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World
News
Page 39
Borneo Bulletin, Monday July 15, 2019
Former Bangladesh
military dictator
Ershad dies at 89
DHAKA
(AFP)
-
Former
Bangladesh military dictator
Hussain Muhammad Ershad
died yesterday aged 89, after
weeks in a Dhaka hospital,
officials said.
General
Ershad
ruled
Bangladesh for nearly a decade
before being ousted frompower
in a pro-democracy upsurge in
1990 and was jailed for years on
corruption charges.
He passed away due to
complications from old age,
Kazi Firoz Rashid, a longtime
colleague and lawmaker from
his Jatiya Party, told AFP.
Armed
forces
spokesman
Abdullah bin Zaid confirmed
the death.
Ershad, who was also a
prolific poet, was the head of
the country's armed forces in
1982 when he took power in a
bloodless coup after removing
an elected government from
power.
In comments made to local
reporters from jail in 1996, he
said that his "greatest failure...
was running the country softly
with a heart of a poet".
Despite the slew of cases
against him, Ershad emerged
In this January 9, 1997 ile photo, former Bangladesh president
HussainMuhammad Ershad, waves to supporters as he is released
from government prison in Dhaka, Bangladesh
as one of Bangladesh's major
power brokers in the 1990s
after his Jatiya Party became the
country's third biggest political
outfit.
Since his ouster at the hands
of current Prime Minister
Sheikh
Hasina
and
main
opposition leader Khaleda Zia,
the two women have become
rivals, with the government last
year jailing Zia for a decade over
graft charges.
The former general became a
key ally of Hasina and remained
hugely popular in his home
district in the country's north
from where he was elected
member of Parliament six times
in a row.
AP
Half of Japanese candidates
cite social security as top
issue in upper house election
TOKYO (The Japan News/ANN)
- Fifty per cent of candidates
running in the July 21 House
of Councillors election cited
social security reform as a major
campaign issue in a survey
conducted
by
The
Yomiuri
Shimbun
.
In the survey, which allowed
multiple answers, ‘reform of the
social security system including
pensions
and
medical
care
programmes’ was cited as a top
issue by most candidates, followed
by ‘the economy and employment
measures” at 38 per cent and “the
consumption tax’ at 32 per cent.
‘Amending the Constitution’ was
the fifth-most cited issue at 20 per
cent.
Respondents could select up to
three issues from 22 options.
The
survey,
which
was
conducted from June 10 ahead of
the announcement of the election
on July 4, queried 370 candidates.
Valid answers were received from
318 candidates, or 86 per cent of
the total.
Major differences were found
between the ruling and opposition
parties regarding what issues they
plan to emphasise.
Among Liberal Democratic
Party candidates, economy and
employment measures ranked
first, while social security reform
ranked third.
The LDP has campaigned on
the notion that economic growth
spurred by Abenomics economic
policies will help stabilise the
social security system.
Candidates from Komeito cited
reconstruction from earthquakes
and
disaster
management
measures as their top priorities,
followed
by
economy
and
employment measures.
Meanwhile, candidates from
opposition parties such as the
Constitutional Democratic Party
of Japan (CDPJ), the Democratic
Party for the People (DPFP), the
Japanese Communist Party ( JCP)
and the Social Democratic Party
(SDP) cited social security reform
as the top issue. Candidates from
Nippon Ishin no Kai said providing
free education was their main
priority.
When asked about amending
the Constitution, 99 per cent of
LDP candidates and 76 per cent
of Komeito candidates said the
top law should be revised. All
candidates from Nippon Ishin no
Kai also backed the idea.
Eighty-three per cent of CDPJ
candidates and all candidates
from the JCP and SDP opposed
amending
the
Constitution.
Forty-four per cent of DPFP
candidates opposed constitutional
amendment, though 28 per cent
supported such reform.