May and September-December. A repeat of such weather patterns in 2008 could force millions of voters to seek temporary accommodation, making it difficult for the Election Commission to maintain accurate records.
It is not clear whether the government will lift the state of emergency before the civic polls, but the Economist Intelligence Unit expects emergency rule to continue until the parliamentary election. This is primarily because of the caretaker government's determination to implement sweeping reforms to the electoral process before the poll. The government is currently drafting a proposal for amendments to the existing city corporation and municipality laws to bar the same person from becoming a representative in parliament as well as on a local government body. It has already taken steps to ban politicians convicted of a criminal offence from taking part in the forthcoming parliamentary poll. The next task is to persuade the main political parties to hold leadership elections—for the first time for decades—and to introduce a new electoral register. However, the government's reluctance to lift the state of emergency, and the growing influence of the army (particularly in roles usually reserved for civilians), will heighten fears of a return to full military rule. Besides maintaining law and order, military officials are also responsible for vital administrative tasks, such as the preparation of voter identity cards.
Once preparations for the next election and the associated electoral reforms have been completed, the caretaker government will be able to claim that is has reinforced the electoral process. What it will not be able to do, however, is to move the country away from a two-party political system. Political opinion is so strongly polarised in Bangladesh that the parliamentary contest will again pit the Awami League against the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Mohammad Yunus, a Nobel peace prize winner and the founder of a microcredit provider, Grameen Bank, tried to offer a credible alternative to the two main political parties by forming his own party in February 2007. However, citing the lack of a support base for the new party, he abandoned his plan in April. The lifting of a ban on indoor political meetings is unlikely to tempt Professor Yunus back into politics, partly because of his reluctance to make the compromises required in order to obtain the necessary support from the army.
END/
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Donate free rice to Bangladesh's Sidr survivors
Many people are donating for the cyclone-affected peoples of Bangladesh.
Besides donating money directly, you can also donate rice indirectly for the poor people.
For this free rice donation, you don’t have to pay anything from your pocket. Just play an on-line vocabulary game and the rice would be donated from the site’s advertisers to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).
A portion of the rice will eventually come to Bangladesh because United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is providing foods for the cyclone effected peoples of Bangladesh.
Please visit: http://www.freerice.com to play the game and donate rice.
Besides donating money directly, you can also donate rice indirectly for the poor people.
For this free rice donation, you don’t have to pay anything from your pocket. Just play an on-line vocabulary game and the rice would be donated from the site’s advertisers to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).
A portion of the rice will eventually come to Bangladesh because United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is providing foods for the cyclone effected peoples of Bangladesh.
Please visit: http://www.freerice.com to play the game and donate rice.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
BNP is close to collapse: Oxford Aanalytica
BANGLADESH: Former ruling party is close to collapse (Oxford Analytica, 30 October 2007)
BANGLADESH: Former Home Minister Lutfozzaman Babar today was jailed for illegal firearms possession. His conviction is the latest sign of progress in a major anti-corruption campaign launched by the military-backed government earlier this year after the postponement of elections. Since then, dozens of politicians have been detained, including former prime ministers Sheikh Hasina Wajed and Khaleda Zia.
Babar served under Zia, whose Bangladeshi Nationalist Party is in a fragile state. Attempts by members to reform it have been resisted, prompting the departure of prominent party personalities such as Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan.
Reports today indicate that Saifur Rahman, a former finance minister, has been appointed acting chairman in Zia's absence, while Hafizudden Ahmed has become secretary general -- in place of the former prime minister's appointee, Khandaker Delwar Hossain.
The nature of a scheduled return to democratic and civilian government next year will be largely dependent on the success of efforts to overhaul the political system. Its prospects will be doubtful without faster progress on the reform of existing parties and/or the emergence of credible alternatives.
BANGLADESH: Former Home Minister Lutfozzaman Babar today was jailed for illegal firearms possession. His conviction is the latest sign of progress in a major anti-corruption campaign launched by the military-backed government earlier this year after the postponement of elections. Since then, dozens of politicians have been detained, including former prime ministers Sheikh Hasina Wajed and Khaleda Zia.
Babar served under Zia, whose Bangladeshi Nationalist Party is in a fragile state. Attempts by members to reform it have been resisted, prompting the departure of prominent party personalities such as Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan.
Reports today indicate that Saifur Rahman, a former finance minister, has been appointed acting chairman in Zia's absence, while Hafizudden Ahmed has become secretary general -- in place of the former prime minister's appointee, Khandaker Delwar Hossain.
The nature of a scheduled return to democratic and civilian government next year will be largely dependent on the success of efforts to overhaul the political system. Its prospects will be doubtful without faster progress on the reform of existing parties and/or the emergence of credible alternatives.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Bangladeshi bloggers, pls carry on
Well, Bangladeshi media is yet catch up with citizen journalism, and rightly so as they are completely muzzeled now. So Bangladeshi bloggers, especially those living abroad, pls carry on, bring the other side of the story, which will not be told.
I know for sure selected Bangladeshi blogs are now being downloaded and read by important Government officials in charge of managing information. At least they are reading, and that's a good news. We may have to wait to see if they are really using the underlying messages contained in such Bangladeshi blogs and acting accordingly. So write and write forcefully, because the vacuum created in Bangladeshi media must be filled, vigorously. We have more brave bloggers than what Mahfuz Anam could garner. So carry on, blogging for Bangladesh.
I know for sure selected Bangladeshi blogs are now being downloaded and read by important Government officials in charge of managing information. At least they are reading, and that's a good news. We may have to wait to see if they are really using the underlying messages contained in such Bangladeshi blogs and acting accordingly. So write and write forcefully, because the vacuum created in Bangladeshi media must be filled, vigorously. We have more brave bloggers than what Mahfuz Anam could garner. So carry on, blogging for Bangladesh.
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