Two Leaders" Enmity Stokes Concern Over Vote in Fragile Democracy DHAKA, Bangladesh - The two ladies, as they are often known, had not spoken in years when aides arranged a telephone call recently in hopes of resolving the mounting political crisis in Bangladesh. The caller was Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister. The recipient was Begum Khaleda Zia, the leader of the political opposition. "I called you around noon - you didn't pick up," began Mrs. Hasina, leader of the governing Awami League, according to a transcript published in The Dhaka Tribune, an English-language newspaper. "This is not correct," said Mrs. Zia, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. "I want to inform you that - - " the prime minister resumed. "You have to listen to me first," snapped Mrs. Zia, herself a former prime minister. You said you called me, but I didn't get any call around the time you mentioned. And so it went, in an acrimonious conversation that titillated Bangladeshi political circles but did nothing to resolve a crisis that is now bringing bloodshed and daily street violence across the country. The poisonous rivalry between the two leaders has created a dangerous impasse, eliciting growing international concern, as both women engage in a bitter game to become the next prime minister. The issue is whether the two can agree on how the coming elections will be conducted. For nearly two years, Mrs. Zia and other opposition leaders have demanded that Mrs. Hasina and her government step down shortly before the parliamentary elections so that an impartial caretaker government can oversee the polling - as Bangladesh has done on several occasions. If not, Mrs. Zia says her party will not participate in the elections. But Mrs. Hasina has refused, arguing that Bangladesh's institutions are stable enough to conduct elections and that she is merely abiding by the national Constitution. That is where things now stand, with neither leader willing to budge, even as the damage to the country rises. "Common sense decrees that the two ladies should work out a compromise," said a senior Bangladeshi diplomat and longtime political observer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of angering either of the two leaders. At the moment, the country is paying a big price in law and order. When Bangladesh's chief election commissioner last week fixed Jan. 5 as the date for national elections, the response was grimly predictable. Men rushed into the streets to set cars on fire, and soon the wailing horns of police cruisers and fire trucks blared through the darkened capital. Since Nov. 26, at least two dozen people have died across the country as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has staged nationwide strikes, blocking roads and train trestles, to protest the elections. Throughout the year, Mrs. Zia's opposition party has pressed its demands through these strikes, known as hartals, which have inflicted growing damage on the national economy. This sort of ritualized protest, leavened with violence, is common in Bangladesh: In 1996, the roles were reversed as Mrs. Hasina was in the opposition and Mrs. Zia was prime minister. Then it was workers in Mrs. Hasina's party who staged strikes to pressure Mrs. Zia to bring in a caretaker government for elections. Bangladesh's democracy is already fragile, shadowed by a legacy of military rule, and analysts agree that it is imperative to hold fair, inclusive elections next month. The caretaker government system has been used several times in Bangladesh, including in 1991, when the country was emerging from a long period of military rule. But it was abused in 2007, when the military took control. Mrs. Hasina was elected in December 2008, and her party, following a court ruling, abolished the caretaker system three years later, infuriating the opposition. This week, India, the United States and the United Nations are scheduled to send envoys to Dhaka in the hopes of mediating a solution to the crisis. The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has already tried to personally break the impasse, while the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia affairs, Nisha Desai Biswal, used a visit to Dhaka last week to push for a compromise. "We think the time is nigh for an urgent dialogue to take place," Ms. Biswal said at a news conference. There must be some means for parties to come together and discuss their differences, to discuss their expectations and to find the way forward. But the mistrust traces back to Bangladesh's inception as an independent nation, after a bloody 1971 war of liberation from Pakistan. After the war, Mrs. Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, became prime minister and president; he was assassinated in 1975, along with Mrs. Hasina's mother and 10-year-old brother. The next president was Ziaur Rahman, a military officer who founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. His wife, Mrs. Zia, became the party's leader after her husband was assassinated in 1981.