The eighth general strike in just three weeks largely paralysed Bangladesh on Tuesday and the country's main opposition party said there would be no let up in its campaign to oust Prime Minister Khaleda Zia from power. Most buses and cars were off the roads and many offices and businesses were shut. The opposition Awami Leage vowed there would be no respite until Khaleda resigned, while the government warned it would crack down hard on trouble-makers and said it had no intention of leaving office until its term ends in 2006.
Strikes, which force traffic off the streets and close down offices and factories, are a common form of political protest in the entire region, but impoverished Bangladesh has had more than its fair share of stoppages in recent years.
Each day of strike is estimated to cost the poor nation $60 million and business leaders have pleaded with both the opposition and the ruling party and the two women who head them to prevent lasting harm to the economy.
"Let the economy live ... please spare it from strikes," said Abdul Awal Minto, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The latest round of strikes began after a bomb blast at an Awami meeting in January killed a former finance minister and four other people.
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