The authority of political leaders in Bangladesh rests on diverse qualities, not least of which are the muscle and finance they can mobilize, and the relationships they can craft with senior party members. These are utilized to confront rivals both within and outside their own party. In some instances, the intensity of intra-party competition can be so severe that a further quality emerges: the capacity to find allies among enemies. Building local inter-party alliances can bolster the authority of politicians, yet be to the detriment of party coherence. This argument is developed through an analysis of mayoral and parliamentary elections held in the past decade in a small Bangladeshi city, where a ruling party member of parliament (MP) and opposition mayor appear to have developed such a relationship. This has thwarted the electoral ambitions of their fellow party members and has posed a serious challenge to party discipline. While political competition is often seen as being either inter- or intra-party, here it is focused around inter-party alliances. This portrayal suggests we need to give greater emphasis to the decentralized and local character that political authority can take in Bangladesh.

中文翻译：

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敌人中的盟友：孟加拉国的政治权威和政党（不）忠诚度

孟加拉国政治领导人的权威取决于多种素质，尤其是他们可以调动的力量和资金，以及他们可以与高级党员建立的关系。这些用于对抗本党内外的竞争对手。在某些情况下，党内竞争的激烈程度可能会如此激烈，以至于出现了进一步的品质：在敌人中寻找盟友的能力。建立地方党际联盟可以增强政治家的权威，但不利于党的凝聚力。这一论点是通过对过去十年在孟加拉国一个小城市举行的市长和议会选举的分析得出的，在那里，执政党议员 (MP) 和反对党市长似乎已经发展了这种关系。这挫败了其他党员的选举野心，并对党的纪律构成了严重挑战。虽然政治竞争通常被视为党内或党内，但这里主要围绕党际联盟展开。这种描述表明，我们需要更加强调政治权威在孟加拉国可以采取的分散和地方特征。