Editing Politics of Bangladesh (section)

====2006–2008: Caretaker government: Fakhruddin Ahmed====
{{main|2006–2008 Bangladeshi political crisis}}
[[File:Hamid Karzai, Pervez Musharraf, Fakhruddin Ahmed - WEF Annual Meeting Davos 2008.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[Hamid Karzai]], [[Pervez Musharraf]], and [[Fakhruddin Ahmed]] at the Annual Meeting 2008 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland]]
Following the end of Khaleda Zia's government in late October 2006, there were protests and strikes over uncertainty about who would head the caretaker government (which was accused of BNP bias), held by Awami League, paralyzing the country and resulting in the death of at least 40 people in the following month in November 2006.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/it%E2%80%99s-1%E2%81%8411-amnesia-1752 |title=It's 1⁄11 amnesia |date=11 February 2015 |work=The Daily Star}}</ref>
An election was scheduled for the beginning of 2007, however it did not take place. Given the parties' failure to agree on a candidate For Chief Advisor, according to the constitution the position devolved to the President, [[Iajuddin Ahmed]], serving since 2002. He took it on in addition to his regular responsibilities, which under the caretaker government included the Defense Ministry. Iajuddin Ahmed formed a government, appointing ten advisors to a council to act as ministers. He appointed his press spokesman, the journalist-editor turned politician [[Mukhlesur Rahman Chowdhury|M Mukhlesur Rahman Chowdhury]], as his chief Presidential Advisor, with the status of Minister of State. Chowdhury had the responsibility to negotiate with the political parties to bring them to participation in the election.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} In January 2007, [[Iajuddin Ahmed]] stepped down as the head of the caretaker government, under pressure from the military.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

[[Fakhruddin Ahmed]], former [[World Bank]] economist, was selected to replace him and with the commitment to rooting out corruption and preparing a better voter list. Fakhruddin Ahmed became the Chief Advisor. A [[State of Emergency]] was declared and a massive campaign to crack down on corruption was undertaken. By July 2007, some 200,000 people had been arrested under corruption charges. The government said it would hold elections before the end of 2008.

In April 2007, Ahmed's military backed administration attempted to reform the political parties by exiling Hasina and Zia, but this was never enforced. Hasina, who had been visiting her children in the US, was allowed to return but she had to face serious charges, including involvement in the assassination of four political rivals. In July, she was arrested after two businessmen testified that she had extorted [[taka|৳]]80 million (US$1.16 million) from them.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ramesh |first=Randeep |date=16 July 2007 |title=Former Bangladesh PM arrested in corruption crackdown |url=https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,,2127664,00.html |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> This provoked angry protests from her supporters; even her bitter rival [[Khaleda Zia]], as well as six British MPs and MEPs, called for her release.<ref>{{cite news |title=UK MPs denounce Bangladesh arrest |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6911237.stm |work=BBC News |date=23 July 2007}}</ref> Khaleda herself faced charges of tax evasion and was later arrested. [[Tarique Rahman]] was taken to custody for the 2004 grenade attacks and various corruption charges including money laundering, and was later sent on forced exile on 11 September 2008 and since then has not been able to return to the country.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tarique flies into exile in London |url=https://bdnews24.com/politics/tarique-flies-into-exile-in-london |work=bdnews24.com |date=12 September 2008}}</ref> After holding power for almost two years, the political situation had finally calmed and Ahmed decided to return parliamentary democracy, testing the political situation with some local elections held on 4 August 2008, which were peaceful.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7466479.stm |work=BBC News |title=Bangladesh to hold local election |date=20 June 2008 |access-date=22 April 2010}}</ref> Both Hasina and Khaleda were finally released from prison and the General elections were held on 29 December 2008. The Awami League and its Grand Alliance won the elections with two-thirds of the seats in parliament. The BNP and its four-party alliance, including [[Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami|Jamaat-e-Islami]], comprised the major opposition.