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Loyalty came first for Hasina

WikiLeaks cables show the way Hasina acted after 2008 polls victory

Star Report
Ahead of 2008 parliamentary polls, Sheikh Hasina had noted that it might be
her last election, said a leaked US diplomatic dispatch posted on WikiLeaks.
"...While she [Hasina] may want to promote new leaders in order to begin building a legacy, she has also been rewarding loyalty in the selection of candidates [in the ninth parliamentary polls]," the cable said citing an hour-long meeting with Hasina.
On her return from the United States, the then political and economic councillor of US embassy in Dhaka held the one-on-one meeting at her residence on November 16,2008.
The US embassy in other diplomatic dispatches portrayed a new look of Sheikh Hasina who emerged as "the undisputed leader of her party and the nation" within less than a year after assuming office
through the ninth parliamentary polls held in December2008.
A diplomatic cable sent
to Washington on August 3, 2009 by the then deputy chief of mission Nicholas J Dean described how Awami League President Hasina sidelined her party's senior leaders and promoted leaders loyal to her to the party and also cabinet.
"With the formation of the new party Central Committee and the expansion of the Cabinet, Hasina has underscored the premium she places on loyalty," commented Dean.
"While some party stalwarts dropped from the Central Committee and excluded from the Cabinet were guilty of actively conspiring against Hasina, others were apparently dropped for not being sufficiently loyal — sins of omission rather than commission."
The US diplomat also wrote even some
of Hasina's closest allies feared the AL leader might have gone too far by dropping so many senior leaders in one blow.
"By promoting so many new leaders, most of whom have little or no executive experience, Hasina is taking a significant risk. At the same time, Hasina has sent the message [intentional or not[ that more than ever, all power is concentrated in her hands," Dean continued.
"In our view, the biggest risk Hasina runs by surrounding herself with loyalists is that nobody will be able or willing to speak up when she is about to make a mistake. On the plus side, Hasina has clearly indicated her choices for future leadership of the party," he wrote.
The cable sent by Dean to Washington said when AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam unveiled the party's new central committee on July 30, 2009, it became apparent that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was no longer willing to "forgive, but not forget" those who betrayed her during the two-year caretaker government.
Collectively known as RATS, four senior party leaders — Abdur Razzak, Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed and Suranjit Sen Gupta — were dropped from the AL Presidium, while a number of mid-level leaders also lost their positions in the central committee, said the cable.
The following day, Hasina appointed six new members to her cabinet and reshuffled the portfolios of four existing ministers, it said. “Her appointments, both to the new Central Committee and the Cabinet, continued the trend of elevating relative unknowns which she began with the original Ministerial appointments in January."
"Hasina declared that the new appointments pointed to the future of the party and the government and said the new Ministers had been chosen to implement her government's agenda. Most observers agreed that Hasina had succeeded in further consolidating her grip on the party, perhaps at the expense of the government's efficiency," observed the US embassy.
The diplomatic dispatch said most observers expected Hasina to make examples of at least some reformers, but few believed she would take on all of them at once.
"In particular, Razzak and Sen Gupta appeared to many to be safe, given their long-standing ties to India. As the days passed following the Council Meeting, one Minister told us that 'only God and Sheikh Hasina' knew what would happen," it said.
The cable said Hasina decided to send a clear message regarding the price to be paid for disloyalty, removing all four "RATS" from the Presidium and dumping all seven previous Organizing Secretaries. The four senior leaders were relegated to the ceremonial party Advisory Committee.
In their places, Hasina elevated ministers Razi Uddin Ahmed Razu, Abdul Latif Siddique, and Sahara Khatun, as well as Obaidul Quader and Satish Chandra Roy to the Presidium.
Hasina filled two of three joint general secretary positions, nominating Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and Mahbub al Alam Hanif as Ashrafs deputies. Of the new organising secretaries, only State Minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak was well known prior to his elevation. Hanif's main qualification seemed to be his family relationship to one of
Hasina's cousins, whose father was also killed along with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15,1975.
After a year, in another diplomatic dispatch on January 13, 2010, the then US ambassador James F Moriarty wrote upon returning to office in January 2009, Hasina's first priority had been to consolidate her power — first within the government and then within her party.
Hasina gambled in choosing a cabinet short on experience but long on loyalty, elevating trusted lieutenants like Foreign Minister Dipu Moni to senior positions.
"Prior to her election, Hasina told us she planned to induct a new generation of clean politicians into government, and she followed through when choosing her team. While some of the new Cabinet Members [notably Home Affairs Minister Sahara Khatun] faced criticism throughout the year, for the most part the Ministers have stayed out of trouble," Moriarty wrote.
The US diplomat said most importantly for Hasina, none have been involved in any major corruption scandals - a clear difference from past governments. At the same time, the Prime Minister's Office moved quickly to replace senior civil servants and military officers suspected of pro-opposition sentiments.
"In July [2009], Hasina completed her consolidation of power through an Awami League Council Meeting that sidelined the leaders of the party's "reformist" faction. Hasina ended the year the undisputed leader of her party and the nation," said Moriarty in the cable.