ANALYSIS - New government, old politics in Bangladesh

By Anis Ahmed

DHAKA (Reuters) - Differences between Bangladesh's major political parties have widened and relations between their top leaders have hit a low after six months of a new government, despite early promises of friendlier times.

That is eroding hopes for reconciliation and understanding in the impoverished South Asian country of nearly 150 million, where foreign investors and aid groups say stability and calm are crucial for encouraging business and development.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took office in January following a landslide win by her Awami League over rival Begum Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in late December elections, an impressive show of democracy ending two years of emergency rule by an army-backed "interim authority".

Hasina said she would set a new example in politics in line with her promised "charter of change" by enlisting BNP support in decision-making and even giving Khaleda, a former prime minister, a position in the government.

Khaleda responded by saying she was ready to cooperate with the new government, should it really want her support.

Had those pledges materialised, it would have been a welcome development for a nation with a history of bitter and often violent party rivalry interrupted by periods of authoritarian military rule, turbulence that has kept Bangladesh lagging behind the economic growth pace seen elsewhere in Asia.

Nearly half its people live on less than $1 a day.

But despite the initial friendly rhetoric, as the weeks passed the leaders and their parties "showed no sign of changing," said political analyst Serajul Islam Chowdhury, a retired Dhaka University professor.