Bangladesh: Political Trends and Key Players - Observer Research ...

Bangladesh: Political Trends and Key Players
campaigning, lobbying, and nursing the wounded. In 1971, she became
Organising Secretary of Awami League (AL). She was arrested several
times during the period of late president Ziaur Rahman and former
president HM Ershad. She enjoys good relations with Awami League
supremo, Sheikh Hasina, and was also agriculture minister in the
previous Awami League government (1996-2001).She was a student
of Eden Girls' College in Dhaka.
Faruk Khan-Khan, a retired army Colonel, is an influential minister in
the Sheikh Hasina government. He has been elected to Parliament
three times in a row since 1996. Born on September 18, 1951, he is a
graduate of the Pakistan Military Academy. He received his higher
education in defence in the US. He has previously held positions in the
parliamentary standing committees on government institutions affairs
and youth and sports ministry. He is currently Commerce Minister and
represents Gopalganj-1 in Parliament.
In Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the most prominent leader
waiting in the wings is Tarique Rahman. Born in 1965 and popularly
known as Tariq Zia, he is the eldest son of Ziaur Rahman and Begum
Khaleda Zia. He serves as vice-chairperson of BNP and has a large
number of followers within the party. His popularity within the party
was apparent when he was elected unanimously to the position of vice
chairman in the BNP's 5th national council in 2009. Tarique was
exposed to national politics early in life, thanks to his father, Gen. Ziaur
Rahman being the President and his mother ruling the country twice as
Prime Minister. Tarique formally joined politics in 1993 as a primary
member of BNP. He took his first significant step in hardcore politics in
2002 when he took over as the party's joint secretary.
www.orfonline.org 27