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AL's road to power always strewn with thorns

Julfikar Au Manik
The Awami League had to prevail over many murky fronts other than politics to clinch three of the four elections it won including the one in 1970 that led decisively to the birth of Bangladesh.
Every time the AL came to power it had to overcome a legacy of either criminalisation in political system or manipulation in state machinery by its predecessors, as shows some eerie events of the past.
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The AL has just swept to power with an overwhelming majority but not before the country went through a two-year delay and saw off two caretaker governments on the trot for the ninth parliamentary elections of December 29.
The AL got little public support in 2005 when it first opposed any polls under ex-chief justice KM Hasan citing multi-layered blueprint by BNP-led ruling alliance to stay in power. But the AL fear suddenly got a face as disturbing events started to unfold during the last few months of the coalition regime and when BNP-loyal President lajuddin Ahmed staged a caretaker govt coup on October 29,2006.
lajuddin, with the combined authority as president and chief adviser to caretaker government, took no time to vindicate the rigging fear, forcing AL-led grand alliance to boycott the January' 22 elections in 2007. People heaved a sigh of relief when lajuddin was compelled to declare emergency on January 11 to avert anarchy, thanks to a timely intervention by many quarters.
Fakruddin Ahmed took over charge from lajuddin as chief adviser and the country experienced series of institutional reforms that was required to ensure a level-playing field for all parties and an accurate voter list for holding acceptable elections.
But. for that to happen, the country had to wait nearly two years, during which period battling Apa and Madam --Hasina and Khaleda-- landed in jails and faced forced exile from politics.
The game of electoral manipulation took an artistic turn when the BNP was in power in 1996: the party held a farcical February 15 election, a poll boycotted by all major parties including Awami League. Even the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. the present
alliance partner of the BNR joined the boycott bandwagon.
Sensing plot to rig elections by the BNP. Awami League and other opposition parties had been agitating then for introduction of a neutral caretaker government provision to ensure free and lair election.
But the BNP snubbed the demand saying no-one was 'neutral' and went ahead to hold die embarrassing election. forcing the AL to wage a mass movement. BNP had to quit power eventually, dissolving the sixth parliament on March 30, 1996, just 11 days after its start.
The 13th amendment to the constitution ensured theprovi -sion of a caretaker system and the first interim government of former Chief Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman then arranged seventh parliamentary elections in June 2006. The AL won the race and Sheikh Hasina formed first AL govern men t led by her.
AL's road to power was always strewn with dioms Bangbandhu Sheikh MujiburRahmaninspired the AL to a landslide win in the election of 1970, but the then Pakistani military ruler Yahia Khan and defeated leader Zulfikar /\li Bhutto of die Pakistan People's Parry declined to hand overpower.
And that historic betrayal and subsequent atrocities gave librnuiun ttinwinentn ilociMvr momentum and Bangladesh was bom after a bloody war of ninemonthsin 1971.
During the war, in /\pnl 1971, Bangladesh formed its exile government at Meherpur. Sheikh Mujib was made president of the government though he was in Pakistan jail.
In Mujib's absence, Syed Nazrul Islam as acting president and Tajuddin Ahmed as prime minister ran the exile government. War-ravaged Bangladesh could hold its first parliamentary elections in 1973 after partially rebuilding the country and the AL cruised to a landslide victory.