Newspaper Article

Bangladesh's Leader Woos the Opposition Again

BARBARA CROSSETTE, Special to The New York Times

1989

Overview

''Since there is no way that a free election can take place here, we have to wait for the army to move him aside,'' the leader of a human rights organization said. ''These things sometimes happen overnight.'' The record of General Zia, who was assassinated in 1981, gets a positive rating from many Bangladeshis. But his widow, Khaleda, who now leads her husband's political organization, has been unable to build a strong political alternative for Bangladeshi voters. She is under constant challenge from another political heir with a largely personal following, Sheik Hasina Wazed, the daughter of Bangladesh's first government leader, Sheik Mujibur Rahman, and head of his Awami League. Sheik Mujib was killed in 1975. Sheik Hasina, Mrs. Zia and other opposition leaders, whose main political activities are calling general strikes and holding rallies to denounce the Government, are being encouraged by President [H. M. Ershad] to agree to take part in a new round of parliamentary elections. The major opposition parties resisted similar entreaties before the last elections in 1986, but there is a genuine chance that one or both major parties will take part this time. Conditions for a Vote

• Publisher: New York Times Company
• Subject: CROSSETTE, BARBARA / ELECTIONS / Ershad, H M / ERSHAD, H M (PRES)