The Times, They Are A-Changin'

Can anyone else feel the winds of change whipping through their hair (or over their shiny head, or through their flourishing mo’vember mo as the case may be)?

With Little Johnny not only ousted from the top job, but ceremoniously dumped from his own electorate too; with Helen Clarke waving goodbye from the back of her horse and carriage folding up “if it’s not broke…” placards to be trotted out at the next “I told you so” opportunity; and of course with a half-Kenyan, half-American dude with an African name - from which phonetic parallels can be drawn to the Number One Enemy Of The Free World - elected as President of the United States of America (no less), it seems the times, they are a changin’. [insert appropriate reference].

And the times may be changing here in Bangladesh also, as the country prepares to vote in the first democratic elections since the caretaker Government stepped in a few years ago. Preparing the foundations for one of the most populous (and most corrupt) countries in the world to go to a popular vote is no easy task, and Bangladeshis take their politics very seriously. This is to be expected in a relatively new nation (1972) that fought hard for their independence. But, as is also to be expected in a relatively new nation (especially in this part of the world with India, Pakistan and Burma as neighbours) there is an air of… nervousness surrounding what will happen on and post poll day.

In the mean time I watch (from a safe distance just in case anyone important is reading this… including my parents) ‘electoral exuberance’ with interest, as groups of men walk through the streets chanting/cheering/ranting/waving banners etc. So far it has all been very low key in both Chittagong and Dhaka, much to everyone’s relief, but the build up is set to continue.

The election date itself is set for December 18 (with a possible change to December 28) and I, along with everyone else, am keeping my fingers crossed (and my toes, and I’m prepared to approach random people in the street to cross their fingers too if it comes to it) for a smooth, fair and violence-free election period.