Description: Anti – government protests erupted in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, after the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus signed the new political charter which outlined significant constitutional and legislative changes in the country. The protests were allegedly organized by the same groups of individuals which had lost friends, family or other relatives in last year’s civil unrests. General elections are scheduled for Feb, when the country is expected to commence its period of political transformation after last year’s civil uprising which left more than 1,400 people dead and ousted former Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. The changes incentivized measures which would ensure the decentralization of power from the Prime Minister to the President, mechanisms to combat institutionalized corruption, term limits for legislators and other measures which would prevent money laundering, corruption and conflict of interest. The new charter was signed by all major political parties except for Hasina’s Awami League, which has been indefinitely banned from participation, while the largest Islamist party in the country, Jamaat e Islami signed the charter after hours of hesitation. The newly formed student – led party, National Citizen Party refused to sign the political charter, alongside four other left – wing parties.
Impact: The renewed and abrupt civil unrest in Bangladesh arrives on the precipice of the country’s potential political transformation and risks inciting instability and return to disorder in the early stages of the introduction of the new political charter. The governmental system in Bangladesh is grappled by last year’s civil, security and political crisis while various political parties are exploiting the partition to forward their partisan interests which could potentially retract months of progress and plunge the country into a renewed cycle of unrest and violence. There is no apparent consensus between the political echelon in the country which is illustrated through the absence in the signing of the charter by the National Citizen Party and the manifested hesitation by Jamaat e Islami in signing it. The interim government has a precarious challenge ahead of the elections in Feb to rebuild national trust and establish political cohesiveness while avoiding another crisis. The situation remains unstable while the potential for reoccurring civil unrest is currently high.