ABSTRACT
Midway into its current term in office, the Awami League-led government in Bangladesh can claim a degree of stability and security, despite the unavoidable problems associated with a highly polarised political environment and the huge challenge of bringing the fruits of development to a growing population of about 150 million people. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s publicly articulated determination to stamp out extremist political and religious elements has borne visible results, with Bangladesh suffering no major terrorist incident in recent years. The deft handling of the mutiny by personnel of the Bangladesh Rifles in February 2009 and the speedy opening of legal proceedings against the accused blunted the widespread disquiet in the army. The revelation in January 2012 that an army coup being plotted by some sixteen officers with links to radical Islamic elements had been thwarted demonstrated not just the efficiency of the security forces, but also the diminishing prospect of the army coming to the political forefront again. The prolonged boycott of the Parliament by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has ironically given a degree of political space to the government to push through its legislative and executive programme.
