1

Introduction
Bengalis were dubbed the Irishmen of the subcontinent and a common joke claimed that if three Bengalis were stranded in desert their first action would be to establish two political parties.

Bangladesh is apparently destined to the legacy of its undemocratic and authoritarian traditions and therefore facing the challenge of governance and political chaos since its birth. It's politically ambitious elite in army, bureaucracy, judiciary, militarised political parties and pseudo-liberals while carrying forward such medieval legacy of intrigue-laden political history kept the people hostage to the political Islamists within a couple of years of its liberation from the socio-economic hegemony of Pakistan. Assassination of its two presidents, numerous coup attempts, fifteen-year army-rule, Islamisation of constitution, emerging as terrorist state, boycott of general elections by a multi-alliance group of parties and declaration of emergency - all within 35 years of its existence are enough proof to suggest that its ruling elite is not ready to allow democracy to strike deep roots in the country. The case of Bangladesh is only comparable with some of the worst managed peoples republics in the third world. Blessed with fertile land, resources and with better land-man ratio than Japan and South Korea, Bangladesh has remained poor, corrupt, economically stagnant, culturally backward and politically unsettled. The country has been experimenting with qausi-dynastic oligarchic democracy, civil and military dictatorship, socialism and market economy. Meanwhile people have remained restive, disillusioned and optimistic at the same time.

The governance of Bangladesh has revolved around three fey issues:

i)

The issue of self-rule and democracy.

ii)

The role of the state and the private sector in development.

iii)

The perpetuation of external dependence for sustaining development.

According to Sobhan(1993), The concept of governance has many ramifications in its application to the development and politics of a country. Governance is thus interpreted as a measure of the nature and quality of the policy choices of the state. Its capability to implement these choices in relation to the political context which influences both choices and outcomes. One of the underlying themes of this research paper is the failure to establish representative institutions in Bangladesh and the way this has impacted on the nature of and outcome of governance, specifically in the post-liberation period. The circumstances under which state power was inherited in 1971 and the factors precipitating the violent overthrows of post-liberation governing regimes one must not overlook the genuine weakness of the governance system and its impact on the process in Bangladesh. It is has been argued that it was the denial of self-rule and the subsequent erosion of democratic choice for the people of Bangladesh that contributed to the lack of accountability in the process of governance. The lack of accountability had diverted politics and development towards the enrichment of a narrow class of beneficiaries. This made the governments less accountable to the people and more dependent on donors for securing their patronage in order to retain state power. These trends which have conditioned the governance of the Bangladesh polity have contributed to certain longer term tendencies in civil society.

Bangladesh is country born out of huge sacrifices of the people. The 150 million of this country- now struggling to earn a decent living and survive in a ruthless world- have shown time and again, their dynamic and powerful presence, expressing in no uncertain terms that they are their masters of their destiny. But having tasted the bitter elixir of democracy, socialism and secularism the omnipresent nationalisms of the Bangali (Bengali) and Bangladeshi variats and doses of Islamism through civil and military goblets, the hoi polloi is sometimes bitter and intoxicated and at times bewildered and desperate for a change.

Background
I believe that my research would reap huge benefits to all aspects of people especially students, in a lot of ways. I think from my research people would be able to have an idea about what the future holds for Bangladesh. I think the students, who would run the country in the future, can have a clear picture about how the country should be governed and also encourage them to the honest, healthy and fruitful side of politics.

Research Areas & Questions

The areas of research were divided into four parts:

The trends set in the political arena of Bangladesh in recent years.

The designation of the current caretaker government and its measures taken to improve the state of the country.

The creation of Nagorik Shakti, the would be political party led by Dr. Mohammed Yunus.

What does the future hold for Bangladesh?

The trends set in the political arena of Bangladesh in recent years.

In spite of the heroic and relentless struggle if the people the country has been able to male any breakthrough in its economic and social development. The explanation of the current situation lies in the social foundations of the political parties as well as in the changing landscape of economics and politics of Bangladesh and of the world

One needs to understand why the BNP and the AL could not agree upon any woprking relation, in spite of both professing to be democratic parties; why did the AL resort to violence and confrontation as its choice method for negotiating with the BNP; why did the BNP totally failed the nation in spite of holding an absolute majority in the last parliament; why did the BNP indulge in senseless and mindless plunder and looting of the public assets?

The Bangladeshi psyche has entrenched in it short term thinking and ad hoc expediency as response to the centuries old instability of the deltaic plain-where entire villages can be washed out within decades by rain and river. Short term thinking has led to a rampant get rich quick thinking in all political parties. This partly explains why, in collision with corrupt officials, the BNP leadership went into a frenzy of looting and stealing of the publics wealth.

Though there are some parties who have played their parts in giving the political arena its current look, in these paper I will be focusing on AL and BNP. All though both these parties were established on separate ideologies, only a little if its existence can be seen today.

A brief political history of Bangladesh is as following :

Assassination of Shaikh Mujib and then the rejection of the rule of Awami League in 1975.

End of the Ziaur Rahmans governance with his assassination in 1981.

Deposition of Ershads autocracy in 1991.

Jettison of the rule of BNP in 1996.

Eviction of the Awami League from the power in 2001.

And the peoples rejection of the both AL and BNP in 2007.

The two women, representatives of powerful political dynasties, have ruled Bangladesh alternately since 1991 when they came together to lead mass protests against the military dictatorship of H.M. Ershad and get democracy reinstated.

But, the 16 years that followed turned out to be a period of extreme polarisation that frequently erupted into pitched battles between the supporters of the two parties

BNP & Its Ideologies

BNP was formed by Ziaur Rahman on the ideological basis of Bangladeshi nationalism.On 1975 Zia introduced private industrial capital by providing credit to aspiring industrialists.

BNP was formed the late major using state power to recruit those people who were willing to collaborate with Zias military rule. That resulted in the BNP leadership being composed mostly out of amateur personnel with little baggage. Though during his governance Zia was very popular, these facts might have led BNP to its current position.

After the Ershad interregnum, in both the 1991-1996 and 2001-2006 terms BNP accumulated a Get Rich Quick mentality for its leaders, rather than leading the private sector towards economic growth.

Due to their incompetence the BNP was slowly but surely absorbed and annexed by state capital.

The Awami League #

The rule of AL culminated in the formation of Baksal in 1975.

The people, in recent years are used to see the AL resort to relentless violence and confrontation as its method of negotiating with the BNP.

Example of ALs method of agitation: in 1996 the blockage of Chittagong port and the non-stop month long hartal that brought the economy to its knees.

More recently the Oborodh to block all communications from and to Dhaka, disrupting the private sector and the lives of ordinary people.

The large rural political composition reflects the ALs violent and confrontational approach to politics.

Today it shows all the weakness of a decadent society. These include mismanagement, corruption, lack of social and moral values and the rule of law, undemocratic practices and narrow partisan politics everywhere.

The manipulators and the more privileged whether they are politicians or bureaucrats now rule the roost. In a situation like this, mental and political liberation of people is the last thing one can expect. Therefore a drastic change is an urgent need and that change must be broad based and acceptable to the major players- the political parties and the people.

Summing Up
Neither BNP nor AL understand nor believe in the politics of democracy, which needs pluralism and tolerance of differing views. Democracy needs a shared vision of the country that is common to all parties, something quite alien to AL and BNP. Instead of relying on the democratic process to stay in power, both the BNP an AL have resorted to palace intrigues and manipulation of the political system. Corrupting and politicizing the nations institutions and relying on thugs and gangsters to stay in power, both these parties have made a mockery of democracy.

The designation of the current caretaker government and its measures taken to improve the state of the country
The inception

Towards the end of 2006, when the whole country was suffering a deadlock and the political parties were toying with the initial caretaker government, everybody felt that something was needed to be done. After the appreciable work done by the maiden advisers, the inevitable came in the appointment of the current CG led Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed. On the January 11,2007 the President put in power the interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed, a former World Bank official. The CG right away proved its competency by banning all political activities and thus saving the country from deadlock.

The interim government in Dhaka, which is backed by the army, took power under a state of emergency, clamped after wave after wave of street violence rocked the country and crippled normal functioning through November and December.

Since assuming power, the Ahmed government has banned all political activities and

launched a massive crackdown on corruption, detaining scores of former ministers, exlawmakers, businessmen and bureaucrats.

The people have heaved a sigh of relief ever since the caretaker government has been reconstituted. They have been enjoying normal life without hartal, harassment, extortion killing. They do not want to see a repetition of the sane caricature by political parties. The people want to give as much time required to the caretaker government to clean the mess before holding general elections for the ninth parliament.

Measures Taken by the CG:

After its appointment the caretaker government has been doing a good job trying to clean up all the mess. The wrongs done are so pervasive that without any question it will take along time to correct a good amount of that. Here are some measures taken by the CG:

Initial Steps:

# # #

Examining the introduction of voters ID cards and transparent ballot boxes.

Curbing the influence of black money and muscle on the next election.

Ensuring of the disclosure of prospective candidates wealth, income statements and veracity of their versions.

# #

Empowering the ACC to fight graft.

Increasing power supply by curbing of corruption.

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# #

Curbing of the price hike of essentials.

Ensuring that parties nominate honest,efficient candidates.

Recently Declared Steps & Accomplishments :

# # #

Conducting the parliamentary election before the end 2008.

Considering upazila elections.

PSC will be thoroughly reformed

Recently Declared Steps & Accomplishments :

# # # # #

Zero tolerance on corruption, abuse of power and serious crime.

No alternative but to keep patience in facing power crisis

Armed forces will continue assisting govts reform programmes

Reforms in financial sector will be continued

Effort will be made to bar political parties from using student, professional bodies as party wing

The CG has already ensured the full independence of the EC.

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Functions of the CG: According to the Constitution

In the parlance of institutional government, a caretaker government is one which normally takes care of state administration for an interim period until the regular new government is formed. In established parliamentary system, there is a convention of transformation of the outgoing government into a caretaker government for the time being before the holding of general election. Such temporary government exists only to perform day to day administrative jobs, and is not supposed to deal with policy initiating functions which may influence the election results. During the period the caretaker government maintains a neutral status for ensuring free and fair general elections. In the parliamentary framework, after the dissolution of one ministry, the practice of establishing a caretaker government for organizing general polls has been observed in almost all democratic countries.

The Caretaker Government has authority over all ministries/departments of government except defence, which remains the responsibility of the President. The mandate of the Caretaker Government is quite limited; it essentially acts as an interim administration. Article 58(D) of the Constitution provides that the Caretaker Government shall carry on the routine functions of the government with the aid and assistance of persons in the services of the Republic. The Constitution also provides that except in the case of necessity for the discharge of routine functions, the Caretaker Government shall not make any policy decision. It is expressly provided that the Caretaker Government shall give to the Election Commission all possible aid and assistance that may be required for holding the general elections of members of Parliament peacefully, fairly and impartially.

The reality
Though one might think that many of the caretaker governments steps or policies are beyond their jurisdiction and are not defined according to the constitution, these steps are

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in fact improving the state of the country. The anti corruption drive, existence of state of emergency etc are being hugely applauded by the people.

Removing the Accumulated Dirt

Some parties are demanding election within three months and needless to say that if their demands are accepted we will be back in square one. Ashraf in The Daily Star (2007,15 February) said If were are to go back, it means that the same scenario will return without any qualitative change in the parties and their functions The country has been backtracking ever since it gained independence. Obviously the reason is bad, corrupt and inefficient governance. The latest debacle has taken the country at least twenty years back. It is a sad corollary that after all these years the character if the so called peoples representatives instead of improving has gone down to a deplorable level. Instead of doing good to the people which they were oath-bound to do, they have been busy plundering the state of property with impunity. The reason is that the level of patriotism, education and efficiency to run a government was not forthcoming from them .

The recent unearthing of widespread corruption and looting of the state property by the elected representatives of the people point to the fact this has been possibly only because people are not conscious and empowered. Most of the these corruption were perpetrated at the local level and the local people and could have been prevented with the presence of consciousness

New Democratic Political Order

On April 2, at a conference on security and democracy in Dhaka Army Chief Lt. Gen Moeen said, We do not want to go back to an elective democracy where corruption becomes all pervasive, governance suffers in terms of insecurity and violation of rights and where political criminalisation threatens the very survival and integrity of the state.

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He defined own brand of democracy as a balanced government where power is not tilted towards any family or dynasty. According to Rashid in the Daily Star (2007, April 2) The question is, how do we begin to reinvent our own democracy? What steps do we follow? This, in turn brings another question, is the Constitution of1972 working?

Many suggest that a new constitution needs to be considered to set motion a new order of democracy that is based on accountability, justice and fairplay, with adequate check and balance of power.

A robust and dispassionate national debate needs to be initiated by all political parties and all sections of society to consider these issues before a constitutional committee or commission is constituted to draft a revised Constitution. If drastic amendments to the constitution were made during the last 36 years, why cant we revise it for a new political and economic order that reflects the hopes, wishes and a aspirations of people? Let there be new beginning for Bangladesh.

The creation of Nagorik Shakti, the would be political party led by Dr. Mohammed Yunus.
Dr. Yunuss entry in to politics is a major development for Bangladesh. Dr. Yunus is an outstanding person who has created one of the most successful banks for the poor. His decision to join politics has been widely welcomed by Bangladeshis across the nation; he brings to politics a level of achievement and wisdom that is sorely missing amongst the professional politicians. Many patriotic and progressive people support Dr. Yunuss entry as the only way of breaking the stranglehold of the BNP and Al on the political life of the country. Others are a bit more circumspect, taking a wait and see attitude. There has been some concern whether Dr. Yunus represents the same forces that currently hold sway in

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Bangladesh, namely the Western capital internationally and domestically corrupt officials who collaborate with corrupt politicians. There is also concern whether he has the staying power to survive the political climate of Bangladesh. Dr. Yunus needs to demonstrate his staying power, spell out his vision for Bangladesh and state his principles and political beliefs before this group will decide on whether to support him or not.

Is Dr. Yunus a front man of Western Capital?

A number of questions have been raised about the source of the asset of Grameen Bank and whether this is mostly drawn from western capital. As of 2002 Grameen Bank had assets worth $3 billion of which 93% was from local depositors. Much has been made by the detractors of Dr. Yunus of World Banks loan of $100 million to Grameen Bank given in 1996; such loans from multi-lateral lending agencies constitute less than 5% of Grameen Banks assets.

Also one would indeed like to know the relationship of a new political aspirant like him with the international capital and with our neighbor. Though a cursory investigation shows that he is in fact a product of this country and is a patriot driven by a vision of removing poverty from Bangladesh.

Is Dr. Yunus promoting capitalism?

A major criticism of Dr. Yunus is that he is promoting capitalism, which in the eyes of some people cannot provide a solution to the problems of Bangladesh. What this critic fail to understand is that the term capitalism is too vague and needs to be understood more precisely. In Bangladesh today there are three main forms of capital, namely:

1) 2)

State capital Private capital Non-profit private capital (NGOs)

3)

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Far from being a negative factor, the fact that Dr. Yunus will foster the growth of productive private capital is one of his strongest points. Being himself accountable for all his capital investments, Dr. Yunus understands the nature of productive private capital.

Can Dr. Yunus provide good governance for Bangladesh?

A pre- condition for good governance is to make the government machinery a positive force that facilitates national development. Political parties for the last 15 years have grown and come to power by colluding with corrupt officials and so were never in a position to reform and curtail the corruption of government officials. In contrast, one of the important positive factors about Dr. Yunus and the Grameen Bank is that they have grown as an institution independent of bureaucratic patronage and hence Dr. Yunus is not behold to corrupt officials.

What does the future hold for Bangladesh?

The aspiring democratic process of Bangladesh and the current transition period allows us an opportunity to develop a new concept and a new sense of direction to the future of politics of Bangladesh. The roadmap to democracy lies with objectives as envisioned by the government through anti-corruption drive and reform packages and within a affordable time frame it will steer the country away from escapism and build strong foundation of validity on democracy. It is the people of Bangladesh who will decide whether they want a new platform to lead them into the future. The nation now needs to take a pause and reflect on the questionable course its charting. The many billions of dollars we have received as aid from donors have simply vanished without turning for those people for whom the money was meant.

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In a situation like this we will be still more ill prepared if our quality of politics continues to plunge into abysmal void.

Frankly speaking, we have known failures and frustrations. Yet hope endures. And we have not given up the pursuit of hope . Let the politicians begin a new beginning for creating a new political dimension forgetting their acrimonious past.

Hypothesis
As an optimist I have always thought of Bangladesh becoming a major powerhouse in Asia in terms of agriculture, business, economy and tradings. Though there always was and still exists the potential, no past government had taken enough adequate measures to do so. But inception of the current caretaker government and steps to banish the negative sides the political trends, has taken has made me believe that there is still hope. I expect to find this change to be encouraging to the people. The steady change in the political culture would hopefully and eventually guide the path to a better future for the people of Bangladesh.

Methodology

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The sheer vastness of my research area therefore its methodology is quite unique and demanding. To be able to have a clear picture about how the people really feel about all the on going changes in the governance and the political arena, a thorough and extensive study was what was required and I have done that. Though these changes were much needed, their ramifications have made the people surprised and mystified in some ways. According to Khan in The Daily Star (2007, April 12) Not only in wonderland but also in our own land of Bangladesh, are things becoming curiouser and curiouser. Just cast your mind back to happenings of the last few weeks and you will know what I mean (p. 10c). I have tried to include people of all sects in the parameter of research, so that I am able to get a broader portrayal. But I had to improvise as I found the hard working people, though encouraged, hesitated in some cases to express their views.

Now as the goal of my research is to get opinions of the citizens and from that try to sculpture out a possible outcome which would be somewhat of an indication of what the future holds for this country, I have tried to utilize whatever feedback I could get from any individual on the matter. For this purpose I had to relate to anyone, from a banker to rickshaw-puller, in a specific way for which I would get the inner view-points. I went to various offices of different governing bodies, to get the picture of their current states. I have also taken informal interviews of different high ranking government officials for my cause. From the information that I had gathered from my investigations I have designed a questioner and used it for my survey. To get the views of those who are unable to communicate in English I prepared the questioner in Bangla. Also I have conducted oral interviews of illiterate people. Altogether these were the primary sources of my research.

As for the gathering information about the political history, the measures taken and accomplishments of the caretaker government I have used mostly newspapers and journals, books, electronic media, internet etc as the source. I have specially used the work of the eminent personality Rehman Sobhans work. These sources are my secondary ones. As there were improvement in the happenings virtually almost everyday, it is quite impossible to include the latest piece of information in my research. But I have tried my best to do so.

Primary Source:

Survey on different governing bodies.

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Informal interview of high ranking government officials.

Survey on general people (All sects of people: from bankers, students to

rickshaw pullers)

Secondary Source: Books on the political history of Bangladesh. Various daily news papers , mostly national also international Journals. Electronic media. Feedback of accomplished professionals.

Data Presentation and Analysis

In my survey, I have tried to include and get the views of all sects of people regardless of their age, profession, wealth etc. The questionnaire that I have prepared is not for a specific group of people, rather it was designed to get the optimum result, which is to get the inner views of the general public. Though I have tried to maximize the number of respondents in my survey, due to lack of manpower and time constraints I had to be satisfied with 50.

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Below are the data and the analysis of each question. As I have mentioned there were fifty respondents. The answer choices of each question are stated in the table along with the number of people opted for them. 1) What is your general notion about the political culture of Bangladesh?

Data:
a b It is all about violence, corruption and filled with greed of power 46

Though there were great figures and a rich political culture in the past, the arena 4 has now been deformed

c d

It is like that of any other South Asian country. It is a standard for other countries to follow and something to be proud of.

0 0

1) What is your general notion about the political culture of Bangladesh?

Though there were great figures and a rich political culture in the past, the arena has now been deformed

8%

92% It is all about violence, corruption and filled with greed of power

Analysis: 92% people pointed out that politics in Bangladesh is only about violence. This major negative thought, though quite unsatisfactory, is justifiable. After the independence of our country, the political arena has been plagued with disorder. We have witnessed political assassinations, which in some ways had paralyzed our country. And then in the more recent times, the last two decades, we have seen chaos in the name of democracy, especially whenever there was an

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election. These happenings, though quite unfortunate, are the causes behind this viewpoint of the public.

2) Are you in favour of any of the following political parties?

Data:

Awami League

2 0 0 0 5 43

B BNP C Jatiya Party D Jamate Islam E LDP F Not willing to tell

2) Are you in favour of any of the following political parties?

Not willing to tell

Awami League

86%

4% 10% LDP

Analysis: The failures of the major parties who have formed governments in the recent times might play in this view of the people. Also at present the ban on political activities and the existence of the emergency state has made the public, though not totally disinterested, a little hesitated about expressing their political favoring.

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3) In which of the following past governments term do you the least development was done?

The Awami League

4 45 1

B BNP / The Zia Regime/ Four Party Alliance C The Ershad Regime

In which of the following past governments term do you the least development was done?
45

4
The Awami League BNP / The Zia Regime/ Four Party Alliance

1
The Ershad Regime

Analysis: About 90% people chose the 4 party alliance, which formed the last government, for this question. The revealing of the amount of corruption of the alliance leaders and their arrests might be the reason for this. People feel that, in their tenure, only high ranking party members and anyone who was loyal to the alliance gained in wealth. Also their effort to cover-up their connection with militancy could be another reason.

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4) Do you think the cancellation of the initial caretaker government and the inception of the current one was necessary?

Do you think the cancellation of the initial caretaker government and the inception of the current one was necessary?

6% It was not necessary 16%

It was an absolutely crucial inception, which saved the country from a disaster

78%

It was an important move, though the country was not heading for a disaster

It was an absolutely crucial inception, which saved 39 the country from a disaster.

It was an important move, though the country was 8 not heading for a disaster

It was not necessary, the initial caretaker 3 government should have stayed and completed its job of holding an election in the due time(within 22nd Jan)

The political trends of Bangladeshi people, 0 therefore the governing system, cannot be changed regardless of who is in the power

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Analysis: It was no doubt that the country was in a state of impasse in end of last year and in the beginning of this. Nobody was ready to compromise and may be that was a blessing in a disguise. Because that is when the honorable President made that right choice, though it was a very late one. And the majority of the people agreed with that. But the question of whether the country was heading for a disaster or not is thought for few people.

5) Do you think current ban on all political activities and existence of the emergency state is necessary?

Do you think current ban on all political activities and existence of the emergency state is necessary?
It wasnt at all necessary

64% Absolutely 30%

Not willing to answer

It was needed at the initial state, but is not required any more

Absolutely, otherwise the power hungry people would have 32 caused and can still create a catastrophic situation

B C D

It was needed at the initial state, but is not required any more It wasnt at all necessary Not willing to answer

15 1 2

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Analysis: If the ban on political activities was not applied on the initial stage, that it would have been very difficult to rescue the country from the deadlock. But at present, some people think that, this emergency state should be lifted for the betterment of the democracy, as figure being 30% in my survey. Regardless of that the majority of the public, about 64% feel that they are living way more better in the current state.

6) Which of the caretaker governments steps do you appreciate the most?

Which of the caretaker governments steps do you appreciate the most?

21 13 9 5 2 0

Drive against corruption

Curbing down of price hike

Eviction of illegal structures.

Measures for holding a free and fair election

Analysis: The caretaker government has taken many appreciable steps to improve the condition of the country and the people. But different people have different choices among these measures varying on their profession, wealth etc. Regardless of that the CGs drive against corruption has been the most popular, about 42% people chose that.

Effort to elimniate fundamentalism

Other

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7) Which of the caretaker governments steps do you appreciate the most?

Data

A B C D F

33 27 0 0 0

How would you grade the current caretaker government's performance?

B 45%

A 55%

Analysis: The current CG has proved its competency by taking some admirable steps to improve the state of the country and the lives of the people. It seems that it is fulfilling the dreams of the people of establishing a healthy political culture here. The people are quite literally fed up with rule of two families and their inability two govern along with getting rich for their party members- policy. But everybody have their critics, and this CG is no exception. There are some suggestion that this government is solely backed the military and the country is heading for military dictatorship. But the thing that matters is, that people lead happy lives and their living conditions improve.

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Until now the CG has shown adequate signs of trying to ensure that which no government has done before. Almost all the people have graded the CGs performance with an A or B.

8) Would like to see the current government stay in power for another few years?

Would like to see the current government stay in power for another few years?

I would like to see this government stay until there is an overall change in our political culture

94%

6%
Definitely, its governing ways have improved the lives of the people

Data:

Definitely, its governing ways have 3 improved the lives of the people I would like to see this government stay 47 until there is an overall change in our political culture No, because it is not defined according to 0 the constitution. Absolutely not, it should straight away set 0 a date for polls and resign

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Analysis: The people of this country are quite literally fed up with the governing system that they have been under in the last two decades. The current CG also realizes that not only because of the peoples feelings but also for the betterment of the country. The whole political arena of Bangladesh has been plagued with an unhealthy culture of greed and hatred. The CG is trying to change that. One its major objectives is fulfilling that task. And the people are eagerly awaiting to see what kind of changes the government brings and then they will elect a new government. And so 94%of the people would like see the CG stay until there is change in the political arena.

9) What do you think about Dr. Yunuss emergence into politics?

What do you think about Dr. Yunuss emergence into politics? 50 40 30 20 10 0 It is a very positive move, the country should be lead by such an able personality. It would bring a change to the political trends set by current major parties. I doubt about his ability to run a political party let alone a country. It is aided and controlled by foreign power. 17 12 11 10

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Analysis: Dr. Yunuss emergence into politics was a major development for Bangladesh. Though people are divided in their thoughts about his entry. Seventeen people thought it is very good for the country. Some think that he is the only way to break the stranglehold of the two major parties. Other are skeptical about the whole move.

10) What would happen if Dr. Yunuss Nagorik Shakti comes to power?

What would happen if Dr. Yunuss Nagorik Shakti comes to power?

50 40 30 20 10 0

21 11

18 0

It offers better It wouldnt be any The government lives for the better than any would only act in people and of the past favour and improvement as governments accordance to a nation. terms. foreign controlling

Nagorik Shakti would never come to power

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11) What does the future holds for Bangladesh from its current state?
50 40 30 20 10 0 It offers better The future has Though I am very lives for the always been dark, optimistic, it people and because of the would take a long improvement as a acts of past time to see a nation. governing ways. better Bangladesh

Analysis:

We all hope for a better Bangladesh. People, in whatever circumstances, always dream of improved situations, be it economically, politically etc. The current Cg has been able to create some hope. But there are some realists who remain skeptical. I have received some individual feedback of the people. Below are some of them A student said: I think that Bangladesh can have a better future if the current caretaker government does not mess up what they are doing and are able to curb down corruption in each and every sector A teacher said: Everywhere we look around, we see the truth prevailing, and there is no hypocrisy, no deceptionit feels almost like a dream

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Limitations
As the goal of my research is to get opinions of the citizens and from that try to sculpture out a possible outcome which would be somewhat of an indication of what the future holds for this country, I have tried to utilize whatever feedback I could get from any individual on the matter. For this purpose I had to relate to anyone, from a banker to rickshaw-puller, in a specific way for which I would get the inner view-points. But we are now in a situation where people are uncomfortable about expressing their political favourings. I had hard time bringing out the inner views. Also when was investigating different government bodies, I did not get much help from high ranking government officials. It seems while today when the corrupt people are getting a beating, I had to opt for lobbying to get an interview of an high ranking government official. One other thing was that there was development in the situation every day. So it was never possible to deal with the up to date informations.

Conclusion
The political situation and the governance of Bangladesh is always the topic of controversy for the wrong reasons. Bangladesh is country born out of huge sacrifices of the people. The 150 million of this country- now struggling to earn a decent living and survive in a ruthless worldhave shown time and again, their dynamic and powerful presence, expressing in no uncertain terms that they are their masters of their destiny. But having tasted the bitter elixir of democracy, socialism and secularism the omnipresent nationalisms of the Bangali (Bengali) and Bangladeshi varieties and doses of Islamism through civil and military goblets, the hoi polloi is sometimes bitter and intoxicated and at times bewildered and desperate for a change.