960409

Bangladesh parties slam move over defence ministry

DHAKA: Bangladeshi political parties criticised on Tuesday a government decision to hand over the sensitive defence ministry to President Abdur Rahman Biswas, saying the move would undermine efforts to hold free polls.

The new row broke out during moves to try to end Bangladesh's political crisis, which appeared to have eased last month when prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia stepped down in face of an opposition-led campaign of strikes.

The defence ministry was handled by Khaleda when she was prime minister, and it was widely expected that the post would pass on to her successor, former chief justice Habibur Rahman.

Rahman was appointed by Biswas as head of a caretaker government whose main task is to organise fresh elections before the end of June.

Opposition parties boycotted elections held on February 15 which Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won by default.

The move announced late on Monday to put the military under the head of state, who normally has few powers, drew immediate criticism.

"There can be no free election with the defence ministry in the hands of the president," said Tofayel Ahmed, a leader of the opposition Awami League.

"The defence portfolio can never be under the control of the president in a parliamentary democracy," he told the Ajker Kagoj newspaper.

"If it does in Bangladesh, it will curtail the powers of the caretaker government in the discharge of its responsibilities for staging an honest vote."

Moudud Ahmed, deputy leader of the Jatiya Party led by jailed former president Hossain Mohammad Ershad, said the transfer of the ministry to the president was part of a conspiracy.

He said it was an attempt to weaken the caretaker government and protect the interests of the BNP.

Biswas became president after Khaleda took office as prime minister in 1991, but kept his BNP membership.

Rahman said his primary job was to restore law and order before the next polls, a date for which has yet to be announced.

Police have launched a crackdown on illegal arms, but the BNP has alleged that only its supporters are falling victims to the drive.-Reuter