SUNS  4355 Tuesday 19 January 1999

Dhaka, Jan 14 (IPS/Tabibul Islam) -- On a collision course with the government, Bangladesh's opposition parties have threatened to take a new list of demands to the street if the government does not bow to their demands.

An eight-party opposition combine - the two largest Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and the Jatiya Party recently joined together - is demanding radical changes in the Election Commission, which supervises elections.

Claiming a loss of faith, they are demanding the government sack the Chief Election Commissioner, reorganise the Election Commission, and issue identity cards to voters in the forthcoming local government elections.

They also want the government to immediately stop "political harassment" of the opposition, and withdraw false cases against the political leaders and activists.

But the ruling Awami League party seems to be unfazed by the threat and called the combine of BNP, Jatiya Party, the right- wing Jamaat-e-Islami and five smaller parties fragile and a "marriage of
convenience". The BNP is led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia who seems to have made peace with Jatiya Party leader Hussain Mohammed Ershad, an ex-president and former army general who she blames for the murder of her husband.

According to the ruling party's Surenjit Sengupta, the opposition's demands are not the business of the government. "Any government intervention is undesirable," he said explaining that the matters
should be sorted out by the independent Election Commission and the judiciary.

Neither is Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed unduly perturbed by the threat of fresh political turmoil in the country if the government does not concede to the opposition demands by Feb. 6.

She said that the four-point charter has nothing to do with the concerns of peoples welfare and the country's economic progress.

The Awami League has no reason to feel threatened by the opposition.
The BNP's two-year long campaign to oust the government has failed to build up any visible public support. Now a desperate Khaleda Zia is forging alliances with even her rivals, say political analysts.

Most political observers agree the Awami League government's performance in office has been far better than the previous BNP government's.

Hasina's many successes include the signing of the Ganges water sharing agreement with India, negotiating a peace accord with militants in the tribal Chittagong Hill Tracts, construction of a bridge over the Jamuna river, an all-weather link, and efficient disaster management.