Bangladesh's "Battling Begums" rule the roost again

By Anis Ahmed

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh's "Battling Begums", behind bars and suspected to be heading towards the end of their careers just a few months ago, are back with a vengeance at the helm of the country's politics as December elections approach.

That fact has analysts worried that changes needed to rid the country of corruption and put its politics on a more stable and less violent course are not going to come anytime soon.

The pair, Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia, were heirs to political dynasties and alternated as prime ministers in the 15 years through 2006.

But after they jointly ousted a military ruler in 1990, they seldom even spoke to each other as they vied for power, gaining the "Battling Begums" nickname.

"Begum" is an honorific for Muslim women of rank in the overwhelmingly Islamic country.

The two leaders' squabbling and lack of trust in one another was blamed by many analysts for unrest and violence that brought a takeover by a military-backed government on January 11, 2007, which postponed the election scheduled for that month.

"Had the major political parties and their allies not been involved in ... political mayhem, the country probably would not have gone through the changes of 1/11," Ferdous Ahmed Qureshi, chairman of the Progressive Democratic Party, told reporters.

"But they (the interim authority) failed to live up to their promises and now pushed the country back to Square One," he said.